04/19/24
January 14, 2015
Boy Asks All 32 NFL Teams: Why Should I Be Your Fan?: A 12-year-old boy in Yukon, Oklahoma, wrote to every NFL team in December, asking them a simple question: Why should I be a fan of your team? Cade Pope got one letter back, hand-written by Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson, along with a replica helmet signed by the team's All-Pro linebacker Luke Kuechley. "We would be honored if our Carolina Panthers became your team," Richardson replied. "We would make you proud by the classy way we would represent you."
When the Washington team opened their letter from Pope, they put it on top of the giant pile of letters from other people all across America, all asking the same question.
(You know, when parents name a child Cade Pope, it's safe to say that they may well have a vested interest in desirable internet domain speculation.)
posted by beaverboard at 04:49 PM on January 14, 2015
I read that Jerry Richardson is one of those CEOs who devotes time each day to reading customer mail and then replies to some of the letters. He began his business empire by using his 1959 NFL championship bonus to buy a Hardee's franchise with a partner, then built it into a food-service company with 250 restaurants and 100,000 employees.
posted by rcade at 09:59 PM on January 14, 2015
I have a renewed respect for the Panthers owner, class act.
posted by ic23b at 02:34 AM on January 15, 2015
Because he bought a Hardee's? Different strokes, I guess.
Maybe some day Randy Moss can parlay his Dairy Queen into an NFL franchise. I hope Joe Buck is around to see it.
posted by yerfatma at 08:42 AM on January 15, 2015
Mark Brunell brought Whataburger to Jacksonville, an act for which this Texan is forever grateful. Nothing was better in college after a night of drinking than middle-of-the-night taquitos.
posted by rcade at 09:30 AM on January 15, 2015
DQ was going to name a flavor after Joe Buck, but Vanilla was already taken.
But soft serve is kind of a generic term, so they can call him that all day long.
posted by beaverboard at 01:28 PM on January 15, 2015
I sometimes worry what it says about me that I enjoy the sports announcing of Joe Buck.
posted by rcade at 03:50 PM on January 15, 2015
I heard Dairy Queen has rebranded simply as "DQ" because there is no dairy in their "ice cream". Kinda like KFC changing their name on account of their namesake product being grown in a lab.
posted by holden at 04:09 PM on January 15, 2015
Also, love that the kid said he would definitely become a Panthers fan assuming no one else got back to him (in which case, implicitly, all bets are off).
posted by holden at 04:51 PM on January 15, 2015
I sometimes worry what it says about me that I enjoy the sports announcing of Joe Buck.
I don't dislike him, I just feel he tries to have it both ways by being Hip Young Guy and Traditionalist Old School as it suits him. Paired with Tim McCarver, he's making references to current pop music to try to make McCarver stumble. Paired with Randy Moss's unbared ass, he's a Roman Legionnaire keeping the Visigoth hordes at bay.
posted by yerfatma at 08:48 AM on January 16, 2015
When Philip Rivers is done playing and is ready to be the second coming of Craig James, that's the guy I want them to throw into the both with Buck.
Joseph must have a fluster button hidden inside his blazer somewhere, and Rivers might be just the person to find it and push it.
There's no shame in liking Buck, though. I used to catch holy hell for enjoying listening to Skip Caray call Hawks and Braves games back in the sultry late 70's and early 80's. I liked Caray because he remained understatedly bemused as he observed the action in front of him, regardless of whether it contained moments of high achievement or bumbling idiocy.
posted by beaverboard at 12:16 PM on January 16, 2015
Someone in their PR department knows EXACTLY how news/information works in the modern age. The positive attention they'll get for this is MORE than worth the time/price/effort for the letter and the signed helmet.
Even if a news site didn't pick it up, the word of mouth (probably) through Facebook is still a net gain.