Who's your dream coach to play football? For sure some of you would say Bill Belichick or Jim Harbaugh. But for me, it's Al Pacino all the way! He's proven himself to be one hell of a coach in the movie, "Any Given Sunday," and if I were Jamie Foxx and Ll Cool J, I wouldn't act like such a punk in front of him. As someone who played football in college at the time when the movie premiered, I was one of those athletes that got really touched by that movie, and so I just had to have the legend's autograph.
Through the years, I've gotten the rest of the cast to sign my posters. Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, James Woods, and of course, Foxx and Cool J. But the great Al Pacino? I thought I'd just forget about it! What are the chances that punk like me will ever get to see that big legend? But man, every time I watch the movie, I just can't help but go for it. Go travel all over the country just to find him and get him to sign my posters.
And so I did! As a Midwesterner, I rarely go to the Coasts. I just think the guys over there are crazy! But if I ever want to meet Al Pacino, I had no choice but to get out of my comfort zone. So, out of the blue, I bought myself a ticket and went to New York. I heard that the screen icon was there filming for his upcoming Scorcese film with De Niro, "The Irishman" (Boy! What a film that will be!).
At first, I was stupid to think they'd be filming in Manhattan. But I didn't have a choice since my wife wanted to see all the tourist spots in New York. But when I had my free time, I made my time to Staten Island. I hear from the grapevine that it was one of the spots where they were filming the movie. But of course, just my luck, when I got there, they had moved to Brooklyn.
The next day, I went there and fortunately, there they were! There was the big man himself, with his slick back hair a'la Michael Corleone. He looked older, yes, but still as frightening and intimidating as ever. But I still had one hurdle to get over: to actually get to talk to him. Security was tight, so how was I going to get near him to sign my posters? Well, turns out, I didn't have to. Pacino himself went to chat with us fans for a little bit. There weren't a lot of us then, which was maybe why he was confident enough to approach us.
I finally met him. One of my lifelong heroes. I came up to him, he signed my posters, and he went on to continue filming again. It was a brief moment, but one that I will never forget. So, did I look like a jackass spending hundreds of dollars just go get a person's autograph? Probably. But was it all worth it? You bet it was!
Please note: Our inventory is limited as we may have only received a few posters in total. Most of our items are obtained from film premieres, studios, and from autographed hounds such as the one in the story above.
