Young Fan Gets Aaron Rodgers Autograph Request 5 Years Later

September 11, 2012 By Editor

He was just Brett Favre's backup then. Aaron Rodgers was patiently waiting behind the Packers' starting quarterback in 2007, thinking his time was coming but not really knowing when. He didn't get the boxes of fan mail and autograph requests that he does now so it's not really certain why he never returned the football card 10-year-old Packer fan Nick Stigsell sent to him. Did he lose it? Ignore it? Stick it in a box and misplace it?

Nick doesn't care. Last week, the now 15-year-old cross-country runner finally got that Rodgers rookie card back--autographed in big, bold Sharpie.

Yup. Five years after he mailed it and a long time after he'd completely forgotten about it.

He showed it off on Twitter--not making a big deal out of it-- but since then, the national media has come calling thanks to Rodgers no longer being a backup to anybody. Nick isn't actively collecting anymore but told us the whole thing inspired him to go back and look at the cards he collected in elementary school.

Through the mail autograph request delays are legendary among avid collectors. One guy waited 20 years for Kevin Reimer to return his old Upper Deck card (you can read about that one--and some others--here).

Nick, however, was more of a fan. ESPN caught up with him at his Wisconsin high school--between classes.