I was lucky enough to receive a ticket to the last division rivalry game between the Arizona Cardinals and the Dallas Cowboys. As the game was ending, I was close to the Cardinals’ locker-room and decided to pay a visit to the Cardinals’ quarterback Jake “The Snake” Plummer. Jake had been a student of mine during his time at Arizona State University. Plus, he had given me two tickets to the 1997 Rose Bowl after an undefeated ASU football season. I must have gotten somewhat sentimental and on the spot, I decide to pay Jake a visit.

As I arrived at the Cardinals’ exit gate, I realized it would be somewhat of a wait as I was early. The only people at the gate were two younger kids and their dad. I figured that since the game had just ended, we were facing at least a half hour wait before any players came out.

As I stood waiting near the gate, the crowd slowly began to grow. If working Broncos security had taught me anything,, it was that patience was the name-of-the-game in these situations. I knew this and struck up a conversation with the two kids and their dad.

The social dynamics of the gathering crowd were enough to keep me interested and patient. There were kids; reporters; player’s family members and relatives; and a plethora of attractive women vying for a chance to talk to an NFL player (to name just a few of the types cuing for attention).

As I waited, I just blended into the crowd; acting as nondescript as possible. I was minding my own business while observing the growing mass of people gathering in the immediate area of the Cardinals player exit gate. Relatives were fumbling with cameras and pacing nervously. Beautiful leather-clad women were spraying perfume and primping. There were even a few random fans attempting to jockey for position nearer the exit gate.

Not too long after the players began exiting, Jake was spotted. It was then that the crowd began to get more animated as each person anticipated interacting with a real-life NFL player. To say that the crowd surged would be an understatement. Jake was a star in town and it showed.

It took a few minutes for Jake to get to the gate as reporters caught up to him and wanted to ask him what seemed like more questions than Jeopardy! As they crowd jockeyed for position, individuals were jostled as players, fans and reporters all attempted to improve their chances at speaking to one of the players; or even Jake himself. I had to tell the two young kids to hang on to the post near us as the crowd surged each time a player exited the gate.

After waiting for what seemed like an eternity, the gate swung open and Jake was nearly mobbed. As Jake exited, he demanded that the crowd clear a path; and that’s when he spotted me. When Jake and I made eye-contact, I immediately extended my arm and attempted to shake his hand. He looked at me, scowled a bit and said, “Padilla, what the heck? Give me a hug.” Jake insisted on a hug versus a handshake.

I stepped into the hug as the onlookers near us all have perplexed looks on their faces??? “Who was this guy?” they seemed to be asking themselves.

After Jake and I chatted for a bit, I felt like our time was about adequate for the situation and began to disengage. The anxious crowd could see us disengaging and began to surge in anticipation of gaining Jake’s attention. I could see that the kids I had hung out with didn’t stand a chance of meeting any players as they were too short to make any headway into the mass of determined bodies.

Just then it occurred to me that perhaps I could do something to better the odds for these kids as they also sought to meet an NFL payer. I turned back to Jake and asked if he would sign these kids’ items. He gladly obliged and even took a picture with them. I managed to wave goodbye to Jake as he was swallowed up in the ensuing mêlée. Then all hell broke loose!

By the time Jake and I had finished, it had gotten dark. Then, as I began the long walk back to the ASU campus, I heard someone calling, “Sir! Hey, sir!” I looked up to see the dad and his excited kids were walking ahead of me. The dad had turned around, waited a couple of seconds for me to catch up to them, stuck out his hand, and said, “I don’t have a clue who you are, but I just wanted to say thank you so much! You made my kids’ day.” We shook hands as a “right on” slipped from my lips.

I walked off into the sunset with a huge smile on my face.