NFL journeyman Sage Rosenfels, who currently has the unfortunate distinction of being only the second-best Jewish quarterback on the Miami Dolphins, recently announced that he was making himself available for personal appearances, including (especially) Bar Mitzvahs.
The announcement was so poorly received that Rosenfels was forced to come forward and say that he's only doing it to support charities connected to his disabled sister.
Athletes pocketing cash from meet-and-greet personal appearances is nothing new; four years ago my then-employer hired Boomer Esiason to mingle at a company party, and I was told his fee for the evening was only slightly lower than my salary for the year. However, such appearances have traditionally only been pulled off by athletes who have already retired.
Found via New York Sports Express' "Sports Crime Blotter" column; read the whole thing, for (among other things) some hilarious Bob Huggins-bashing.
Posted by Stephen Silver at June 17, 2004 11:49 PM