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Hall of Fame
The Pro Footballs Ultimate Fans Association (P.F.U.F.A.)
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In 1999, Visa in conjunction with the
Pro Football Hall Of Fame sponsored a new promotion called the
"Visa Hall of Fans" award. The charge card company with
a select committee would pick one lucky fan from every |
| NFL team to represent their team in the Pro Football Hall of
Fame in Canton, Ohio. A special wing in the hall was set up to
honor these fans and was named the "Visa Hall of Fans."
In order to be selected, fans would have to write a short essay
explaining why they should represent their respective teams in
the hall. In January 1999 the first class was selected and the
31 winners were invited to be honored at the Hall of Fame. The
media was on hand for the presentations, and those recipients
enjoyed themselves so much, that the Kansas City Chiefs winner,
Monte "Arrowman" Short and his wife Stacie, came up
with the idea of having a yearly reunion of the Visa winners along
with the newest winners selected each year. Monte and his wife
also began a quest to get the Ultimate Fans into the annual parade
held during enshrinement weekend in Canton. The parade marches
through Canton to the entertainment of some 150,000 people. The
Hall of Fame got involved in helping Short with his idea. He was
in need of a sponsor to get into the parade and avoid having to
pay the parade entry fee. Hometown Health Network of Canton decided
to promote the Ultimate Fans, and the 12th Man float was born.
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| 22 winners of the Visa award were present
in that first reunion in August of 1999, and the group decided
that they were onto something and suggested an annual gathering
every summer during the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies. At
the second reunion in 2000, |
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| very few fans showed up and the outlook for the reunion was
bleak. However, in 2001, the gathering was a much bigger success
and Monte Short, his wife and the others decided to come up with
a mission statement (TO PROMOTE THE FELLOWSHIP OF ALL FANS, ENCOURAGE
SPORTSMANSHIP AND SUPPORT CHARITABLE ACTIVITIES.) and created
the Pro Footballs Ultimate Fans Association (P.F.U.F.A.). Monte
"Arrowman" Short served as the first President of the
P.F.U.F.A., and last summer the reunion was bigger and better
than ever. There was an autograph signing and a barbecue for hundreds
of children put on by the P.F.U.F.A. at the local United Way.
Jerry Vecchia, a.k.a. "True Blue" was elected new President
of the P.F.U.F.A., and the group set out to become bigger, better,
and more well-known than ever before. On September 5, 2002, during
the NFL Kickoff Celebration in Times Square, the following Ultimate
Fans were present and made appearances on the Today Show, Fox
News, ABC Sports Radio, and then were guests of a private party
at Planet Hollywood. Harvey "Mr. Steeler" Aronson, Joe
"Birdman" Ripley, Debra "Bonelady" Darnell,
Wes "Captain Defense" Henson, Jerry "True Blue"
Vecchia, and Mikey T. "Boss Hoggette" Torbert were all
on hand to help promote Visa's award process and the P.F.U.F.A. |
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Visa has since changed the process
of the award since that first year, and following that first year,
winners were and are now presented with their award winning plaque
at the 50 yard line of one of their team's home games.
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Additionally, Visa sent the St. Louis Rams 2002 representatives,
Kathy "RAMRATKATH" Lewis and the Patriots' winner,
Randy Pierce to last year's Super Bowl. The group will be gathering
once again next August in Canton, Ohio, and they are currently
working on setting up an appearance at the NFL draft in April
at Madison Square Garden.
In order to raise funds for the charities that the P.F.U.F.A.
sponsors, they are selling pins, special tailgate cookbooks
and raffling a huge quilt autographed by the fans and made of
all the flags of the NFL teams. You can find more info on these
items at the P.F.U.F.A. website listed below.
You can learn more about the P.F.U.F.A. and visit with your
favorite ultimate fan on the message board at www.footballsfans.com
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Will you be the next "OneCrazyFan" that
gets inducted into the Hall of Fame Good Luck
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