Win this Phil Jackson Autograph and Nominate the Autograph University Class of 2013
UPDATE: My sincere thanks to all of you for leaving such thoughtful comments. I’ve really enjoyed reading the nominations and I will announce the honorees next week. Our randomly selected winner of the Phil Jackson autographed book is Aaron Cheris—congratulations!
Every day I get your emails and lately I’ve been hearing more and more about how graphing has gotten tougher. The commercialization of the hobby is eroding the relationship between fans and celebrities, habits are changing for the worse, and prices for signings are higher than ever.
But in these challenging times the famous friends of the autograph community shine even brighter. I’m talking about celebrities and athletes who go out of their way to accommodate collectors, who pick up a pen with a smile on their face, who give back generously to their fans. These great signers deserve more than just our thanks, they deserve to be recognized. And we’re going to do that by presenting them with an honorary degree from Autograph University.
I need your help selecting our inaugural Class of 2013. Leave a comment and tell me who deserves an honorary degree and why!
The Class of 2013 will be announced on June 28 in July and I will personally mail a diploma to each honoree.
Phil Jackson Autograph Giveaway
What better way to celebrate the best signers than by giving away an autograph from one of the toughest signers? All you need to do for a chance to win is leave a comment with your nomination for the Class of 2013.
I will randomly choose a winner on Friday, June 21 at 10pm EDT. One comment per person and please use a valid email address so I can contact you if you win.
I look forward to reading your nominations. Thanks for helping me identify the best candidates for the Class of 2013!
Pat Neshek and Bobby Doerr
Red Sox Hall of Famer and PG pitcher Bill Monbouquette.
Joe is way ahead of me. Pat Neshek by far. Check out my blog entry on him…http://aaronautos.blogspot.com/2013/05/mail-legends-pat-neshek.html
Brandon Phillips on the Reds. He stops and signs before every single game and answers his tweets from fans. Bobby Doerr is also an obvious choice, no question there. Another one is Gio Gonzalez on the Nationals. He signs every day when he isn’t pitching. One time I got him at Citi Field, he signed for a good 20-30 minutes before the game for pretty much every single fan. Can’t think of any non baseball guys here haha.
Hope this helps.
-Aaron Cheris
Ben Zobrist of the Tampa Bay Rays. Guy’s a signing machine, easy going, and one of the greatest people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting.
When Zobrist first entered the Majors I noticed he was nicer then your average player, he handed out his own card that he would then sign, the cards gave a brief description of him as a man and a biblical quote.
My pick for current baseball player go’s to Pat Neshek, he’s always a great guy and provides information on graphing from a player and grapher standpoint since he’s both. My hockey pick go’s to Steven Stamkos, he’s not always 100% but for a superstar signs a bunch when I’ve asked. For football my vote gos to Pats wide receiver Julian Edelman a very nice guy who takes time to not only sign up a storm for waiting fans but also takes to twitter to talk with fans. My basketball vote go’s to the Hornets Ryan Anderson the dude cares for his fans, was running late for the bus and still stopped to sign 8 cards for me, he’s done this his Magic days and that continued with NOLA. Music I go with James Taylor the guy racks and is a gem to his fans. Celeb I go with Tom Cruise, I met him 1 on 1 and he signed both my photos with a nice sig and even asked how I was and told me he enjoyed filming in Boston.
Kevin Durant deserves to be an honoree. He finds a way to sign while also being one of the most famous athletes today. And he signs because his fans love him. He truly deserves this recognition!
JOSH HAMILTON, nicest guy in the world, I cant imagine how many TTMs he gets but he signs all of them and sends them to his fans around Christmas. You can tell he is someone who appreciates the fans, and is just happy that he got a second chance on life. By far best autograph story I heard all year is this story where he inscribed to the fan “Your hair is Awesome” on the baseball, check it out
http://nesn.com/2013/04/josh-hamiltons-autograph-contains-christian-message-comment-on-fans-hair-photo/
Best guy in Cleveland right now Michael Bourn. He signed for my 4 year old son and spoke with him for a minute. Home or away, he always takes the time for all fans before the game. Great guy!
Hi Matt,
Everson Walls, supernice guy and really down to earth. Willing to sign anything, even “The Catch” SI which says a lot about him. Takes pics with fans for free etc. Also as most already know donated a kidney to teammate Ron Springs. Has a great book out-A Gift for Ron: Friendship and Sacrifice On and Off the Gridiron.
Outside of the big four sports, I’d have to go with UFC President Dana White. I attended a UFC weigh-in and he stayed after for over an hour in rainy conditions to sign items and take pictures with anyone who wanted one. He didn’t turn away one fan.
Dana White is a great guy, prior to his UFC days he worked at the Boston Harbor Hotel, which houses some of the visiting sports teams and celebs. He actually knows a few of the older Boston collectors and hooks a few up with free passes to UFC events and keeps in touch with them.
I’m going Jeff Bridges just because we both are huge fans!
* Pat Neshek – the guy is definitely the greatest active signer from any of the major sports
* Bobby Doerr – even through his nineties, the man has remained a signing machine. He’ll sign anything and everything TTM, and sometimes even throws in his own item.
* Sid Bream – the guy is one of the best TTM signers, and charges $1 for autographs, every penny of which goes to help fund the athletic program at a school. A very worthy cause, if you ask me.
* Goose Gossage – although he charges for his signature, he has set rates and gives collectors one of the most beautiful signatures I have ever seen! And, especially for a Hall of Famer, his rates are very reasonable.
* Jennie Finch – the lone non-MLB personality on my list of submissions, Jennie is arguably the greatest softball player of all-time, as well as one of the most famous US Olympians in the 2000, 2004, and 2008 games. She is an awesome signer, both TTM and in-person, and always gives fans a great signature.
* Josh Hamilton – My final nominee, Hamilton runs a close 2nd to Neshek for best active signer, in my mind. Despite being one of the biggest superstars in the game, Hamilton takes the time to gather all of his fanmail and hold onto all of it until season’s end, when he adds his John Hancock to every request sent him. Though I’ve not met him in person, I understand he’s also a fantastic signer face-to-face, as well.
Josh Hamilton is good with handling his mail requests usually in December.He is also good in person he doesn’t always get everyone but that’s understandable since he draws large crowds.His personal rule which he described to us Boston collectors is, he doesn’t sign on his off days and doesn’t sign on Sundays because its the Lords day.
I have two nominations – Drew Brees and Peyton Manning. Despite being huge superstars in the NFL, they set aside time to sign for their fans. Both QBs have been class acts for quite some time.
Drew Brees was super nice to us Pats fans during a training camp visit.They stayed at the Norwood Sheraton only minutes from my house, I figured this would be easy, Drew came out was going to sign when hotel security and NFL security rushed out to screw us over , we all jumped in our cars and tailed him over to Legal Seafoods at Legacy Place in Dedham where Drew graciously signed for all of us without the interruption of security.
Andrew Luck hasbeen great at staying around and signing despite his huge pre season and rookie season success.
Carlos Boozer. Was never a big fan of the Booz until I watched him, while injured and in street clothes, come out for warm-ups and sign for everyone, entering and exiting the floor.
Carlos Boozer is one of the classy dudes in the NBA, tries to ink it up every time asked by a collector and is usually good for 2 or 3, that’s incredible after being injured. I’ve only scene that once and was with Mike Cameron he rolled down his window outside Fenway and signed for everyone , this was the same day he hurt his groin real bad,I was amazed I don’t think I would have while being in pain.
I would like to nominate the former All-Star catcher of the Cincinnati Reds before Johnny Bench came to town and that would be Johnny Edwards. He also caught one of Jim Maloney’s no hitters. He is a signing machine and signs anything and everything through the mail free.
Devin McCourty and his twin brother Jason love their fans. Always sign and stop for pics when asked. Always interacting with the fans on social media. Stand up athletes that don’t have the big heads.
The Mccourty Twins ate great with social media and love fan interaction. They were both nice while even playing a identity joke on the fans at their free signing for Pop Chips at Walgreens in Downtown Boston last month.
I was at that signing! They took a video interview with me about how i was fooled by the pranked they pulled. Lol
Babe Ruth was the first king of autographs. How many tens of thousands did he sign?
Chuck Bednarik is a signing legend both TTM and in person.
Chuck is great with ttms , he also takes time to fill out questionnaires ,I once asked , What current players do you like? His response, “None their overpaid and underplayed”.
Guy Lafleur is a machine at signing autographs, both in person and TTM.
I’ve also seen Joe Sakic be incredibly accomodating and signing for everyone who asked earlier this year at a Pee Wee tournament.
My nominee is Kevin Durant. He signed for me both times I went out to meet him. He told IP crew that he signs autographs because as a child he also sought after autographs from his favorite players. It takes one to know one.
David Price needs to be on this list. He just won the Cy Young and has Actually become and even better signed this year. In Texas he literally stood on a concrete barrier so he could reach the top of the dugout and spent a solid 10 minutes signing for everyone that wanted him. Some people got 3-4 items one at a time. And David never seemed bothered.
He signed for me while it was raining. Good nomination.
My nominee is PK Subban & Jonathan Huberdeau. They are two of the absolute nicest athletes that I have come across. He signs, takes pictures, talks to the fans…a true class act.
To change sports, Marcell Dareus is also a friendly and wonderful signer the 2 times that I have dealt with him.
I would have to say jerod mayo, he took so much time at training camp to sign and take pictures with the fans!
I know he recently passed away but I think it would be nice to send one to his daughter-Virgil Trucks. He was truly amazing to his fans.
Carl Erskine has been extremely generous to me and others as well.
JACKIE BRADLEY JR..he would sit there and sign everything you put in front of him,always smiling,and happy to take pics…just hope he stays true to himself in boston…
I’m going down the NHL route, Pekka Rinne and Nikolai Khabibulin are both great with the fans. I put Khabibulin 1st simply because he has a classic graph even after all these years in the game. Both guy’s will sign until everyone is gone.
Jesse Biddle
Baseball – Pat Neshek
Hockey – Jarome Iginla
Basketball – Ricky Rubio
I would like to nominate Virgil Trucks. Mr. Trucks was one of the best TTM signers, and while I have never had the pleasure, I have heard that he was the epitome of a gentleman in-person.
Second on my list would have to be Bobby Doerr, a Hall of Famer who has been a true friend to the hobby.
Although I mostly do baseball, I would also like to nominate Andy Robustelli, who has always signed for me and included extras when I mailed 8x10s of him a few years ago.
This type of award should definitely go to someone that has been great to and for this hobby for decades…consistency, year in year out. You know, the kind of guy that thanks YOU for asking him for his autograph. No doubt Bobby Doerr is about as good as it gets, but to go with a rival of the Red Sox, why not former Yank Bobby Shantz….a small man in stature, but certainly not a small heart. Whether in person or ttm, there aren’t many nicer than Shantz and he seems like a man that most of us could strive to be like.
I have three nominations:
1. Matt Kemp: Everyone’s seen the video of him signing a ball and giving his cap, jersey, and spikes to the fan in SF, but he’s somebody that signs each and every game, whether he’s going good or going bad (Let’s face it; it’s been a lot of bad since his shoulder injury). He’s incredibly great with kids, often sponsoring kid’s visits to the ballpark from hospitals, and gets to as many fans as he can each and every game.
2. Gio Gonzalez: I only saw him one game as a visiting player, but I was incredibly impressed that on the road, he basically signed and took pictures for each and every person from first base all the way down the right field line of the stands in LA. Obviously it was a day he wasn’t pitching, but people came and went and he kept going until nobody needed anything else. Best example I’ve seen as a road player.
3. I also echo the earlier sentiments about Josh Hamilton. Prior to Game 1 of the World Series in SF 2010, I was up in the crowd on the RF arcade and saw him signing along the first base line. Decided to give it a shot to get down there, figuring there was no way to get through the throng of people and down there in time. Much to my surprise, he was still signing and taking pics with people when I finally got down there and even made a second pass.
I am going with my own homer pick. Rockies catcher Wilin Rosario. Not only does his signature look nice on thru sweet spot. But he is genuinely a good guy that appreciates his fans and takes the extra time to make sure fans get the sig they’ve sought all day at the park.
One of the best signers out there is Tyler Austin of the New York Yankees. Although Tyler, one of the best Yankee’s prospect, is not a house hold name like Josh Hamilton, he alway does his best to sign everything for everyone. Many of you are unaware of this but minor league games often attracts thousands of fans and dozens of graphers and even lower tier minor league players has started to be less accommodating but not Tyler Austin. During spring training the New York Times ran an article about Derek Jeter and how hundreds of fans line up by his car only to hear that he isn’t signing or he’s only signing for the first 10, Tyler Austin’s mom recalls Tyler standing in line waiting for autographs as a child and he understands how you only can take someone’s day just by signing their cards or pictures. He is now known to sign multiples without being asked and will try his hardest accommodate everyone. Even as a collector and now one of the best Yankees prospect, Tyler Austin should get the nod as one of the best signing players in baseball.
I personally lean towards going another way and saying I’d recognize all the players in the minors. Those kids put up with all of us hounds bombarding them day after day from the day they step foot on diamond after being drafted (Some before.) and for the most part.. they happily oblige our requests. Some have limits, but even the toughies are obtainable. Just for everything they put up with.. I’d like to throw a vote their way!
Johnny Pesky is my favorite signer of all time! He always would stop for a fan or set up his folding chair by the player’s lot as people lined up. He could never say no! As Dick Flavin said at his memorial, “Every Johnny autograph has a story!” and hears my best one:
Opening Day 2009. I weaseled my way to the front row right by home plate just by netting on the home team side for the opening ceremony. Ted Kennedy throw out the 1st pitch. I pulled out a ball, but no chance for Ted. I look over by home and see Pesky at the mic about to say “Play Ball.” I thought,’here’s my chance!’ I called Pesky over and started to hand him my ball. He did one better! He pulled a BP ball out his pocket and handed it to ME! Yes ME! I was excited beyond words!
Johnny was slowly getting sicker that year and I didn’t get another chance to meet him at the ballpark that year. (Even though I went to 15+ pregnant the entire season!) I inevitably paid to have the the priceless ball signed on the sweet spot.
“Johnny Pesky 6”
Opening Day 2009
Play Ball!
Stay classy Mr. Red Sox. Rest in peace!
Virgil Trucks, what better way to honor the best signer in any sport thsn to remember him after his passing. The man was a great on an off the field. R.I.P. to you Mr. Trucks
Also, Bobby Doerr, he has had a stroke recently and is 95 years old and STILL SIGNING. Both of these men have done so much for us fans who most of us weren’t even born before they retired.
Great nominees so far, so instead of mentioning one’s that have been said already(like Josh Hamilton and Bobby Doerr), I will nominate someone new and that would be, Mariano Rivera. He is a future first ballot Hall of Famer and still signs like a Machine. I attended a Yankees – Rays game around a month ago in Tampa and from 6-7pm before the game he signed the whole left field line til the game started. Not one other player signed pregame, but he went to town hooking up anyone and everyone. He is always a class act and the best ambassador the game of baseball has. I would definitely put him in the class of 2013.
I’ve always had good luck with Lou Brock. He is so happy to talk a little with fans when you meet him.
I’d have to nominate David price who came out of a dugout once with his own blue sharpie and started signing for fans who were standing by the dugout just hangin out and he knocked out multiples, sweet spots, switched pens and was nice to everyone for 15 minutes. And of course the recently departed Virgil Trucks who signed up until he had to stop because he was upset his signature was too shaky that he felt he was ruining collectors items.
Dwight Howard is always up for signing an autograph. He is probably the best superstar signer in the league. Here’s a video of a grapher asking him for money. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I33hYjJuZt0
Personally my vote would be Shaquille O’Neal, very nice guy met him in 2012 for his new book. Got that signed it was very nice to meet him, wasn’t a stuck up player like some of the players in this Era of the NBA. Great with little kids and families. By far he is my nominee for this letter of them.
I have to say Will Smith he’s the best about signing for his fans. He was signing in Dallas and a collector had managed to get 2 autographs. Another collector called him out in front of Will. Saying “he already has 2 he’s just going to sell them I haven’t even gotten one”. Will came over to the guy and said he let me sign for you. Then as signing Will said I don’t care if someone sells my autograph, if it means putting food on their table I’m glad I could help out. He signed everything the guy had. Before getting on bus he asked did everybody get what they wanted signed? I’ve met a ton of celebs. he’s by far the nicest of the superstars.
Vincent Jackson, not only one of the nicest players I have ever met, he sent my four year old auto’d 8 x 10, hat and gloves for his 4th birthday…in season! Continually stuns me with his generosity.
As many others have said, Pat Neshak is by far one of the biggest contributers to the TTM world. He continued to sign and send out autographs throughout the most painful time of his life (the death of his child).
Pat Neshek
2 guys come to mind:
1. Dirk Nowitzki: the guy has been a star in the NBA for years and doesn’t miss a single person who sends to him TTM. Rarely do you see veteran stars like Nowitzki that sign every piece of fan mail they receive.
2. Another would have to be Jamey Carroll. I go to about 20 Minnesota Twins games every year and I have yet to attend a game where Jamey hasn’t signed for at least 10-15 minutes. He may not be a huge star but he still takes time to sign for his fans.
We need more guys like Dirk and Jamey in sports.
Al “Ox”Wistert
When you send him items, he not only signs them he will call you if you give your number. He is a great of the game and of the hobby.
The nicest athlete I’ve ever had sign for me was Mike Sweeney of the Royals. He’s retired now, but I’ll never forget how nice he was to his fans the one time I met him at Spring Training.
I would vote for Shane Doan of the Phoenix Coyotes, as a star hockey player he is easily on of the most personable players and willingly signs whatever people want. One time he was running late for the bus and told all the graphers “I am sorry, i am really late so I can only sign 3 each”
I also think Roger Waters gets a nomination because he makes himself very available to fans. He has all the fans line up before concerts and will sign one each for everyone, he has his own pens but will switch when requested. He will do this multiple times per city, at the hotel and venue.For a founding member of such an iconic band like Pink Floyd to give so much of his time to fans is unreal.