Derek Jeter
Written by workhomeunion, Wednesday September 23 2009
The Captain of the New York Yankees, Mr. Derek Sanderson Jeter has been one of my favorite players for the past decade. He's always ranked right up there with MJ, Marcus Allen, Walter Peyton, and Jerry Rice.
Speaking of Jerry Rice, I actually had the pleasure of meeting the great wide receiver when he was in his prime playing with the San Francisco 49ers. Mr. Rice was extremely nice and appeared to be very down-to-earth. I was actually looking at how fine his wife was and turned around to look at her figure and realized, "hey, that's Jerry Rice!" So I made a 180-degree turn, approached him and his spouse, shook his hand and told him how much I admired him as an athlete. I did not ask for an autograph, as I've never been an "autograph" type of guy. As a sports fan, when I've run into a "celebrity" I'm ok with just saying hello and a hand shake. Besides, superstar athletes are human just like me, they just make tons more money than I do. That's pretty much how I look at it.
Most of the athletes I've come across over the past 20 years have been cordial, with the exception of Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson. I saw Mr. Jackson in downtown Oakland some 20 years ago. I passed by him on the road as he headed to a Goodyear. I parked across the street, ran over to the Goodyear, extended my hand, and Reggie stated, "I don't have time," and walked away. I wasn't humiliated by the experience because there was really no one close enough to know what was said, but I was a little taken aback with how curt and rude he was. From that day to today, I'll never be a Reggie Jackson fan. I had heard rumors about Reggie being hot-tempered and somewhat beligerent, and in that brief exchange 20 plus years ago, I could see how those accusations could have been true. It's all good Mr. Jackson, you were one of the greatest homerun hitters the game has ever seen. It's your choice to be whatever type of human being you care to be. End of story.
This article is about the great Derek Jeter. Here's a guy who has been a class act his entire career, on and off the field. This guy has been so great for the Yankees, for baseball, and for athletes in general. He's humble, obviously well-grounded, and you never hear about anything negative going on off the field. It's almost as if women, and the press have given Jeter a pass. Women certainly admire him but you've never heard a woman tyring to slam his character. He's certainly a great interview, a sought after interview, but you rarely, if ever, hear the press criticize him.
Derek Jeter exudes class to the highest degree and as a diehard sports fan, I'd really like to see other athletes follow in his footsteps.
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