Bobby Humphrey

Note to self...do not blog about your travel experiences until you trip is complete!

I had a very exciting experience on the plane ride home last night. Well...exiciting for me because I love football!! I was sitting in my seat on the airplane and a man sat down next to me (across the isle) and asked me if I was an Alabama fan. I said no I was rooting for the Longhorns. He said, "Oh I thought because of your crimson coat you were a fan." I said, "No I just like red." We began to make small talk and I asked him if he had gone to the game and he said he had. After he told me that he was from Birmingham, AL I asked why he was going to Lexington. He told me that his son and family were at University of Kentucky because his son is being recruited to play football. I asked what his son's last name was so that if he did come to UK I would look out for him. He said it's Humphrey.

At this point in the conversation I had a feeling this guy was a football player. So I asked if he played and he told me he played for Alabama. Then I asked if he played pro and he told me he did and that he was taken in the first round by the Denver Broncos in 1989.

For all of you football fans out there here are few statics about Bobby Humphrey. In his four seasons playing for the Crimson Tide, Humphrey rushed for 3,420 yards, caught 60 passes for 523 yards, and scored 40 touchdowns. He made the College Football All-America Team in 1986 and 1987. In 1986, he set a school record with 1,471 rushing yards. In 1987, he was voted as UPI's offensive player of the year and finished 10th in the Heisman Trophy balloting. During his rookie season in the NFL, he rushed for 1,151 yards and seven touchdowns for the Broncos as they qualified for Super Bowl XXIV, but were defeated 55-10 by the San Francisco 49ers. Humphrey, however, played well, finishing the game as the Broncos leader in both rushing (61 yards) and receiving (31 yards). He followed his impressive rookie performance with a Pro Bowl selection in 1990, rushing for 1,202 yards and seven touchdowns in 1990. He played in 1992 and 1993 for the Miami Dolphins. Pretty cool huh?!?!?

Bobby and I talked the entire 2 hours and 5 minutes of the flight about everything in life from his wife and five children (3 boys and 2 girls), my upcoming marriage, our jobs, religion, football and more! Bobby shared with me his run in with drugs, alcohol, the law and getting shot while playing for the Miami Dolphins and how he nearly lost his wife during that time. He told me that when the drugs and alcohol could not fulfill him anymore he turned to the Lord and got his life back on track. He and his wife have started a non-profit organization in Birmingham called Speed City to get inner city kids involved in a track program.

At the end of the flight Bobby and I exchanged business cards. I told him that if his son chose to go to school at Kentucky that we would love to have he and his family over for dinner. Since I gate checked my bag I had to wait in the jet bridge for it. Bobby actually waited for me in the terminal so we could walk out together. I saw that as a prime opportunity to go ahead and get his autograph, which I'm sure made his day!!

I learned something very valuable during my flight home last night. Always be willing to have a conversation with the person seated next to you on an airplane...you never know what kind of story you will have to tell.