Who: NFL Alumni, fans, and supporters of Caring for Kids
When: Feb. 27, 2010
Where: Minneapolis Hilton
Why: To relive good old times (and great performances) on the gridiron, and look forward to the future of our children!

OK, one question for the Caring for Kids committee…where was Esera? Last year Esera crooned his way through tunes from his debut CD (who says there isn’t life after football?) during the cocktail hour. This year Mr. Tuaolo was absent, but many of the other football greats I had the pleasure of meeting last year were back for more. There was Nat Johnson, Viking’s great Chuck Foreman and his beautiful date Becky, Darrell Thompson (he recently wrote a forward for the book Maroon & Gold Forever: Celebrating 125 Years of Gopher Football, and gave each guest a copy, thanks Darrell!), my favorite player-turned-broadcaster Irv Cross, and, at the buzzer, KFAN’s Mike Morris, just to name a few. I met Mike last year when he was trying to pass off some other player’s Superbowl ring as his own. I hoped to see him during the cocktail hour, so I could call him out on seeing him at the suite next to mine at the Britney Spears concert (I am 99 percent sure that was you Mike!), but he snuck in right as dinner started—next year.

Recent Mpls.St.Paul covergirl and WCCO host Michele Tafoya emceed the evening, which included an induction ceremony for the next class of NFL alumni hall of famers, a live auction (and of course a killer silent auction featuring plenty of sports memorabilia), and—the real reason we were there—talks from two young members of the night’s beneficiaries, MN Teen Challenge and Children Cancer Research Fund. I have to say, the class and grace of the former players, as well as their deep commitment to the Caring for Kids cause, impressed me once again. But bring back Esera!