I love how social media, specifically Twitter, allows you to connect with anyone, even when you aren’t looking to connect. I especially like it when it’s someone who played in the NFL.
I was on search.twitter.com and searched for the term “Jets” which led me to a site called Topsy, a another search engine for Twitter. On that site, there was an option to search graphics with the term Jets in it. In the results I game across a picture of what looked like four Jets players and the caption was entitled, “Good Times”. That link jumped over to TwitPic.com:
The picture I found on TwitPic - Click to go to the Page.
I then noticed the user who posted it was “T_woodbury11″, and I remembered a WR/QB that played for the Jets back in the early 2000’s. After a quick search on Wiki-pedia, I confirmed it was Tory Woodbury. I shot a Tweet out to him:
“So what Jets players are in this picture? I know Tory Woodbury is one, anyone?
Tory then replied to me with the other players: Harper, Octaveous Cash, and Jonathen Carter.
I decided to follow Tory and then the next day he tweeted he was going for his 19th Tattoo. I told him to get a Jets logo, and he replied LOL. He then asked me if I had any access to more film or pics:
I asked him what he was looking for and he said anything of him playing. He was an ex-NFL player and he had NO footage of his playing days. No pictures or film. I felt really bad, and I told him I’ll try my best. I’ll be honest, it was a long shot. My strategy was to ask some active Jets players, a past player who I follow, a media company that works with the Jets, and some other Jets bloggers.
Seemed like a good plan. I got nothing back except from my buddy the blogger. He remembered Tory, but had no access to photos or film of him. I was hoping that someone had a contact with the Jets who could put me in touch with someone who controls the films. Two days had past, and nothing was going on, so I went back to the wiki page to see what games Tory played in.
I saw that he had his first NFL catch against the Jaguars in the 4th game of the season of 2002. Then it hit me, I taped EVERY SINGLE game from 1998 to now. I ran down my basement where I keep my various VHS, DVDs and found my stash:
10 Seasons of Jets Games on DVD and VHS.
The 2002 Jets Season. Look at those Scores! Ugh.
I tweeted Tory and he was happy to say the least:
So I promised him I’m going to convert the VHS to digital and then burn him a copy on DVD and mail to him. In the MEAN TIME, I put the game in today and watched it. Yes it was painful, but very cool to see the old players. Vinny Started the game and was knocked out in the first quarter. This was really the first time Chad Pennington played almost a full game. His favorite target Wayne Chrebet was then knocked out with a knee injury. This was the reason Tory was put into the game. That day, he was listed as the third WR because Santana Moss didn’t make the trip because he was recovering from an injury.
Even though I’m giving Tory a copy of the entire game, I wanted to put something out now. I taped the highlights with my flip, edited the tape and put it on YouTube:
I just wanted to share my experience with you on how I found Tory, who seems like a great guy. If I can make these connections, you can do it as well, you just need to go searching! Don’t you LOVE Twitter!?
