The power of the internet can be pretty crazy! Â I’m sure everyone has tweeted to their favorite celebrity or pro athlete at some point or another, but not everyone can say it lead to having lunch with them! Â Check the jump for the full story!
@DJMatthewTyler x Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
At 9:39 AM on January 31st, Steelers Wide Reciever Antonio Brown Tweeted “Idianapolis #steelernation talk to me!” … 10 minutes later one of his fans, Seth Paladin, responsed with a proposal.  “Let’s get lunch!  How’s 12:30?” … and the rest is history!
“When I first tweeted at him, I thought there was a very slim chance that he’d see it,” Paladin said. “When he replied, I thought to myself, ‘This is crazy.'”
Kevin Durant, in the mood to play flag football during the lockout, was told there was a game at nearby Oklahoma State. He showed up. Chad Ochocinco treated 66 of his Twitter followers to a fancy dinner. Shaquille O’Neal offered tickets to a game for anyone who tagged him in a mall. He gave away 30 tickets that day.
But no professional athlete has ever spent the kind of time with a fan that Antonio Brown spent with Seth Paladin during Super Bowl week.
After a series of replies, direct messages, texts, and calls, Brown eventually invited Paladin to his hotel. They immediately hit it off. With an open schedule, the two of them headed over to a local gym. Â Brown showed Paladin, a Pittsburgh native, his workout routine. They lifted weights. They swam laps in the pool.
And if the story stopped there, it would have been remarkable. But it was far from over.
That night, Paladin invited Brown to his friend’s birthday at the upscale chain, The Capital Grille. Brown, who signed a three-year, $1.29 million contract as a sixth-round draft pick in 2010 and made a second-year minimum of $450,000 this past season, graciously picked up the entire bill full of drinks, appetizers, entrees and dessert.
Brown then went with Seth, and his five friends, to the Pacers game, where Brown sat on the floor for what he said was his first time.
“I saw what guys like Ochocinco did on Twitter and I wanted to give it a try,” said Brown. “I know there’s a lot of support for us in Steeler Nation and it was fun to be with a fan and see what motivates him every day.”
And if it ended that night, it would have been an amazing story that at least Paladin would remember for the rest of his life.
But, the next morning, there the two were, Brown and Paladin, at the breakfast table after yet another workout session. After Brown made some appearances in Indy, they met for lunch. Seriously? Is this really happening? What could two total strangers have to talk about after spending so many hours together?
“We talked like any two young guys would,†said Paladin. “We talked about our families, sports and all things Steelers. There was never any awkward silence and the conversation flowed.â€
The next day, Paladin and Brown were working out again. They got massages. At night, they went to the Madden Bowl, where Brown arranged for his new friend to get access to the VIP area and introduced him to some of his NFL-playing friends.
So while Brown played, Paladin went to Saks Fifth Avenue and picked up the size 11 Gucci shoes Brown was looking for.
On Super Bowl Sunday, Brown had an early flight out of Indianapolis. But before he stepped in the car to go the airport, Paladin was in the hotel lobby waiting for him. Paladin told him how much the week meant to him and how he took out the time to make a fan’s dreams become reality.
“I realize we’ve been put in a position to be role models,” Brown said. “I’d gladly do this again.”
Source The Post Game
