Buffalo Rumblings
I know, crazy right? It’s hard to imagine Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas rocking anything but the red, white, and blue… ahem. It’s true though, Thomas has paired with an NFC contender and I get to be the one to break the news to many of you before you see his likeness surrounded by black and green.
Wait, what? What NFC team wears black and green? No, it’s not the Seahawks or the Eagles. I’m talking about VeriLing. Thurman Thomas and his wife Patti, aka “The Ghost,” have attached themselves to a near field communication (NFC) company looking to change the “tag” game. This is a Bills site though, so let me take a detour toward fandom first.
The only reason I know anything about VeriLink is because my friend and sister saw Thurman Thomas promoting a limited gathering at The Ghost’s gallery for a jersey signing. For free, which is a magic word for us. We managed to score enough tickets for four of us (sister, friend, daughter, myself) and off we went.
As an aside, based on my pseudonym you might expect that I would appreciate a spooky alias like “The Ghost.” You’d be right. It’s awesome.
Having met Thurman and The Ghost last year when they were promoting their wine, my friend and I were pretty confident they’d be somewhat easy going on the “jersey” signing. You see, we didn’t have Thurman Thomas jerseys exactly. We did, however, have Thurman Thomas jersey shaped rally towels from a few years back and as expected he was happy to sign those.
There’s my towel. You’ll likely notice the other swag, we’ll come back to that in a moment. But first, more fanboying.
They say “never meet your heroes.” If your hero is Thurman Thomas, that saying can **** right off. Both times I’ve had the chance to see him in person, he’s been one of the most gracious and accommodating people I’ve ever met. Wait “one of?” Yup. There are likely others just as gracious and accommodating out there that won’t make it into this article, but he can’t take top honors even here. At least solo. Patti is right there with him. I also admit I’m fond of her artwork.
Now on to the swag. Well, first let’s talk about what great hosts they were first for a second. In addition to a free signing by a Hall of Famer, they had wine and cold beer available for everyone (well not my kid who isn’t 21 yet). I might have told my friend to grab me one for later, which may or may not have been consumed as I sat down to write this.
I may be gushing at this point, but sincerely this was a fantastic experience from the Thomas’ so thank you to Thurman and The Ghost.
Now about that viral marketing campaign alluded to in the heading. The signing and swag weren’t completely free. They politely...
