Best Athlete-fan interactions

To be a famous athlete also means that millions of fans are supporting you in your career. These fans would do anything for an autograph, a photo or a wave from their big favorites. In the best athlete-fan interactions the lucky ones could get even more from the world’s biggest sports stars. 

There was a story recently about a young girl in Italy who was in a coma for a year but woke up after hearing the voice of his favorite football player, Francesco Totti in a video message.  After this miracle, the legendary AS Roma player also visited the girl in the hospital and signed her AS Roma shirt. Well, the other following stories might not be as miraculous, but they are still great examples of how top athletes can surprise their fans. From giving them their shirt to visiting terminally ill children in hospitals, these are some of the best athlete-fan interactions in history.

The friendship of Todd Frazier and bat boy in the best athlete-fan interactions

Third baseman Todd Frazier played for Cincinnati Reds in 2013 when one of the team’s bat boys, Teddy Kremer who has Down syndrome, asked him to hit a home run. Frazier just did that and celebrated it with the boy after. The pair met again a few years later in Chicago where Frazier continued his career at White Sox. Then in 2018 before a Reds vs New York Metz game as well, where Frazier currently plays. His team didn’t advance to the postseason, where online gambling sites in the US offer the smallest odds for the victory of Los Angeles Dodgers.

Stephen Curry spotted fan in wheel-chair

Stephen Curry is one of the biggest stars of the NBA but he is still a down-to-earth person who likes to interact with his fans. In a pregame warm-up he spotted a boy in a wheelchair wearing his shirt and invited him to the court. His young fan had the ball then passed it to Curry who drained a three. Of course, the six-time NBA All-star also took a picture with him and signed the boy’s shirt in one of the best athlete-fan interactions.

Clint Dempsey gives his shirt in exchange for some popcorn

Clint Demspey was not only a great American soccer player, but also great with his fans. In one of his MLS games for Seattle Sounders he just walked to a young boy and started to chat with him. He must have liked the kid as suddenly he just gave his shirt to him in exchange for some popcorn the boy was having. What a cool thing to do from the former Fulham and Tottenham star. While there aren’t many American players in the Premier League, online sportsbooks in the US still offer odds for all the games.

Lionel Messi sent a shirt to his biggest fan

One of the biggest fans of Lionel Messi is a young Afghan boy called Murtaza Ahmedi, who became world-famous after a video of him went viral. In the footage Murtaza plays football wearing a Messi shirt made by a plastic bag after his parents didn’t have money for a real one. After seeing this, Messi sent him a package with signed shirts. But it wasn’t the end of the story. As the Ahmedi family got into danger due to their new fame and had to escape to Pakistan. But as a happy ending, Murtaza was able to meet his idol in a game at Qatar, and walked with him to the pitch before a friendly game.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s score woke up his fan from coma

A similar story happened to Cristiano Ronaldo and one of his young fans, Dawid Pawlaczyk as the one we mentioned about Totti in the beginning. A 13-year old boy who was a big Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo fan was in a coma after being hit by a car. Dawid woke up after three months when a commentary about Ronaldo scoring woke him up. The Portuguese star heard about him and invited the boy into Madrid for the Champions League game against Borussia Dortmund. They also met after the game when Ronaldo signed his fan’s shirt.

Daniel Bryan honors his young fan

Even the toughest athletes, like WWE wrestlers can be touched by their fans as it happened with four-time WWE champion Daniel Bryan. He met 6-year old Connor Michalek who was suffering from brain and spine cancer following a social media campaign. Bryan kept the memory of his young fan even after his death and dedicated his speech to him during his Hall of Fame induction.

Adreian Payne and Princess Lacey

Michigan State Spartans basketball player Adreian Payne had a wonderful friendship with basketball fan Lacey Holsworth. Sadly the girl was suffering from cancer and died at the age of only 8 in 2014. Payne met her two years earlier in a hospital and visited her regularly, even bringing her to games. Lacey was with the Spartans for the East Regional of the NCAA tournament and became an inspiration for the whole team.

Roger Federer met his oldest fan

Not only children can be big fans of athletes though as we can see in the next example. One of the world’s biggest sports stars, tennis player Roger Federer managed to surprise his biggest fan, 107-year old Dorothea in Argentina. The lady has been following Federer since the start of his career in 1998. She still watches all of his games. The Swiss champion was taking part in a tour in South America last year when he managed to meet his fan who was delighted to see him.

JJ Watt and kissing fan

Houston Texans defender JJ Watt is very popular with fans with lots of them waiting outside the training camps to see him. One little girl was more clever and sneaked into the front of the row for an autograph. Of course, Watt spotted him and signed his book, when the girl suddenly hugged and even kissed the star. Even the NFL player was surprised at this moment which melted everyone’s heart.

The weirdest fan interaction

Finally, we have to mention a very unique way for fans to interact with athletes. As two Vancouver Canucks fans, Force and Sully were wearing green spandex suits and sitting beside the opposing team’s penalty box. Surely just their sight made players uncomfortable but they also made some moves and figures towards them. The pair was in action between 2009 and 2015 when they decided to retire.

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