I forgot to mention: I had a run of plane trips in which I bumped into second (or third) tier athletes or retired guys. Hasn’t happened in a few years, but I may have started a new streak last night (or this morning, depending on your pov): Neil O’Donnell, quarterback for the Superbowl-losing Pittsburgh Steelers of 1996, was a few seats behind me on Flight of the Damned.
When I saw him in the terminal at Nashville (6’3″ white guy, talking with his wife/girlfriend about an exec at CBS Sports), I figured he was somebody, but it turns out I was wrong.