DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum Got to meet Troy Smith this weekend..

Yeah, yeah, I know he's a Ratbird now... but he is still a Heisman Trophy winner from OSU too!

(I know even that's a sore spot for some folks here too... weirdos! )

Anyway, he had an autograph signing at my friends store, and I volunteered to help out at the show, just so I could get a chance to meet him. I was originally assigned to work the line in the mall outside the store. But right as they started the line up, my friend grabbed me and said he needed me in a different spot...

He led me in to the room where Troy was, and took me around the table right next to him. My new "job" was to take people's tickets(receipts) and let Troy know how many autographs they paid for.

The line died down a couple times throughout the day, so we got to chat a bit.. but I was a little nervous as to what type of small talk to make, or whether he wanted to be bothered. He got plenty of "good luck this year" wishes, along with a lot of "except when you're playing the Browns!" tags.

All in all, it was a lot of fun! He was in a good mood, and while customers weren't allowed to come behind the table for pics (they could take them from the other side of the table), he did allow the folks working the show to get some pics in when the customers weren't around.

I got very jealous about some of the things I saw people having signed... full-sized helmets w/ all the living (Buckeye) Heisman winners, great old footballs and pics with signatures of lots of famous greats! I especially liked an old one of the band doing script Ohio, with a lot of old sigs on it.

It was also great to see some of the kids who were just getting into football. A lot of dads said things like, "My son is playing QB in little league now, and you are the reason he wanted to play in the first place... wants to be just like you some day! etc..." Troy was really beaming from ear to ear when people said those things.. he really did seem flattered.

While my buddy would've liked to have had a few more people come through the line, it still went off without a hitch. And Troy's people told us many times after he left that that's the best mood they've seen him in during one of these shows. (especially as far as letting extra pics be taken etc)

There were a couple GREAT shots of him holding my friends' baby:


Here's one during the show:


And here's one of Troy and I:

Pretty cool, sounds like a great time

Did he say anything about the ravens? or how his QB competition is goin?

They have been advertising an upcoming golf outing (on WKNR) which will be hosted by Troy & Josh Cribbs. Several other pro's with local ties (Donte Whitner, Anthony Gonzalez, Chris Chambers etc) will be playing in this tournament. They mentioned that he's bringing along the Heisman so fans can get pictures of him with the it.

even though he was 19-for-28 for 342 yards against ND in the '06 fiesta, its a very heartwarming story that he wasn't a tool about the whole thing and that kids do look up to athletes today as role models.

I hope he's a good person and has a good career (except against us). Maybe the Rats love Flacco so much they'll ship him off to another team and he'll have success, preferably in the NFC.

He's a left-hander also. good call.

nice pics brad

Hey brad would that happen to be the store in the findlay mall? From the pics it looks like it is.

Cool story bro. If there is one player in OSU history I'd like to meet, it's Troy Smith. -He was given one of the last scholarsips as a Freshman, and he didn't even have a position when he signed. He got into a little trouble early on. Many people (myself included) didn't think he should ever start over Justin Zwick until the '05 game in Columbus against Texas. Then he ends up guiding us to a Fiesta Bowl victory and an undefeated 2006 campaign in which he was brilliant, plus, he brought another Heisman trophy to the Buckeye family. - I love him. On top of all that, He's from CLEVELAND! I love it! Good luck to Troy. Glad you got to meet him.

LOL No I do not have x-ray vision. It also was baby gap for a while, and i could tell by the hard wood floors and wall. I wish I was there that would have been cool to get some autographs. If he plans on having anymore sessions with other pro athletes it would be awesome if you could post it on here in advance so I could make the trip over there.