Hometown Celebs Serve Smiles and Hope for Free

Mike Thomas and Darryl Smith of the NFL Jaguars franchise bring smiles and give  'graphs to fans at Jax Winn Dixie.

There were no big I's and little you's at a neighborhood Winn Dixie store when NFL players Darryl Smith and Mike Thomas from the Jacksonville Jaguars posted up in the fresh produce section to chat it up and sign autographs.

Win/Win fan meets fave player, player meets a fan who wears his jersey

I remember the first famous person I met. It was in fourth grade and Muhammad Ali came to Daytona Beach FL to do a benefit for a local Boys & Girls Club. It's the only autograph I've ever asked for and I still have it more than three decades later.

 

Few athletes have leveraged their cache the way Ali did. He spoke out and spoke up on the social issues of the day. He was front and center in the Civil Rights Movement.

Simply put, he made a difference.

And that's exactly what Mike Thomas did at this signing. A father came up to him with a picture Mike had taken with his son at another event to have it signed. Turns out the son has a degenerative bone disease and has had to undergo multiple surgeries. Mike got on the phone with the kid -- delight for both son and dad. Then he took it a step further, asking one of the organizers to ping him when the kid goes into the hospital his next go round so he can visit.

Small thing? I don't think so.

There's always room for "the greatest" in each of us and we all have the opportunity to build that one encounter at a time.

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