Social media sites like Twitter can be a great resource, allowing you to stay up-to-date on trending news topics. They also allow us to connect with our favorite athletes and sports teams.
What started with a simple tweet from Browns defensive end Myles Garrett turned into the experience of a lifetime for one local teenager.
Back in December, Garrett posted a tweet saying he would trade a signed jersey for anyone who gave him a dinosaur.
If you see me today and have a dinosaur to trade for it, I will buy and sign a jersey for you. Have a blessed day. Every second is a gift ⚡️
— Jurassic Myles🦖 (@MylesLGarrett) December 29, 2017
When the 2017 No. 1 overall pick showed up at Eric Scalfano’s work one night, he knew exactly what to do.
“I was at Scene 75 and I had just gotten out of work. Everyone in the break room was freaking out like ‘Myles Garrett’s here, Myles Garrett’s here!’” Scalfano said. “And my friend said ‘did you see his Twitter?’ I looked at it and saw the whole dinosaur thing and knew we had some in the prize case.”
Sounds simple enough, right? Only there was one problem.
“I didn’t have any tickets to use to get the prize form the prize counter,” Scalfano said. “But I managed to find a friend and I paid him $10 use his card to get the 500 ticket dinosaur, which is probably worth well less than $10. "
Since Garrett didn’t have a jersey on him at the moment, he wrote Scalfano an I-O-U. Scalfano waited patiently and decided to pay Garrett a visit at training camp, but the two were never able to meet up.
“Then one day my mom sees this sports car pull up and this big athletic guy walk out with a jersey,” Scalfano said.
The jersey came complete with a special signature— just as Myles promised.
“I kind of blacked out. I kept saying ‘Thank you so much, this is awesome,’” Scalfano said. “It means everything because I know he’s super busy with training and practice and all that.”
As Scalfano heads off to college this fall, he’s not so sure his new threads will be coming along.
“I am not going to wear it — ever,” Scalfano said. “I will frame it. Maybe one day when he’s in the hall of fame it will be worth a lot more and be very cool to have."
I gave @MylesLGarrett a toy dinosaur 7 months ago... Today, he personally delivered a signed jersey to my house! 😱 A moment I will never forget. pic.twitter.com/GfdELP3Ooo
— Eric Scalfano (@ScalfEric) July 31, 2018
