The most famous person you’ve ever met….
- Thread starter champdawg.sixpack
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I met Kevin Bacon when he was filming a movie where I worked, so no 6 degrees needed.
Yes. Her voice projects crazy, as soon as she walked in, you could hear her from across the way.
I met Willie Stargell and Manny Sanguillen at a Cincinnati hotel when I was in high school. They were in town for a Reds game. Manny was a great guy. Willy not so much.
I met Willie Nelson after a concert in Salt Lake City. I was told they were having a party at his hotel by my girlfriend. We got on the elevator with a couple of band members at their hotel. They said there was no party but we could follow the bus out to the airport if we wanted to met Willie. We me every member of the band and talked with Willie for about 20 minutes. Great guy.
When I lived in Phoenix a buddy and I were walking around the basketball coliseum at halftime between LA and Phoenix. We saw an open door that lead down to the floor so we walked down and it was at the tunnel where the opposing team came out. Nobody stopped us. The entire LA team came out and we talked with Kurt Rambis while they were waiting to be announced. The whole team was right there with us but LeBron was on the other side of the player. I couldn't believe how tall they were.
We spent some time speaking with Stacy Mitcheart at the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale. Great Blues singer look him up on YouTube.
Met Jerry Rice after we arrived at GTR. Talked to him for a while but cut it short because he was too nice to cut me off and I know he wanted to get to his Mom's house.
Met Rick Stanbury and his wife on multiple occasions. They are fine folks. Met Jackie Sherrill, Ron Polk, Sylvester Croom, and Dan Mullen at State. Dan was probably the least friendly.
Met Morgan Freeman at Harvey's in Columbus. He was going to the airbase. They had invited him out to fly in one of their jets.
Met Jimmy Carter after our flight was delayed for him to board.
I met Willie Nelson after a concert in Salt Lake City. I was told they were having a party at his hotel by my girlfriend. We got on the elevator with a couple of band members at their hotel. They said there was no party but we could follow the bus out to the airport if we wanted to met Willie. We me every member of the band and talked with Willie for about 20 minutes. Great guy.
When I lived in Phoenix a buddy and I were walking around the basketball coliseum at halftime between LA and Phoenix. We saw an open door that lead down to the floor so we walked down and it was at the tunnel where the opposing team came out. Nobody stopped us. The entire LA team came out and we talked with Kurt Rambis while they were waiting to be announced. The whole team was right there with us but LeBron was on the other side of the player. I couldn't believe how tall they were.
We spent some time speaking with Stacy Mitcheart at the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale. Great Blues singer look him up on YouTube.
Met Jerry Rice after we arrived at GTR. Talked to him for a while but cut it short because he was too nice to cut me off and I know he wanted to get to his Mom's house.
Met Rick Stanbury and his wife on multiple occasions. They are fine folks. Met Jackie Sherrill, Ron Polk, Sylvester Croom, and Dan Mullen at State. Dan was probably the least friendly.
Met Morgan Freeman at Harvey's in Columbus. He was going to the airbase. They had invited him out to fly in one of their jets.
Met Jimmy Carter after our flight was delayed for him to board.
It's hard to think of Elly May as a grandmother. She was hot back in the Beverly Hillbillies days.
George HW Bush
Haley Barbour
Trent Lott
Bret Farve
Eric Dampier
Chris Tomlin
Gary Rossington
Cliff Finch
Dick Cheney
Archie Manning
Richard and Kyle Petty
Honorable mention:
Mack McCraw- He owned a gas station and was a mechanic down the road from my house growing up. My mom worked in the store for a couple years. I spent a lot of time with Mack after school. Come to find out he drove a Sherman tank in Payton’s 3rd Army all the way across France and to Berlin. He would tell me stories about training, traveling, and his buddies; but never about battles or the bad things he saw. He said I was too young and he did not want to talk about those. He had a German dress sword with a swastika on top propped up in the corner of his office. The only member of the greatest generation I got to spend some time with.
Haley Barbour
Trent Lott
Bret Farve
Eric Dampier
Chris Tomlin
Gary Rossington
Cliff Finch
Dick Cheney
Archie Manning
Richard and Kyle Petty
Honorable mention:
Mack McCraw- He owned a gas station and was a mechanic down the road from my house growing up. My mom worked in the store for a couple years. I spent a lot of time with Mack after school. Come to find out he drove a Sherman tank in Payton’s 3rd Army all the way across France and to Berlin. He would tell me stories about training, traveling, and his buddies; but never about battles or the bad things he saw. He said I was too young and he did not want to talk about those. He had a German dress sword with a swastika on top propped up in the corner of his office. The only member of the greatest generation I got to spend some time with.
He came to the Delta in the 80's I believe and was stopping at some high schools and promoting fitness (I think). He got my grandmother to dance with him during his presentation, and she had pictures of it. She said he was very nice.
I've met several.
One of my favorites I met over the phone- Anson Dorrance, head women's soccer coach at North Carolina for a few decades. 20+ national titles.
I had an assignment in a creative writing class at State Junior or Senior year, and I chose to do it on coaching. I sent him an email on my topic, and he replied within a day telling me he thought the topic was really interesting and told me to call him. He also forwarded it to his assistants. I called him, and his wife answered (I'd just read his book and it was weird because I felt like I knew her a little bit). He wasn't home, but he'd told her to give me his cell if I called. So I called his cell and we talked for probably an hour- really engaging, SMART guy. I couldn't believe he spent so much time on it- you can tell he truly loved working with college age kids. That was in 2008-09'ish.
Anyway, I never contacted him after that until recently. He retired about 2 years ago right before the start of the next season, and I thought.... you know what, what if I just texted him a congrats? It may not be his number anymore, but I'd try it anyway. He answered, said he remembered me, and asked me what I was up to. I texted him one more time when that team won the national title and told him he retired a bit too early. He answered, "no, I retired 10 years late!" I was happy to hear retirement is going well, and true to him, he has no regrets.
Really cool guy. I'll never forget that.
Also played catch with George Clooney when he was filming O Brother, Where Art Thou. Well, I shagged balls when one of them would miss. Also a really nice guy to a 12ish year old kid.
One of my favorites I met over the phone- Anson Dorrance, head women's soccer coach at North Carolina for a few decades. 20+ national titles.
I had an assignment in a creative writing class at State Junior or Senior year, and I chose to do it on coaching. I sent him an email on my topic, and he replied within a day telling me he thought the topic was really interesting and told me to call him. He also forwarded it to his assistants. I called him, and his wife answered (I'd just read his book and it was weird because I felt like I knew her a little bit). He wasn't home, but he'd told her to give me his cell if I called. So I called his cell and we talked for probably an hour- really engaging, SMART guy. I couldn't believe he spent so much time on it- you can tell he truly loved working with college age kids. That was in 2008-09'ish.
Anyway, I never contacted him after that until recently. He retired about 2 years ago right before the start of the next season, and I thought.... you know what, what if I just texted him a congrats? It may not be his number anymore, but I'd try it anyway. He answered, said he remembered me, and asked me what I was up to. I texted him one more time when that team won the national title and told him he retired a bit too early. He answered, "no, I retired 10 years late!" I was happy to hear retirement is going well, and true to him, he has no regrets.
Really cool guy. I'll never forget that.
Also played catch with George Clooney when he was filming O Brother, Where Art Thou. Well, I shagged balls when one of them would miss. Also a really nice guy to a 12ish year old kid.
There was a true crime-type podcast I listened to a while back called "Richard Simmons is Missing" or something like that. It was pretty good. I'm not sure why, but the thought of that guy being kidnapped or disappeared was interesting to me. Like, who would want to hurt Richard??
Not a famous person but a famous thing. I brokered the sale of this gem.
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I saw Grisham one time but didn't speak. My friend and I went to the Superdome back when they used to do the Louisiana/Mississippi baseball challenge. Leaving after a game I just naturally held the door open for the person close behind me without looking. As I looked back I saw it was Grisham. As I was about to say something, the look in his eyes clearly conveyed "Shhhhh.....nobody has noticed me yet" so I just grinned and kept going.
Gerald McRaney's aunt used to live in the house behind us in Mt. Olive. My folks had gone somewhere and they told me when they got back, somebody was walking around in our garden. My old man went out to find out what was going on and it was Gerald McRaney. He was visiting his aunt, saw how good our garden was going and wanted to check it out.
@patdog I remember your brother telling me he met Tom Lester. He said he was jogging on the track at Laurel high school one Saturday and there was another guy out there running. As they got closer together he looked at him and said "Hey! Your're Eb!" and Lester said "Yep!".
I've met a few, several in sports, but getting on stage with Willie at the Beau Rivage after the show is my all time greatest....
Well except for when I rode with my buddy, who was the promoter, to pick up Aaron Lewis from the airport for a show & we got h...um we had a good time.
Well except for when I rode with my buddy, who was the promoter, to pick up Aaron Lewis from the airport for a show & we got h...um we had a good time.
Oh, I met 3 of the original wonka kids in Connecticut, they were eating at the next table over.
I didn’t even know that. My dad was in his Sundays school class and introduced him to me nieces. I never met him though.
Jose Conseco, Jerry Clower, Paul Newman, Craig Biggio, Spuds McKenzie, Jane Seymour, Ryne Sandberg, Andre Dawson, Mark Grace, Rick Sutcliffe, Steve McNair, Brett Favre, JYD, Jenny Finch, entire group of Cinderella, just off top of my head head
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I only met Tom once.
When I was much younger and swam at Lake Bounds, there was always a photo of Tom behind the counter. The owner was one of his cousins.
Met Pat Summitt, Ran a few laps with her at Jackson YMCA. Nice lady.
Gary Plummer, former 49ers LB, Ronnie Lott Niners legendary safety, actor Gary Sinise who I met at New Orleans Int'l airport, Rick Barry, NBA Hall-of-Famer, Ben Davidson, Oakland Raiders DE from 1964 through 1972...6'8, 275lb wrecking machine known for delivering vicious cheap shots along with legit ones, Oakland Raiders HOF TE Dave Casper, Eric Wright, 49ers DB from 1981 through 1990, Wesley Clark, former 4-star General and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (He was an arrogant, snobby *******!).And being in the same room or airplane with them doesn’t count. And no dopelgangers. At least a 2 minute convo and a handshake.
Mine is Jerry rice with Tiny Tim a close second
Rick Barry was fantastic. I was helping with a fund-raiser for our kid's school, Barry was doing a radio show from the SF Bay Area at the time, so I tried emailing him, asking if he would autograph a basketball for our auction. He not only replied, but invited me to meet him at a fund-raising event he was going to at The Claremont Resort & Hotel where he signed the basketball and chatted for a while.
While I was talking to Rick, Eric Wright walked up to say hello to Rick. Rick introduced me to Eric, told him why I was there and said I should get Eric to sign a football for me. Eric was incredibly gracious. I didn't have a football, so he told me he'd meet me later if I wanted to go get one. Then he said he'd meet me at a banquet there when I got back, and that it would be a great opportunity to get more autographs of players a lot more famous than he was.
I can't remember all of the players I met that day, but Eric introduced me to Ben Davidson who also turned out to be a really nice guy. Ben signed the ball, then took me around a couple of tables telling other former Raiders players they should sign my ball. The best part was Ben told me he was gonna get me a rare autograph from Dave Casper, who he said didn't like giving them, so rarely did.
So, Ben takes me over to where Casper is sitting, and in a playful way, booms out to Dave that he better sign that ball! Casper laughed and signed it.
Damn the sixers should have won that series
Dr J Mo Cheeks, chocolate Thunder,Bobby Jones Andrew Tony
Aaron Tippon. He was at an outdoor country concert in JXN decades ago. I was behind the stage working t-shirt security. Nice guy. We shot the breeze waiting for him to go onstage. Met Confederate Railroad too.And being in the same room or airplane with them doesn’t count. And no dopelgangers. At least a 2 minute convo and a handshake.
Mine is Jerry rice with Tiny Tim a close second
rickey van Shelton was the last act of the show that night. I was told not to look at him. I didn’t.
Jerry Clower in the Atlanta-Hartsfield airport. Twice.
He recognized me from our first meeting. Woooooo! Knock him down John@
He recognized me from our first meeting. Woooooo! Knock him down John@
Jennie Finch? Jealous. I loved watching her at Arizona, all for the wrong reasons.
Well I hope you weren’t watching her for the softball.Jennie Finch? Jealous. I loved watching her at Arizona, all for the wrong reasons.
Steve McNair
Jerry Rice
Ray Guy
Ate breakfast at the Perry with Dak back in 2011. I have met a few more athletes and coaches over the years but those are probably the most popular.
Jerry Rice
Ray Guy
Ate breakfast at the Perry with Dak back in 2011. I have met a few more athletes and coaches over the years but those are probably the most popular.
Pete Rose
Jerry Rice
I was 9 or 10 years old and went with my parents on vacation to St Louis. I think it was 1977. Pete Rose was sitting down in a restaurant (the Reds were in town to play the Cardinals) and a group of kids (including me) approached him for an autograph. Pete looked up at us and said, "Not in the restaurant."
I had moved back to Starkville in 1995 to work for MSU and work on my masters. I am working out at the gym one morning, and there's Jerry Rice absolutely melting down one of the Stairmasters he working out on. We both get done working out at the same time and I walk in and he's in the dressing room. Jerry says, "You have a good workout?" I'm stunned, but say, "Yes, thank you, I did". He was as down to earth as anyone I've ever run into and we talked the next 10 minutes or so about various things and I got to shake his hand before we parted. By the way, his hand damn near wrapped around mine twice.
Jerry Rice
I was 9 or 10 years old and went with my parents on vacation to St Louis. I think it was 1977. Pete Rose was sitting down in a restaurant (the Reds were in town to play the Cardinals) and a group of kids (including me) approached him for an autograph. Pete looked up at us and said, "Not in the restaurant."
I had moved back to Starkville in 1995 to work for MSU and work on my masters. I am working out at the gym one morning, and there's Jerry Rice absolutely melting down one of the Stairmasters he working out on. We both get done working out at the same time and I walk in and he's in the dressing room. Jerry says, "You have a good workout?" I'm stunned, but say, "Yes, thank you, I did". He was as down to earth as anyone I've ever run into and we talked the next 10 minutes or so about various things and I got to shake his hand before we parted. By the way, his hand damn near wrapped around mine twice.
Let’s just say the apple is super close to the tree. I married up.