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NFL Player Dissed Young Autograph Seeker

I feel guilty on how I handle my Sunday mornings. I sleep in, saunter up and grab the morning newspaper and turn on the pre-football games, while the wife gets ready to go to church. I do not go to church, because I’m a heathen who only believes in...who ever is my fantasy football quarterback this year (Matt Ryan this time).

I woke up a little earlier this morning and turned on the pre-game shows, but during a commercial, I switched over to “Good Morning America.” I saw a story about a boy being snubbed for an autograph, and thought I’d write it up.

Kamil Bautista is an 11-year-old, in 6th grade, and his family drove 9 hours to watch their favorite team, the New York Giants, play the Cowboys in Dallas. The Giants lost, but...nothing makes a fan feel better after a loss than...scoring some cool autographs. Am I right, folks?

So, there’s video that shows Kamil running up to Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence. The player looks down at the kid and says “Get the right jersey, son.” 

He continued walking and didn’t sign for the boy.

My wife, who probably thinks she’s a better person than me because she goes to church, hears this from the bathroom. She comes out and says, “He’s right. The kid was wearing the wrong jersey.”

I laughed and said, “They probably don’t even make DeMarcus Lawrence jerseys.”

She responded, “It doesn’t have to be his jersey, but any Cowboys jersey could’ve worked. I bet he would’ve signed for the kid if he was wearing a Troy Aikman jersey.”

I was just shocked my wife knew the name of a football player.

What I love about video in autograph situations is this. The autograph hounds that just want to sell their stuff on eBay, can be shown to be rude idiots. But...the fans that get dissed...well, the video shows the celebrity being the jerk. And I got to think that Lawrence is hearing from his family, or at least, his agent. You’re not going to get many commercial endorsements when you’re known as the person that doesn’t stop to sign an autograph for an 11-year-old.

This did benefit Kamil in another way, though. Since he was wearing a jersey from his favorite player, Saquon Barkley, the rookie of the year (and number one pick in every fantasy football league this year)...that running back sent a video message. He’s giving four tickets to the boy for his family, and is going to do a meet-and-greet after the game. Now, I think the Giants should have their quarterback Eli Manning walk over to the kid, with Sharpie in hand and...upon seeing the Barkley jersey say, “Well, you’re not wearing a Peyton or Eli Manning jersey, so...I think I’ll pass on signing your football.”

I’m sure the kid would laugh at the joke.

Anyway, Lawrence initially defended himself on Twitter, saying that lots of kids don’t get to meet players and many ask for autographs that don’t get them, and the kid should just “suck it up.” Yet later, he ended up apologizing for the situation. Again, I think the agent or some PR person from the Cowboys intervened and talked some sense into Lawrence.

One of the things he tweeted was how he didn’t have a single hit on Barkley in the game, and that seeing that jersey...made him want to give the kid a little tackle.

Nice.

On the segment that appeared on “Good Morning America” the boy did say he forgives Lawrence. That made my wife laugh even harder.

Now, if she’ll only forgive me for sitting on the couch in my underwear, watching football while she goes to church...

Views: 234

Tags: Dallas Cowboys, DeMarcus Lawrence, Good Morning America, New York Giants, Saquon Barkley

Comment by Joe W. on September 15, 2019 at 11:09am

DeMarcus Lawrence was wrong to deny a young fan. The boy deserved better. BTW, if you want to be a superstar to your wife then get up, get dressed, and go to church with her next week. You will be glad you did!

Comment by Josh Board on September 15, 2019 at 11:15am

If I walked into that church, the holy water would start boiling over!

Yeah, regarding a fan with a different jersey -- if it's an adult with a different team jersey, sure...keep walking. But kids are a different animal. I've met people that have a favorite sports team, and when I ask why, it was because they were a boy and asked for an autograph from someone on that team, and became a lifelong fan. That, and the fact that...it's a little kid, for crying out loud!!!!

Comment by Joe W. on September 15, 2019 at 11:19am

No water will boil over. Nor will the roof cave in! Although you will make the little lady happy indeed. Happy wife...happy life. 

Comment by Sidney Fields on September 15, 2019 at 12:38pm

And here's a top athlete who gets it:

https://nypost.com/2019/09/14/saquon-barkley-rescues-young-giants-f...

And, by the way, Saquon is the nephew of two-time World Middleweight Champ Iran Barkley...who is also fan-friendly.

Comment by Josh Board on September 15, 2019 at 12:43pm

Sidney -- thanks for the fun fact on Iran Barkley. I used to watch him fight. He was great. Although, not sure why you posted the link to that story, since I pretty much covered all that !!!

Comment by BC on September 16, 2019 at 6:31pm

Majority of star athletes these days are absolute POS.

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