If only more business owners took the time to listen to their potential customers. A 12-Year-Old Wrote a Letter to Each NFL Team – And Only One Responded By EMILY SHAPIRO Jan 12, 2015, 6:28 PM After a 12-year-old from Yukon, Oklahoma, hand-wrote letters to executives of 32 NFL teams, he was shocked and delighted to receive a personal response from the owner of the Carolina Panthers, who have undoubtedly made a fan for life. Courtesy Heather Pope When Heather Popes son Cade was home sick from school the week before Christmas, he was kind of bored and needed something to occupy his time, so he asked his parents if he could write to every professional football team. Cade penned 32 letters—-one to the CEO, owner, or president of each team. Pope said they decided to go that higher route because getting a response from them would be harder but more meaningful. So we werent quite sure what we could get back, if we could get back anything, she added. Courtesy Heather Pope PHOTO: After a 12-year-old from Yukon, Oklahoma, hand-wrote letters to executives of 32 NFL teams, he was shocked to receive a personal response from the owner of the Carolina Panthers. On December 26, Cade sent 16 letters to the NFC teams. On January 5, he sent 16 letters to the AFC teams. A letter to Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson was in the first batch. Cade wrote, My family and I love football. We play fantasy football and watch NFL games every weekend. My parents are St. Louis Rams fans. My brother is a Kansas City Chiefs fan. I dont have a team to cheer for yet. I am ready to pick an NFL team to cheer on for a lifetime! Pope said, With Christmas and different activities it took him about three weeks to hand-write all of those letters. He didnt really have one team that he wanted to hear from, she said. He just wanted to see what kind of response hed get. Last Thursday, Pope was pulling into her driveway when a delivery man arrived with a box from the Panthers. Cade was still at school, but she texted him a photo. I asked him to guess which team it was and gave him a hint that they were in the playoffs. The Panthers was his first guess. When Cade came home he opened the package to find a signed Carolina Panthers helmet as well as a handwritten note from Richardson. Pope said the first line of Richardsons kind response stood out most. The team owner wrote, We would be honored if our Carolina Panthers became your team. We would make you proud by the classy way we would represent you. Richardson also talked very highly of some of his players. Pope said Cade was overjoyed that he got that kind of response. Richardson takes fan mail extremely seriously, said Panthers Director of Communications Steven Drummond. He is one of those owners who will get the mail every day and read it and always write handwritten responses. While the letter now resides in Cades room, Pope says its the gesture that impressed her most. Its not the merchandise, its not the items they sent us, she said. Its what they tell us. Why he should be their fan.
Posted on: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 04:07:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015