A perplexing question, but not one without merit. . .
I have a favorite hockey jersey that I bought from the NJ Devils fan club a while back, with my favorite player’s number and name (#15, John MacLean). Sewn on. Cost me a few bucks, but it was a “To:ME From:ME” birthday present.
Anyway, I’ve been wearing this thing for awhile, both on and off the ice, and use it pretty regularly for my novice hockey league (we’re the red team). Anyway, I heard this past year that Johnny Mac came back to the Devils as an assistant coach and said to myself, “HAY! Maybe I can get his autograph on my jersey!”
So, what’s the process? I assume I can e-mail the team and ask, but has anyone done this before? I’d send it in a package with a return label and postage, and a marker, so all he’s gotta do is sign it and send it. Would this work, or is there something else I gotta do?
I swear, I’m gushing like a little kid on Christmas morning about this. . .
Hmm… I dunno but it sounds kinda risky to me. I think most pro atheletes are great people but they are usually on the road without a lot of time. You could insure the jersey. I’d email the team’s website and ask.
I’m not positive, but I always assumed that a team’s fan club never really came into contact with the team. Like the club could be based on one side of the country, and the object of their affections on the other. I’m not really sutre where I got this impression from, and I’m not involved in any clubs though, so I could be mistaken.
Back in my sport card collecting days I routinly sent cards to be signed. I always sent them to the team and I had a 98% success rate. Almost all major league sports teams have someone from the promotions department handle requests such as these. In your case, I would contact the team and ask if your request was possible.
When Matt Williams (3B, Arizona) was playing for the Giants, I sent a card to him through the team to be signed. A month later I received a box in the mail from the Giants, it included a baseball signed by about a dozen players, an signed 8 X 10 picture of Darren Lewis, and a souvinir program. My envelope was also in the box, unopened.
Don’t send anything unless you won’t mind if you never get it back. Unless you can catch him before a game or practice or at a card show or something, I’d advise against mailing a jersey.
That being said, I got a football card signed by Brett Favre simply by sending a SASE to the Packers. Of course, this was before he hit it really big (I think it was his second year in Green Bay).
And even then, I don’t think a fan or booster club is the right place to send things. Just send a SASE to the player’s name c/o the teams mailing address, which should be pretty easy to find.
[minor hijack] Welby got himself a 2003 calendar signed by all of the Redskins cheerleaders and YOU didn’t. Soem of them even said they LOVE me. Neener neener neener.[/minor hijack]
Jonathan Chance is dead on. Find out who handles thier PR and see if they can help you.