I arrived at the ACE Mentor breakfast early - like I was the first one. The breakfast and ceremony went off without a hitch. Prior to everyone settling in, my boss told me an Eagles player might be attending the event. My ears perked up."Who," I asked.
"Uhhh...I'm not sure...I think his name is Darren. He's a big guy. He's an engineer in the off-season for a firm in Philly."
Darren? I was stumped. It wasn't Darren Perry. We sat down at our table and were joined by Mark Architecture Guy.
"Mark, who's that Eagles player that was here last year," my boss buzzed.
"Darwin Walker," Mark answered. "He's here this year, too. He's standing right over there."
Standing by a table, a few tables away from me, was a man-mountain of a man. It was Eagles defensive tackle, Darwin Walker, off-season Engineer for a Philadelphia-based engineering firm.
The event went off very nicely, and afterword Mark, my boss and me were standing around talking. Darwin strided by. Mark got his attention (he met him before) and before I knew it, Darwin Walker was standing right in front of me. He shook my hand - a firm, manly handshake, but nothing overpowering.
"Hi, nice to meet you," he said with a smile.
"Hi, nice to meet you," I repeated.
Darwin and I spoke for a minute or two. He was very friendly and well-spoken to me, but sounded off a little on Eagles fans, "They're fickle." He compared Eagles fans relation to the team like family members, "They can say negative stuff about you, but they don't let anyone else talk bad about you." He said Philly was "a tough town to play in". He also acknowleged that he'll have to fight for his spot this year, with Mike Patterson in his second year and rookie Bunkhouse Bunkley incoming. He was also sporting a huge, blinging ring. After a few moments more, he politely excused himself. Overall, he was friendly with me and everyone I saw him speaking to. Meeting Darwin made a good event turn into an excellent experience. I just wish I had a camera phone or something.
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