As a thick crowd watched, one man passed his prosthetic leg — complete with shoe and sock — to Dallas Cowboys kicker David Buehler, who promptly signed it.
Military men, meanwhile, had no qualms using their uniforms to attract the attention of players in town this week for the annual training camp, all the while prodding them to take care of the Navy.
Indeed, rabid fans appeared to use any edge they could to gain their favorite player’s autograph.
Parents sent their children into the trenches, for example, often with great results. Some, on the other hand, didn’t wait for their kids to be born — and asked players to sign their pregnant bellies.
No method is too farfetched in the quest for NFL autographs.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Tinch was with a group of fellow Navy recruiters Wednesday morning at the Alamodome. As die-hard Cowboys fans, they wanted nothing more than some famous signatures.
“The chase of trying to get the autographs is what it’s all about,” said Tinch, a San Antonio native. “We get to watch them on TV; that’s as close as we get to get as a normal person.”
Every autograph seeker seems to use a different method. Whether it’s a string tied around a football and dangled down the tunnel, a jersey hung over a wall or repeatedly yelling a player’s name, each method works — sometimes.
Tinch and his fellow sailors had what some might see as an unfair advantage: their uniforms. But apparently, that’s fine with them.
“We try to use the military, unfortunately, as a way to try to get (autographs), but it don’t work very often,” Tinch said. “We’ve tried to use it beyond the normal — we’ve tried to get on the field and it ain’t working. We’re trying to use every opportunity or every asset that we have to get us who we need, really.