Steeler Nation - Thank You Hines!

It is good to have a friend who's well connected. Thus is the case with my long time friend Mike Jones. To the kids, they refer to him as Uncle Mike. Mike and I share one significant inseparable connection.....The Steelers. You see, He and I met the first day of school for 6th grade, me wearing a Steeler jacket, and he wearing a smile. Instant friendship.

So the connected part, well it turns out that he has a friend in his ward that owed him a favor. That friend happens to be a manager of celebrity and athlete events. As such, he has a list of well known individuals who owe him favors, one of which, Hines Ward, the NFL's best receiver. You can connect the dots; Hines owes friend of Mike's a favor AND friend owes Mike a favor. Translation = We're going to the MNF Steelers game in Denver!

Well no game would be complete without some creative signage that was designed to capture the attention of ESPN's camera crew. Every Steeler fan knows that John Elway was Big Ben's idol growing up (inspiration for the #7 jersey), therefore the theme of the signage would be: Every Seven Prevails in Denver!

After plans were made, Mike ended up with an extra ticket. Mike graciously offered it up to me to take one of the boys. It was a dilemma but ultimately Tommy had never been to a Steeler game, whereas Logan had. You see, Logan and I went to a 49er v. Steeler MNF game at "The Stick" back in 2003. This time it was to be Tommy's turn.

That little boy was in Football Heaven.....He said "daddy, I've never seen so many Steeler fans in one place"

Here you can see a Dad and Son kicking it in the "Steeler Family Section". That's Brett Keisel's dad behind me. Way cool people.

After the game we took a photo OP with Brett Keisel's mom. He had 2 sacks that night, way to go Brett!

Hungry for some post-game calories, we hit a McDonalds drive through. Tommy was in and out of sleep as he was trying to chew down his burger. Had to take a pic!

While Willie Parker has always been his favorite, Tommy had a once of a lifetime experience with WP's replacement Rashard Mendenhall. After Rashard completed his post-game interview, he ran off the field. There to greet him as he approached the players tunnel????? Tommy with hand stretched out for a brisk high five. Like Mean Joe Green and the young boy in the infamous Coca Cola commercial, they shared a special post-game moment.