SPORTS FAN KIDS TO SPORTS FAN ADULTS

My sports fan days started early with this picture.

It’s a shot of Dave Wilcox who went from Oregon to the NFL.

Sports fans love pictures of their heroes. I can’t remember how I got it, but it’s been with me for decades.

There’s only one problem:

I’m a Cowboys fan and Wilcox was a 49er.

While he played, the 49ers lost to the Cowboys three years in a row, twice with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

Does that make the Joe Montana 49er wins over the Cowboys in the 80’s easier to take?

Not when you see The Catch every year. It was a good catch, but let it go.

But sports fan guy never let anything go.

In 2000, Dave Wilcox joined a Pro Football Hall of Fame class that included Joe Montana, Ronnie Lott, Howie Long and owner Dan Rooney. 

Pro Football Hall Of Fame Sports Fan

Without being an obnoxious fanboy I’ve collected the images and autographs of three Hall of Famers.

Along with Dave Wilcox I’ve got Tom Flores and Roger Staubach.

I think my Wilcox image resulted from writing a letter.

My Flores came from one of may kids’ teacher, Mrs. Flores.

I asked her if she knew Tom Flores as a joke. She shocked me when she said her parents lived next door to him and would I like an autographed picture.

My Staubach came from a player’s mom on a team I coached. She said she’d heard I was a Cowboy’s fan, and her sister worked for Roger Staubach. Would I like a picture?

Those are my three: a two time Super Bowl winning coach, a legendary quarterback, and a linebacker who was Lawrence Taylor before there was a Lawrence Taylor.

It’s fun looking back over the years with my treasures.

Wilcox lost to the Cowboys, Staubach beat the 49ers three out of four times they played in the 70’s, and Flores racked up two Super Bowl wins, giving him the second best Super Bowl record at the time.

When you dive into your personal archive, where do you make the cut?

Who do you put on your Wall Of Fame, after you and your kids?