A commitment to excellence

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Patrick Harrower
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Three players and four cheerleaders from the Oakland Raiders made a special trip to Travis Tuesday to sign autographs and take pictures with their fans at the Delta Breeze Club.

The players in attendance were Aaron Curry, linebacker, Jacoby Ford, wide receiver, and Darrius Heyward-Bey, wide receiver.

"The organization did a really great job in picking players to come out here that knew what the objective of the event was," said Kymberley Wayne, 60th Force Support Squadron. "They knew that this would be an event where Airmen could forget about everything and have a great time. Every Airman left with a smile on their face."

When the Raiders first contacted Wayne, they wanted to come out and have an event at Travis because of the diverse mission. But she did not expect them to send out such enthusiastic and dedicated players, she said.

Upon their arrival, they were greeted by Maj. Elizabeth Eychner, 60th FSS commander, as she presented them each with a coin and a brief history of the tradition of challenge coins.

None of them had ever received a coin before and said they were the coolest military item they had ever received.

After a special show from the Raiderettes, the players made a grand entrance into the club and sat down for autographs and pictures.

"At first, they were only supposed to sign a set limit of autographs due to time constraints," Wayne said. "But when they saw that we had more than 300 people in attendance, they refused to turn anyone away."

The players signed every single autograph and obliged to every photo request for each person in attendance. They also signed jerseys, footballs and gloves beforehand, which were raffled off in a free drawing during the event.

The Raiders will be working with Travis again at their next home game Nov. 18. Travis Airmen have been invited to come out and unfurl an American flag on the field of the Overstock.com Coliseum during the National Anthem before the game.