Steeler's Training Camp

For those of you who don't know, my whole family consists of die hard Pittsburgh Steelers fans. My brother Luke can tell you anything you want to know about any of the players on the team. He is obsessed with football. And for every game, mom will make homemade hot wings for us to eat while we watch them play.

Mom, Luke, and Carly have been going to the Steelers training camp in Latrobe, PA for the past two years. At camp, you get to watch the players practice up close, and even get some autographs if you're lucky. I decided to go this year, and it was an amazing experience.

I've been a huge Hines Ward fan for a while now. At first, I would always joke around that I liked him just because he smiled a lot. But after I've learned more about his personal life and his successful career, I've really admired him. Plus, he just won Dancing with the Stars!

Well, I wanted to meet Hines SO bad. Luke said it might happen, but he also explained to me that the big name players, such as Hines Ward, Polamalu, Roethlisberger, etc don't usually sign autographs at the end of practice, just the rookie players do. But once in a while they will sign.

Once we got to training camp, we went inside this trailer which had the history of the Steelers inside. Once you exited, you had the chance to spin a wheel (kinda like the Wheel of Fortune) and depending on what it landed on, you either got a prize, or got nothing. Well, I won a free hat out of it! I thought that was pretty neat.

Mom, Luke, and I lined up against the fence and watched the players practice. I soon saw Hines and all of the other players. I was so excited! It was really neat to see them up close and personal, and it really made me love the team even more.

Luke in his Jack Lambert jersey

 Troy Polamalu:

 Here's a shot of the crowd on the hill overlooking the field

 Ben Roethlisberger

 Random kids watching the field, I thought this was cute

 HINES!!! My man! :)

 Aww isn't he just so cute!

 Mike Tomlin, the head coach

 Hines running after practice. Everytime he would run towards us everyone would scream.

 Here's Hines putting his gear on the golf cart. After practice, all of the players just hopped on the golf carts and left, but I was praying that Hines would come over.

 Soon he started walking across the field towards us and I started freaking out. He was coming to sign autographs! :)

 Hines signed my hat, my jersey, AND my poster that I made!

It was one of the best experiences of my life! Oh, and I said "thank you" to him and he replied, "you're welcome", does that count as 'having a conversation' with him?

AHHH. I love you Hines!