Michael Conroy - AP

T.J. Ford got up close and personal with a few fans recently.

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So we know T.J. Ford was soliciting fans to tweet him their phone numbers for a possible personal call from the Indiana Pacers point guard. Well, now we know Ford followed through with the calls thanks to IC reader and esteemed local blogger, Darrin Thompson.

Out of the blue on Wednesday evening, Darrin took a call from a private number and on the other end was T.J. Ford telling him not to hang up. Of course, T.J. had no choice but to call, after Darrin tweeted his number and mentioned that his 8 year old daughter loved "the white headband guy" on the Pacers. Here's how Darrin explained the call in an email today.

It was evil but I played the cute kid card on twitter. I know. At least it was true. My 8 year old oldest daughter has been a fan of his pretty much since he started playing in Indy. She calls him "the white headband guy." So if I want her to watch a TV game with me, I just have to wait for Ford to play and she'll watch.

He said, "I don't think you want to hang up on this call," and my light bulb went on. I thanked him for calling and he said thanks for being fans, he's working hard, (this wasn't his first call for sure) check out his new web site, etc. I got my daughter and he asked a few questions. Whole thing went about 5 minutes. Unfortunately I didn't
put him on speakerphone when he talked to my daughter because my house was really loud. I think that will be a fun memory for her.

I was off guard when he called. If I'd had the presence of mind I would have told him, "Don't you dare get traded. She is eight. I do not want to explain that."

I think he was doing double duty promoting himself and the Pacers and promoting a Texas related web site venture he was doing. I figured that was fair since he took the time to make a personal call.

It's one thing to try to do something cool and positive, but it's another thing to pull it off, so thumbs up to T.J. for both the idea and the execution. Also, nice to see he was pushing the Pacers as well as his on personal endeavors. Speaking of the latter, check out T.J.'s site on Texas 360 Now.

Cool story, thanks for sharing Darrin!