The I Heart Trent Edwards Club

Last Friday before Matt and I left for training camp, I received a call that Ryan was in great distress.

I offered to send Matt over to hold him, but he said it was only a flat tire and as much as he appreciated Matt, could I just pick him up.

Once I had him in the car with me, he told me a deep dark secret which I then decided to share with the Internet. He has a bucket list for my life. Not his own life, mind you, but mine. From what I can gather, there is only one thing on the list: Get a picture of myself with my arm around Trent Edward's neck, possibly with Trent and myself flashing a thumbs-up at the camera. Ryan has big dreams. Who am I to not achieve them?

I wasn't 100% sure how I was going to achieve Ryan's goal, but I took my camera anyway. When you first arrive at St. John Fisher's College for training camp, you are ushered into a tent full of sponsor tables. At the second table Matt and I arrived at, a  middle-aged women offered me a bag that said VERIZON/BUFFALO BILLS, and I accepted. Honestly how could I not? I'm fairly certain that I saw a picture of Lindsey Lohan carrying the same exact bag when they released her from jail last week. Fashion scores aside, the women with the bag says to me, " I really hope Trent plays well this year."

Me too, lady.

Then, with no prompting whatsoever she launched into the following conversation to with me: "I really worry about him. I hope he doesn't get another concussion. He's such a good guy. He's such a good role model and a good person. I would be so worried if he got another concussion. He's such a good Christian man. He such a wonderful person..."

I couldn't figure out why she was gushing about Trent to me, but I do have a few ideas.

One: she's his mother, and he got her a job handing out bags at the Verizon booth. He's a self-proclaimed "mama's boy," so this is a viable option.

Two: The Verizon woman could feel that she and I were kindred spirits. Eternally linked by our love of all things Trent Edwards. Or,

Three: God sent me the Verizon woman to aid in my quest for a picture of myself with Trent. Even though I'm confident that God cares about Ryan's bucket list for my life, Verizon lady failed to get me close to Trent. This is why I use AT&T.

I did manage to get a picture of Trent. We were so close together. He was totally into me.

Here he's walking between the other red shirted QBs asking them for advice about ways to impress me. He's got it bad.

He decided to play it cool and try to impress me with his NFL caliber QBing skills.

I know you are disappointed that I didn't meet Trent and also that I failed to take a picture with him, but don't worry, all hope is not lost. If you recall, last year at the Hall of Fame game, I only got pictures of the back of Trent's head. This year, I got a picture of his side instead. Baby steps, my friends, baby steps. Next year: Face. You heard me right. I'm totally getting a picture of his face next year.

In the meantime, I'll have to settle with this picture of the sidelines I took by accident when Trent was close enough for a good picture.

 I think I can see his shadow in there somewhere.