Lance Briggs is one of us.

Bits & Pieces – Comics & Graphic Novels

Lance Briggs at Challengers ComicsLast week I had the pleasure of talking with Chicago Bears Linebacker, Lance Briggs. I, as well as my friends Chris Neseman and Tom Katers had the opportunity to sit down with him at my favorite comic book store Challengers Comics + Conversation. It was a strange setting. Three die-hard comic book fans and one professional, pro-bowl caliber athlete, sitting around a small table in a comic book store on Western avenue in Chicago. What could the three of us possibly have in common with an NFL player? It turns out that Lance is a big comic book fan too.

Christopher Borrelli over at the Chicago Tribune got wind of this odd meeting and decided to run an article on it. You can read it here. It’s a fun piece and goes into detail about Lance’s love of comics as well as his new website devoted to that love.

That being said, I wanted to take a moment to embellish my feelings on the event. More below.

It all started when I read an article over at BleedingCool.com about how Lance Briggs decided to start a website (Lance’s Comic World) to talk about his passion for comics. Being a bigger Bears fan than I am a comic book geek, I immediately thought it would be awesome if we could get him on Around Comics to talk about it. Chris, the host of Around Comics, thought the same and quickly got to work on it. After a few emails back and forth between Chris and Lance’s people, we ended up with a scheduled phone interview on the following Tuesday night. It wasn’t the in-person meeting we were both hoping for, but it would still be fun.

Unfortunately, the Monday before the interview, Lance’s people called and said that he would have to reschedule. It appeared that someone forgot that the Bears had a Thursday night game against the 49′rs and didn’t realize that Lance would be too bust to talk with us. No problem, we were open for whatever. What came next was a bit of a shock and a pleasant surprise. Because they were forced to reschedule, Lance was willing to agree to come to the shop and sit down with us in person. It was like getting an early Christmas present for me. I was going to get to meet Lance Briggs and interview him live. Kick ass!

Then it hit me: I was going to meet Lance Briggs and interview him live. Oh crap.

While I’ve talked to some of the biggest names in comics, this interview was on a completely different level of play. If there is one thing in this world I am more passionate about than comics, it’s Bears football. I live and die every season. My wife is conditioned to the fact that Sundays in the fall are a time when I lock myself in the basement and watch the games. I might be a comic book nerd, but my obsession with football makes my other hobby feel like a passing interest. I hadn’t been this nervous for an interview since I met Brian Azzarello. Don’t laugh – Lance Briggs might be 6′ 3″ and 240 pounds of NFL linebacker, but Azarello is really intimidating for a 160 pound comic book writer.

The days, and particularly the minutes before Lance’s scheduled arrival at Challenger’s was exciting and a little stressful. We weren’t sure what to expect. We’ve all heard the stories about prima-donna athletes. Was Lance going to show up with a posse of agents, body-guards and hanger-ons? What would he be like to talk to? Was he a real-deal comic book fan or just another celebrity looking to up his geek-cred? Did we need extra napkins in case he spilled Cristal on the back-issues? Where was he going to park his Lamborghini?

Then of course there was the anxiety that started to creep in about my own actions. How was I going to act while talking with one of my favorite players from my favorite sports franchise? Would I say something embarrassing and ruin the meeting by being a geeky fanboy? How was I going to balance the fan with the “professional”? What were the Bears going to do to stop Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday? How do i ask him to sign the five authentic NFL jerseys that I brought with me? All of these things and more raced through my mind as the clock ticked down to E.T.L.A. (estimated time of Lance’s arrival).

As I paced around the comic shop pretending to be more interested in the books on the shelves than the pending arrival of my-soon-to-be-new-comic-book-buddy-who-just-happens-to-play-for-the-Bears, I tried to remind myself to just act naturally and be myself. Then I remembered that “myself” isn’t necessarily someone that people like to hang out with. I’m cranky and judgemental. I tend to get on people’s nerves by being a smart-ass and a bit of a know-it-all. I’m not sure I even like “myself”. Okay, new plan – be the guy you pretended to be when you met your wife’s parents for the first time: Charming and funny with a touch of humility and a quiet confidence. Be Dean Martin. Damn, I forgot my flask and tuxedo.

My thoughts were interrupted by a cell phone ringing. I recognized the Imperial March from Star Wars so I knew it was Chris’. From this side of the conversation I could tell it was someone from Lance’s camp. Being a cynical bastard, I immediately assumed that they were calling to cancel. There was a part of me that felt some relief. At least I could hold on to the ideal of this meeting for a little longer before the awkward reality came crashing down on me. Wait, what’s that. He’s running late because of traffic? Oh. Okay, I’ll start hiding my mild anxiety attack again. I went back to the shelves.

Then, a few minutes later, he showed up and it was…normal. He walked in the door like anybody else. Not surrounded by his agent, bodyguards and paparazzi – just accompanied by two of his friends from college. We shook hands and said hello and then he did what every comic geek does when walking into a new comic shop for the first time – he hit the shelves and started pouring over books. This was a good sign. Maybe this guy is the real deal. Soon he started asking for suggestions from everyone. He must have spent almost an hour going through books and talking with us and Patrick and Dal from Challengers. (Which for the record was one of my favorite sights from the evening, seeing Dal discussing comics with Lance Briggs. Dal has an amazing encyclopedia of a mind about comics, but I doubt he could tell you a thing about football) It soon became apparent that this guy likes comics – a lot.

After Lance was done shopping (for now) we all sat down to record the interview. I was still a little nervous, but feeling better. Any anxiety I did feel quickly evaporated as we started the show. Just like the 200 or so times that I had done this before, sitting down talking about comics with my friends is something that comes very naturally. I don’t know how many times I’ll get the chance to say this, but in this instance, I had the edge on an NFL linebacker – I talk comics all the time. It was however very clear early on that there was no doubt to Lance’s love of comics and the fact that he was here to talk about them. At one point I tried to steer the conversation towards football, but he was having none of it. Tonight was about the funny books – sports be damned.

I won’t go into too much detail about the interview, you can listen to it here.

Afterwards, Lance hung out a while longer and we all offered more suggestions. He ended up leaving with a big stack of comics and a promise that he’d be back. Overall it was a great experience and one I am really glad I was able to have. One of the coolest things I’ve ever been able to do in my life happened during the evening when my buddy Brad called me and asked me what I was doing. Being able to say “Hanging out with Lance Briggs and talking about comic books” felt especially gratifying.

As a big time sports guy and a die-hard football fan, it was a thrill to meet Lance. Being a born-and-bred Bears fan with a particular soft spot for linebackers, he has been one of my most liked players during his career. After having met him, and seeing what kind of a cool guy and comic book fan he is, I can say he’s now my favorite.

There was one thing I did want to mention about the interview. Most times, I don’t prepare too much for talking with people. I like it to be more conversational than question and answer. There was one thing I did pre-meditate however. At one point I asked Lance if he would ever consider doing a comic-book influenced celebration after getting a sack. I suggested a double Spider-Man web shooter gesture. He sort of laughed it off and said that it wasn’t something he ever considered. I expected this reaction, but thought it would be funny to ask and who knows, maybe some day I would see him incorporate something super-hero-ish into his sack routine.

Then on Sunday, as the Bears played the Eagles, Lance sacked Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. When he got up, I saw this:

My phone rang within minutes. It was Chris asking me if I saw what he saw: Lance Briggs just did a Spider-Man Thwip after sacking a QB. Holy crap. There’s no doubt about it now – Lance Briggs is a pro-bowl NFL linebacker and one of the best players at his postion but he is also one of us.