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Panini NFL Player of the Day Winner Spends a Day with Pierre Thomas
Avid collector Nathan Foster,*a history teacher and coach at Springfield Middle School in Louisiana, turned one lucky pack of Panini America*NFL*trading cards into one fantastic grand prize: The chance for him, his friends and family to spend a day at home and at his local card shop with New Orleans Saints running back Pierre Thomas.
That day was last Saturday, and it began with*a private party at Foster’s home for 20 friends, family members and co-workers featuring a big pot of gumbo and the rugged*Thomas, a Saints fan favorite and a key cog in New Orleans’ Super Bowl XLIV victory.
Despite being on crutches as he recovers*from a late-seasons ankle injury, Thomas was in great spirits. He told stories, answered questions, posed for photos and signed autographs.
After food and fun at Foster’s house,*he hopped into a*limousine with his brother, his best friend and*Thomas for the short two-mile ride to his local card shop,*Chuck’s Field of Dreams, to share the day with the rest of the Albany, La., community. *More than*250 loyal Saints fans awaited*free autographs, handshakes and photos from the Saints’ star. *One fan even flew in from Georgia for the event.
“This was a great day for Nathan and the entire community,” said Chuck Raborn, owner of Chuck’s Field of Dreams. “He is a regular customer at my shop and a big football card collector.*I’m glad to be a part of his special day.”
Foster, a passionate LSU fan, is one of the more than 200,000 NFL card collectors who participated in the 2010 Panini NFL Player of the Day contest, which was conducted nationwide*at more than 600 hobby shops from September through November.*Foster, 24, is among the thousands of collectors who earned prizes in the contest, but as the grand prize winner, he was the only*one to win a day*with an NFL player. He*also received a $250 shopping spree to spend on NFL-licensed products at Chuck’s Field of Dreams.
*His journey began when he uncovered the designated Panini NFL Player of the Day from a pack of cards he purchased at the hobby shop.*Each participating store selected a grand prize winner for a spot in the national sweepstakes in which Foster*proved to be the luckiest of the entrants.*More than 100 collectors earned prizes — including autographed footballs and autographed NFL trading cards — in the national sweepstakes.
2010 marked the 11th straight year of the promotion, which was a joint initiative between Panini America and NFL PLAYERS. Past players have included: Patrick Crayton, Steve Slaton, AJ Feely, Maurice Jones-Drew, Chris Simms, Rudi*Johnson, Donald Driver, Ed McCaffrey, Chad Pennington and Frank Wycheck.
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