[alanch]

Had what is probably my best TTM mailday ever today! I love going home for lunch and finding SASE’s with my handwriting on them in the mailbox. Today I received TTM’s back from Packers Coach Mike McCarthy and Packers Legend Fuzzy Thurston.

I sent Coach McCarthy a card back in June before I started making my own. I had kind of given up hope of getting it back, but it came today and he even signed in silver ink so it would show up over his black coat on the card! The only downside is that the card was damaged in the mail. It was a 2006 Bowman Gold, which are fairly thick and as a result of the mail sorter it has a crease and some chipping on the front. I might make a custom and send that out to him near the end of the season and if I get that back, I will make this one available to any Packer collector who doesn’t mind the crease. That said, I am still excited about getting his auto!

The 2nd card that came in was definitely the highlight of my day and probably the best response I have received on a TTM request ever! I sent two custom cards to Fred “Fuzzy” Thurston, one of the starting guards for the Packers SB I & II teams, member of the Packers Hall of Fame, and one of the best former players when it comes to interacting with fans. In the letter that accompanied my request, I told Mr. Thurston that he was welcome to keep one of the customs if he wished, which he did.

I turned the envelope over to open it and noticed that he had written his name and home address on the envelope, so I carefully opened it and saw there was a note inside in addition to the signed custom card.

In the note, he thanked me for giving him a copy of the card. He also asked if I could make 30 more copies of the card and send them to him and even mentioned paying me! That truly made my day to know that one of the more legendary players on my favorite team was so impressed with my work!

I will certainly be honoring his request and will be sending him the customs that he asked for and will do so free of charge. I couldn’t ever imagine charging someone that was nice enough to honor my request for free, especially a Packers legend. The recognition from him in the letter, as well as the autograph were more than enough for me. It will also be cool to know that he is using cards that I made to give to other fans!

I attached scans of both cards and Mr. Thurston's note. Comments are welcome! Thanks for looking!

[rogue655]

that is awesome!! what are you gonna charge him?

[alanch]

that is awesome!! what are you gonna charge him?

Thanks! I'm not going to charge him at all. Might ask him for another autograph, but that's it. He was nice enough to sign for me for free, so I'm fine with filling his request for free.

[bakerman8419]

Thats actually really cool! Id pass out if I got a letter like that from ZT JT or Marino. Congrats!

[alanch]

Thats actually really cool! Id pass out if I got a letter like that from ZT JT or Marino. Congrats!

Yeah, I almost did, haha! It was awesome!

[sconnienation3]

Holy cow, Alan! That's absolutely fantastic!

[ripkenfan72]

WOW that is awesome Alan !!! That'd be cool to frame the card and note together. Congrats

[bigtrip18]

You aint kidding about Mr. Thurston. I went to a game the day before my 11th birthday, also my first trip to Lambeau, and met and talked with him for what seemed like 20 min (in real time it was probably only 5 minutes) but he was super nice and a surprisingly good listener.

He was also the very first In person auto I ever received, and what better way than to start with a SB legend who also played the same position I did in football at the time.

[estuaryman]

Wow now that is an amazing mailday!! Congrats!! We all get excited when we pull an autographed card of one of our heroes. To get the card that you made back hand signed....plus a request for more!! That's just incredible!!

Now your cards have the endorsement of a Packers Hall of Famer!!!

[coachlew10]

Great story. I really like hearing that kind of stuff from Legendary older players.