This past Sunday my friend and I decided to take advantage of the record breaking warm weather, by heading down to Center City to do some Christmas shopping and grab a bite to eat. On our stroll we popped into the “Five Below” on Chestnut Street, easily the best Five Below in the Philly area and will now be a place I made a very unexpected memory. As we approached the check-out I noticed a very familiar looking man walk in. I then realized, oh my God, that looks like Rod Brind’Amour! After Googling him for good measure my buddy, another avid fan, agreed. Then it dawned on me, the Flyers are hosting the Carolina Hurricanes Tuesday night and the team has come to town two days earlier.
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I then quietly approached Brind’Amour and asked if it was him, he cracked a smile and said, “Yeah, it’s me”. Brind’Amour was one of my all-time favorite Flyers as a kid, so that feeling I used to get as a kid while meeting an athlete came rushing back. It was an awesome rush, I can’t lie. I told him how much of a fan I was of his growing up and how much a hard-nose player like himself meant to us die-hard Flyers fans. I thanked him for the memories and told him how bummed I was on missing his Flyers Hall of Fame ceremony due to work. He was very humble and told me that the ceremony was awesome, he loved every minute of it, and that the organization and fans did a wonderful job putting it together. I already knew he seemed to be pretty down to earth, but after my encounter I truly got to realize just how down to earth he really was. There is nothing more you can ask for from an athlete these days. Fan interaction is not what it used to be in most sports, however I feel as though hockey is one of the few where the players are still genuinely loyal to their fans.
I will never forget that brief encounter, not just because I met my favorite player, but because I met a true class act of a person. I would love to see Rod behind the bench with the Flyers one day, because he truly meant a lot to the organization and its fans and he seems to be doing a very good job assisting with the Carolina Hurricanes.
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