It’s been awhile – can I blame football season?

Sorry it’s been awhile since I blogged!  Things have been a little crazy for me work-wise lately and on the weekends, I’ve gotten sucked into football again.  Those of you who know me know that I LOVE all things football – especially the Texas Longhorns and Dallas Cowboys.  What can I say?  I am a Texas girl at heart.  Even living in the heart of Redskin Country, I am still a big fan for my favorite teams!

But this post actually is not about my favorite teams…ironically, it’s about a great experience I had with a Redskins player yesterday.  I happened to be at Tysons mall last night doing a little shopping when I notice that they have opened a PS Game Gear shop on the upper level near Restoration Hardware.  I had been to the PS Game Gear shop in Dulles Town Center, so I knew they had a lot of great memorabilia, autographed merchandise and photos.  It looked like they were having a big party with all of the balloons out, so I decided to stop in and see what was going on.  They were having an autograph signing with Chris Cooley!  He was raising money for his foundation – a project where he works with various charitable organizations, most recently bringing 25 kids from the Children’s Hospital out to Redskins Park for a practice and giving them duffle bags filled with PSPs, games, hats and autographs.

I had him sign a football as a gift and one for myself.  First, let me say that I’ve never seen anyone so prepared for an autograph signing – I mean, this guy has 10 various pens/markers ready to go – gold, silver and black.  As the line inched up I noticed, not only did he seem happy to be there, he was taking his time signing – asking each person what they wanted their autograph to say and even placement of the autograph.  Being a Cowboys fan, my only experience with Cooley was hearing him on the DC101 morning show.  I didn’t have anything particular for him to write, so I jokingly said he could sign my football “To My Favorite Cowboys Fan.”  He laughed and asked if I was the Cowboys fan..of course, I told him – born and raised!!  He replied, “Yeah, I’ll write that for you!”  We chatted for a minute about the Cowboys and the season and I got a picture with him and went on my way.  I am SO happy about my football!!

Totally great experience.  It is SO refreshing to see a guy who at least acts like he really enjoys the whole NFL experience – the fans, the fame, the charity work.  I think he genuinely does.  Even if you are not a Redskins fan, I would recommend checking out his blog at http://chriscooley47.blogspot.com/.  It’s funny… and unique…and he updates it regularly (more than I do)!  And buy some Chris Cooley gear – he uses that money for charitable works too!