Running into the 'Boys

Thanks for sharing the stories.

Nice reading.

Very interesting diary and would love to contribute.

This past summer, I was in Las Vegas for a week to see from friends. Saturday night, we had gone to the MGM Grand to one of the smaller bars to grab some pre-drinks and meet everyone before heading over to 54. I went with 2 of my buddies and we were the first ones to get there. We were waiting for the 2nd group of dudes to come - one of the guys called me to get directions inside MGM to get to the bar. I couldn't hear inside the bar, so I stepped right outside to start giving him directions. As I'm talking, I see this big group of very big dudes walking through the hallway. I had a feeling they were someone, so I started scanning faces....no.......no.....no......dam that dude's big....no........Michael Friggin Irvin. I tell my dude I'll call him back, slam the phone shut and walk in between the group, get in front of Mike, stick my hand out and say something along the lines of "Very big fan Mike, very nice to meet you, congrats on the HOF." Awesome moment for me. I have always been a fan of Mike from his playing days, but after the HOF speech, I told myself I really wanted to meet this guy. He says thanks, smiles and keeps rolling through.

Very cool. I go in and tell my dudes what just happened - they are both huge Cowboy fans (both live in Dallas) and take off through the casino to see if they can catch up to him. Few minutes later, my dudes come back - can't find Irvin. Sucks for them. Few minutes pass and my other buddies catch up to us and I tell everyone about how friggin cool I am. Anyway, we are all talking about it when guess who rolls right up to the bar next to me. Micheal Friggin Irvin. Standing right next to me. My buddy offers to buy him a drink, does and we all drink with Mike and one of his buddies. They stay for about an hour. People come up to him, shake his hand, talk football, congrats, everything. That was our story the rest of the night - how we kicked it in Vegas with Mike Irvin.

Very cool and a def highlight of being a Cowboy fan.

but I was getting up the nerve to ask him if I could, when some other dude walks up and tries to just take a picture of Mike by himself. His boy steps in front of the picture and says Mike doesn't want any pics taken.

Killed it for me then.

Honestly, my group was pretty loud and obnoxious - we had been drinking all day, but Mike could not have been nicer to us. Smiling, laughing and putting up with our stuff.

My grandparents own a house in Wortham. And when I was a kid I used to go stay there during the summer. Now, thats where Leonard Davis and his family are from. I never met him, but Leonard's Mom used to come over and pick up pecans from their back yard. I have very vague memories of that. And my Grandfather swears he has seen Leonard many times at the cafe downtown during the offseason.

I have one more - not a Cowboy story, so I hate to break your diary. But it's a cool story for me and it's kind of relevant considering who our biggest obstacle is right now. No, I didn't meet Jessica Simpson. Just went back and read this - wow - sorry bear with my stream of consciousness.

1997 I was a senior in college and was engaged to a someone who was, admittedly, out of my league looks wise. Guess it was my charm and my killer sense of humor. :)(This actually comes into play). We had a free week-end and we made the trip over to Biloxi to spend some time gambling at the casinos. We were going to stay for a 3 day weekend and gamble. We were walking into the casino one morning and there was this huge group of people surrounding some event. Not that big a deal, considering it was a casino and all, so I just kept walking, not really paying attention. Liv, my fiancé, goes "Hey, don't you know that guy?" I stop and turn and look - at the middle of the group is Brett Fav-Ray. Well, I'll be damned. Well, I am a Cowboy fan, so I was in a real dilemma - I hate the friggin guy, but still, that's pretty friggin cool to see him up close. Do I go up? No, I can't right? I'm a Cowboy fan and I hate this guy. Hmmmm.......I turn and start walking. Liv tells me I need to go introduce myself - he's a NFL player and I'm a huge fan. Hmmmm......okay, I'll do it, but I won't be happy about it. I walk through the crowd with Liv and walk up to Brett, stick my hand out, introduce myself and say I am a big Cowboy fan (that's how I made it okay in my head). He laughed, shook my hand and..........would not take his eyes off of Liv, again my fiancé. I laughed and started to pull away. Liv and I start to walk away and Brett asks what we are doing there at the casino. I say gambling - we're from Texas. He says ok - where are you guys going to be? I point at the blackjack tables in the background and say right over there. He goes, okay, cool, we'll catch up with you. Huh?!? What?!? Uhhhh, okay. Now, again, his eyes never come off Liv, so I am in a real quandary here. Hmmmm.....whatever, that was still pretty cool. So, Liv and I go over to the first blackjack table and start playing. About 30 minutes go by and this voice asks me if I could move over a chair so he and his friend could play. I say sure, Liv and I move over 1 seat to our left - I am now sitting in 1st base, Liv 2nd base and Brett Fav-Ray slides into the middle seat with his (we find out) high school football coach. No kidding. Playing blackjack with Brett Friggin Fav-Ray. Again, I hate the dude, but this was really friggin cool. Anyway, we start playing. Liv and I are playing $10 a hand. Brett drops down with a table full of black chips and we start playing. Liv loses her (my) money right away and asks me for some of mine - I start counting out some measly red $5 chips, Brett says, no worries, I got it and gives her 8 black chips - $800 and tells her that she can play with his money, but she has to play $100 a hand and he will help her play. Okay, seriously, I was in a real bad place at this point. This was really friggin cool and yet really started to suck really quickly at the same time. I was gambling $10 a hand (I was a college senior!) and my fiancé was now gambling $100 a hand, not only with some other dude's money, but BRETT FRIGGIN FAVRE'S money!!! Not good.....I was stuck. She was pretty cool about it, she would keep me involved, but definitely loving the attention. Not sure I couldn't blame her. I was steaming in the corner and Brett was literally all over my fiancé. I had absolutely no idea what to do. It got so obvious that he was seriously flirting with Liv that the dealer asked me out loud "Isn't she YOUR fiancé?" Uhhhhh, yeah, and I said out loud "Yeah, but that's Brett Friggin Fav-Ray - what the hell am I supposed to do?!?" Funny.....everyone had a big laugh........I was steaming. Anyway, this went on all afternoon and into the evening and Liv was actually up like $500. Brett made it known that we could keep whatever she won, so even more of a dilemma for me. Oh well, how much is my pride worth? $500 and some mini-fame I guess. Well, the high school coach finally gets up and says they have to leave. Brett goes okay, cool, let's go, but "Hey, what are you guys doing tonight?" We say nothing, just gambling here and some dinner. He says "Nah, you guys are coming with us - I have to make an appearance at this bar/club - you guys are coming with us - the limo is waiting for us outside. DAMMMMMMMITTTTT!!! I am like a friggin deer in headlights. It is quite obvious this was not meant for me -t hat I was the tag along, but dude, limo ride with Brett Fav-Ray for some VIP treatment at some club?!? DAAAMMMMMMMMMMIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!! "okay, we're in". We go outside, get in the limo with Brett Friggin Fav-Ray and go to this Biloxi club. We pull up and the place is packed, stupid packed, they make room for the limo to pull through - me, Liv, Brett and Coach. Door opens, Brett gets out and I am 2nd out. The entire place is staring at us, people are yelling and my most embarrassing Cowboy fan moment in my life, I.......put my arm around Brett's shoulders, act like we are best buddies and stroll into the club. No friggin kidding. I was a Cowboy sellout.........a future husband sellout......but I couldn't help myself. Don't judge me. At least not too harshly. We roll into the club, get pushed into this VIP section/corner and we drink.....or at least Liv and I drink.......a lot.......on their tab. People have asked me if Brett was drinking and as much as I despise the guy, he wasn't. I saw him have one beer and he milked that same one all night. Coach, Liv and I were blasted though. I really did it up - people were coming up to me asking me - friggin me - if I could introduce them to Brett Fav-Ray. Hilarious. Anyway, we finish the night and Brett comes up to us (Liv) and says he has to go, the limo will come back and take us back to the casino (it does). Cool. Take it easy man, good times, good luck, maybe you aren't such a jerk after all. Later. They leave. Liv shows me this piece of paper, handed to her by Brett. "I would love to see you again - call me - phone number - Brett. WHAT THE F?!? Seriously?!? We took the limo back to the casino and finished up our trip.

We get back to Texas with this piece of paper in hand and I have absolutely no idea what just happened. Well, I was curious if this was for real, so I called the number - what do you know "Hello, this is Brett, please leave your name and number." Wow. Crazy. This is how much of an idiot I am. I say thanks for the week-end, take it easy, if you are ever in Texas, give us a call (I don't know man.....still riding on the "coolness") - and give OUR number. We were living together, but I was 1 week from being shipped off for the USAF. Well, time passes by and I am stationed in Florida. Liv and I stayed together and she calls me one day - probably 3 months after the party week-end. Guess what. Brett Friggin Fav-Ray calls her and invites "us" to go to South Carolina with him - he's playing in a celebrity golf tournament with Hootie and the Blowfish (it's 1997). Liv tells him no, we can't go because I am in the Air Force and would not be able to get off. And here it is: "Why don't you come without him then? Just tell him you got sick that weekend or something and you weren't able to call him." "Uhhh, Brett, we are engaged to be married." "Well, you're not married yet, right? Don't worry - I won't say anything. Our secret."

Well, she didn't go - or if she did, it never came out. She and I didn't get married - she is now, with 2 kids - and we are still friends. Her husband is a producer for CBS Sports NFL - guess who one of his buddies reportedly is? Brett Friggin Fav-Ray.

Needless to say, I didn't like him before......now, it's personal :)

I live in NYC and was in a pretty hot bar a few (5?) years back.  I see Michael Irvin walk in and since I am waiting for my crew to arrive (about 2-3 girls and a guy) I introduce myself and tell him I am a big fan.  Irvin shrugged me off (politely) shook my hand and acted like he was too cool to talk.

Fast forward ten minutes and I have 2-3 girls and another guy around me and no one else has noticed the Playmaker.  Now Irvin strolls up to me (and my group) and says hi, I introduce him as the hardest working man  on the the great Cowboys teams.  He hangs with us for about 5-10 minutes and then does his thing.

It was cool and I was surprised by how small (but thick) he was.