Our Buffalo Trip!
Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 9:12 am
So I mentioned to some of you guys that I took my 6 year old step-son Finley to his first Vikings game in Buffalo a few weeks ago.
So here's this amazing experience:
My good friend Nick, (the one that travels with me to Minnesota every year for a game), lives in Buffalo and found out what hotel the Vikings were staying at. So I booked a room for us for 2 nights there. Sure enough, right when we pull in to the hotel the day before the game the players are all over the place heading to dinner. Finley was beyond excited.
We get checked in and came right downstairs to the hotel lounge area waiting for players to come back from dinner. Sure enough the first one that walks in was Danielle Hunter. Finley was super shy handing him the football he brought but I got him to do it. Hunter signed it and was great. After that, Finley was a champ. I'd tell him who the big players were and he'd run right up to them with the ball. As you can imagine, I'm equally excited as he was. Next up, Cousins. And I will say, I have a whole new respect for this guy. He was asking Finley all sorts of questions and chatting with him. And stupid me left my phone over in the lounge area and couldnt get a picture so I asked Kirk if he minded waiting so I could run and grab it. He said yeah no problem at all. He was just awesome. After that, players were coming in right and left and he got autograph after autograph. Just an idea of how many he got.....
For the offensive starters, he got:
Coach Zim
Cousins
Cook
Diggs
Beebe
Rudy
Irv Smith
Elflein
Bradbury
O'Neill
Some add ins- Badet, Treadwell, Conklin
Defensive starters he got:
Hunter
Linval
Barr
Gedeon
Harrison
Alexander
Some add ins- Ifeadi, Wilson, Schult
The defense was tough because they came in to the lobby in a massive group. It was Rhodes, Kendricks, Barr, Griff, Waynes, Harris, etc. Then Cook came in right after. So we kind of had to pick and choose so he went up to Cook and Barr. He actually went up to Griff and Griff denied him which I thought was kind of a dic* move given we were the only fans down there.
Anyways, the best part was the morning of the game. Players were in and out of the lobby going to team meetings. All Finley wanted was Diggs and Thielen. I told him Thielen didnt travel so he was honed in on Diggs who we didnt see anywhere the night before. First thing, Zim comes down the escalator. He was great with Finn and signed his ball. Then Rudy comes out of nowhere so we got his autograph and picture.
Then all of the sudden I see 4 security guards line up around the escalator so I knew someone big was coming. Sure enough it was Diggs. Finley shot out of his chair and raced over to him. The security guard wouldnt let Finley approach him which was ridiculous IMO because again, he's 6 and the only fan down there. NEVER have I seen a kid so bummed in my life. So Diggs went over to the Starbucks that was in the lobby with security by his side. I told Finn when he walks by again, stand up and wave to him he's usually pretty good with kids. Sure enough, he did when he was walking by and Diggs smiled and waved back. I looked at him and said "Diggsy you mind just signing his ball real quick for him?" He said yeah no problem I got you. So as he was signing, Finley told him our puppy's name is Diggs. Diggs laughed and said tell your puppy I said hello. Pretty awesome experience
Anyways, Nick landed us field passes at the game so we were able to go down on the field during warmups. Sure enough, Cousins recognized Finn and came back over and also signed his hat and chatted with him again.
Overall, one of the coolest experiences I ever had. Not only was I excited but to see the excitement on Finley's face was amazing!
Diggs signing video: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1wZ4DwBUy5 ... wuxnoqkurv
Coach Zim signing video: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1wdLqMBFeG ... 918479w0zp
I'll post the pictures soon!
So here's this amazing experience:
My good friend Nick, (the one that travels with me to Minnesota every year for a game), lives in Buffalo and found out what hotel the Vikings were staying at. So I booked a room for us for 2 nights there. Sure enough, right when we pull in to the hotel the day before the game the players are all over the place heading to dinner. Finley was beyond excited.
We get checked in and came right downstairs to the hotel lounge area waiting for players to come back from dinner. Sure enough the first one that walks in was Danielle Hunter. Finley was super shy handing him the football he brought but I got him to do it. Hunter signed it and was great. After that, Finley was a champ. I'd tell him who the big players were and he'd run right up to them with the ball. As you can imagine, I'm equally excited as he was. Next up, Cousins. And I will say, I have a whole new respect for this guy. He was asking Finley all sorts of questions and chatting with him. And stupid me left my phone over in the lounge area and couldnt get a picture so I asked Kirk if he minded waiting so I could run and grab it. He said yeah no problem at all. He was just awesome. After that, players were coming in right and left and he got autograph after autograph. Just an idea of how many he got.....
For the offensive starters, he got:
Coach Zim
Cousins
Cook
Diggs
Beebe
Rudy
Irv Smith
Elflein
Bradbury
O'Neill
Some add ins- Badet, Treadwell, Conklin
Defensive starters he got:
Hunter
Linval
Barr
Gedeon
Harrison
Alexander
Some add ins- Ifeadi, Wilson, Schult
The defense was tough because they came in to the lobby in a massive group. It was Rhodes, Kendricks, Barr, Griff, Waynes, Harris, etc. Then Cook came in right after. So we kind of had to pick and choose so he went up to Cook and Barr. He actually went up to Griff and Griff denied him which I thought was kind of a dic* move given we were the only fans down there.
Anyways, the best part was the morning of the game. Players were in and out of the lobby going to team meetings. All Finley wanted was Diggs and Thielen. I told him Thielen didnt travel so he was honed in on Diggs who we didnt see anywhere the night before. First thing, Zim comes down the escalator. He was great with Finn and signed his ball. Then Rudy comes out of nowhere so we got his autograph and picture.
Then all of the sudden I see 4 security guards line up around the escalator so I knew someone big was coming. Sure enough it was Diggs. Finley shot out of his chair and raced over to him. The security guard wouldnt let Finley approach him which was ridiculous IMO because again, he's 6 and the only fan down there. NEVER have I seen a kid so bummed in my life. So Diggs went over to the Starbucks that was in the lobby with security by his side. I told Finn when he walks by again, stand up and wave to him he's usually pretty good with kids. Sure enough, he did when he was walking by and Diggs smiled and waved back. I looked at him and said "Diggsy you mind just signing his ball real quick for him?" He said yeah no problem I got you. So as he was signing, Finley told him our puppy's name is Diggs. Diggs laughed and said tell your puppy I said hello. Pretty awesome experience
Anyways, Nick landed us field passes at the game so we were able to go down on the field during warmups. Sure enough, Cousins recognized Finn and came back over and also signed his hat and chatted with him again.
Overall, one of the coolest experiences I ever had. Not only was I excited but to see the excitement on Finley's face was amazing!
Diggs signing video: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1wZ4DwBUy5 ... wuxnoqkurv
Coach Zim signing video: https://www.instagram.com/p/B1wdLqMBFeG ... 918479w0zp
I'll post the pictures soon!
