The Joke is on You!

I work at a tent rental company. As with any rental business you meet all different types of people. However, it is not everyday that you get to set up a tent ( or 3 in this case) for a professional football player like I did today. James Harrison: #92, linebacker, NFL 2008 defensive player of the year. All of that information I looked up 2 seconds ago on wikipedia. If it were not for my coworkers, i would had never recognized the name or recognized the fact that Harrison was responsible for the incredible interception runback for a touchdown in this past superbowl ( even though i did watch it)

Regardless, this is what happened at his house today: From the get go, i doubted whether or not we would be setting up of the James Harrison or if we were headed to the house of "old man Jim" in some remote wood. Well, I was wrong ( first time ever btw) I immediately knew that i was at the home of a pro football player by the "toys" that he had in his garage ( Hummer, Denali, Streetbike, etc. . ) The fellas with me ( my brother, Andrew, and friend, Josh Brinker) were met by a short, stocky man who proceeded to tell us that the "big wun goes ova by da poo". We began setting up the large tent toward the end of the driveway, the whole time wondering if we had just talked to was James. Well a few minutes later, another man about my height ( 6 foot) came out and told us again where the tents would go. Instantly we knew that this was the guy. Dressed in a baggy red t-shirt, bball shorts, and Jordan bball shoes stood James Harrison in all his glory. . . . . glory is not the word to use. Periodically James would come out and check on things and give us the impression that he did not want to be bothered. After about 30 min of work, my brother had to inform James that he was going to need to purchase a few water barrels in order to weigh his tent down, and that we would need to use his water to fill the barrels. Begin fun part of the story> Upon hearing this, James Harrison went into a complete frenzy. The frenzy consisted of his yelling and screaming at us for having to charge him for water barrels. He stormed into the house from the balcony and I could still hear the screaming. When he came out to the garage where we were setting up, he began to walk all around the tent still yelling and making a big scene. Not wanting to make the man any angrier, i began to explain to him why we needed to use the barrels and blah blah blah. During this time, my brother is on the phone with my boss trying to convince him that it would be best if we brought our own water to this job. Right in the middle of the tirade, James Harrison turns around and gives me the biggest smile. Almost on the floor, and laughing, he tells me that the whole thing is a joke!!! He is not angry at all!! BUT I AM!! jk I look up to the balcony overlooking the driveway and their is a girl VIDEOTAPING THE WHOLE THING!!! A few of his buddies come out of the garage laughing their heads off while i breathe a sigh of relief. At this point andrew is laughing and decides to continue the joke with my boss ( still on the phone) Andrew gives the phone to Harrison who quickly begins his whole rant over again. Andrew got the phone back and let my boss know it was a joke. We were all laughing very hard. wow. After that, things went smoothly and the rest of the job was normal. . . . . . . except for the end when we were getting pictures with James and I took one of my brother and James Harrison, and then took one of Josh and James Harrison, and then Josh took a picture of me and James Harrison. .. . . . . but Josh was not used to my phone and DID NOT SAVE THE PICTURE! O well, i really could care less. While he may be a star athlete, he is NOT a hero of mine. After listening to his sailor mouth and reading about his arrest for assault, ( yeah, did not know that before hand) he is not a role model that i would want to be like. My Dad definitely has that position.

I will not quickly forget the funny things that happened today, but in the end: James Harrison is just another man. He puts his pants on the same why I do. . . . . one leg at a time.