In no particular order, who are the five most famous people you've met?

[cjk374]

I have met 2 Louisiana governors (Roemer & Jindal), Boxcar Willie (country music singer), & former Utah Jazz great Karl Malone (he lives nearby & has several businesses here).

[index]

Bernie Sanders, twice. (Senator from VT and 2020 presidential candidate) I also have a picture with him.
Pat McCrory (former Governor of North Carolina)
Nina Turner (former Ohio State Senator and Sanders campaign co-chair)
Some NFL player came to do a motivational speech at my school when I was younger, this was >years< ago and I have no idea who he was or who he played for. I did shake his hand though.

And that's about it...I haven't met much well known people. One of the staff at my old middle school was related to the one of Oklahoma City bombers, Timothy McVeigh, so there's that...

I also just remembered the David Bartell, astrophysicist and author. He's showed up on a few National Geographic TV programs before.

I probably have an actual fifth person I can add now, Clint Basinger, aka Lazy Game Reviews. He's more niche but he still has a decent presence in the tech/gaming scene on social media, as opposed to someone National Geographic wanted to get a few sentences out of and otherwise isn't that well known. My partner and I went to a convention in Greenville, SC and there he was.

[Takumi]

Dale Earnhardt Sr
Benny Parsons (another NASCAR driver. Around 1990. I've been told that I wanted him to sign a toy Pillsbury doughboy for some reason and he was upset because he thought my parents were making fun of his "Buffet Benny"  TV segments that were on at the time. I apparently had just gotten the doughboy that same day and just happened to have it on me, and being about 4 years old, didn't know any better.)
Ivan Koloff, who spoke at a church in my neighborhood about a decade ago.
Felipe Rose, the original Native American in the Village People. He used to live in Richmond and knew my stepdad through mutual musical contacts. They talked about doing a musical project in Las Vegas, possibly including Lenny Kravitz, but it never came to fruition.
Boris Kodjoe, an actor who once bought something at a store I worked at after speaking at a nearby college. I didn't know who he was but my coworkers were thrilled he was there.

[US71]

In passing:

Walter Brennan, James R Thompson, Burt Ward

[JayhawkCO]

John Elway
Cal Ripken Jr.
Jimmy Butler
Marlon Wayans
Damon Wayans Jr.
Tech N9ne
Tim Howard
Josh Lucas
Travis Kelce
Dropkick Murphys
The band Anberlin

I'm probably forgetting some. Plenty of politicians no one cares about. A few other bands.

[webny99]

John Elway
Cal Ripken Jr.
Jimmy Butler
Marlon Wayans
...

I don't think I've met anyone that qualifies as "famous", so I follow this thread mostly just look for names I recognize, which are pretty rare, but you had two, so congratulations! 

[dlsterner]

John Elway
Cal Ripken Jr.
Jimmy Butler
Marlon Wayans
...

I don't think I've met anyone that qualifies as "famous", so I follow this thread mostly just look for names I recognize, which are pretty rare, but you had two, so congratulations! 

Cal Ripken Jr. doesn't ring a bell for you??   

[thspfc]

John Elway
Cal Ripken Jr.
Jimmy Butler
Marlon Wayans
...

I don't think I've met anyone that qualifies as "famous", so I follow this thread mostly just look for names I recognize, which are pretty rare, but you had two, so congratulations! 

Cal Ripken Jr. doesn't ring a bell for you??   

More surprised that Travis Kelce doesn't. Actually not really, I think he chooses not to remember what Kelce does to the Bills 

[JayhawkCO]

John Elway
Cal Ripken Jr.
Jimmy Butler
Marlon Wayans
...

I don't think I've met anyone that qualifies as "famous", so I follow this thread mostly just look for names I recognize, which are pretty rare, but you had two, so congratulations! 

Cal Ripken Jr. doesn't ring a bell for you??   

More surprised that Travis Kelce doesn't. Actually not really, I think he chooses not to remember what Kelce does to the Bills 

I added that one after he had already responded as I had forgotten. Also, I do have one of those famous people who has been in my house (well, apartment at the time). Tech N9ne is a friend of a friend and we had a college party back in the day and he came. I've also met him socially at other times.

[webny99]

I don't think I've met anyone that qualifies as "famous", so I follow this thread mostly just look for names I recognize, which are pretty rare, but you had two, so congratulations! 

Cal Ripken Jr. doesn't ring a bell for you??   

More surprised that Travis Kelce doesn't. Actually not really, I think he chooses not to remember what Kelce does to the Bills 

I vaguely recognized the name Cal Ripken, but not enough to know anything about him. I admit that I know very little about baseball, especially when it comes to history. (I'd recognize Babe Ruth.. Lou Gehrig... Jackie Robinson.... and that's about it.)

And I do obviously know who Travis Kelce is, but I somehow missed that. (And ouch!    )

I added that one after he had already responded as I had forgotten.

Oh phew, so I'm not going completely crazy after all. 

[ethanhopkin14]

What about meeting people before they were famous?

[WillWeaverRVA]

What about meeting people before they were famous?

In that case I have met current NFL player Mo Alie-Cox, as well as current NBA players Bones Hyland, Vince Williams, and Justin Tillman, as all of them played basketball at VCU.

In the original spirit of this thread...

Shaka Smart
Jimmy Wales
Matt Kenseth
Denny Hamlin
Rusty Wallace

[PurdueBill]

I somehow think I am forgetting someone somehow but oh well.

Tyler Trent (Purdue student who fought like hell against the cancer that eventually took him; everyone else is in no particular order for me but Tyler is and forever will be #1 on my list)
Mark Martin (NASCAR driver)
George Gray (announcer on The Price Is Right among other things)
Lee Marek (chemistry teacher famous for his appearances on Letterman)
Martina Navratilova (tennis player; made a somewhat random appearance at our middle school)

That is limiting it to 5 spread among different fields, although there are others (e.g., Urban Meyer, Pat Fitzgerald, Mitch Daniels, Gene Keady, Sandy Alomar Jr., Sam Kean, Drew Brees) that could have made the cut and regionally famous people who are exciting or well-known to people from that area (e.g., R.D. Sahl, a Boston newscaster, or Matt Light, a Patriots OL known among Purdue people and in Boston for appearing in furniture commercials).

[Rothman]

Oh.  I knew Jamila Wideman before she became the first player drafted into the WNBA.

[kkt]

Not really very many, but here we go:

musicians:
Pete Seeger
Al Stewart

Alan Shepard, astronaut

Daphne Koller, now Stanford computer science professor and Coursera co-creator, we were friends one year in high school

Ansel Adams, photographer, I was a toddler and don't really remember but my grandmother and mother swear I gurgled at him or something

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Jon Anderson (singer - twice, one unplanned and one meet and greet)
Rick Wakeman (keyboardist)
Bert Blyleven (baseball Hall of Famer)

[bandit957]

Colin Hay and Michael Dukakis are probably the most significant.

[jakeroot]

Colin Hay and Michael Dukakis are probably the most significant.

Men at Work is one of my favorite bands. Would love to get the chance to meet Colin Hay.

[Takumi]

Just remembered another one: Dave Moody, NASCAR radio announcer. A couple years ago I worked at a (now-closed) tire shop near the racetrack here, and he came in on race day with a flat tire. He was in a rush so we didn't talk much, but the other MRN personnel came to check on him. A couple years later he hosted a Reddit AMA where I asked him if he'd ever considered transitioning to TV. He replied "have you seen me?"  to which I replied "actually..."

[hbelkins]

What about meeting people before they were famous?

In that case I have met current NFL player Mo Alie-Cox, as well as current NBA players Bones Hyland, Vince Williams, and Justin Tillman, as all of them played basketball at VCU.

In the original spirit of this thread...

Shaka Smart
Jimmy Wales
Matt Kenseth
Denny Hamlin
Rusty Wallace

Was he as big of a jerk as he comes off as being?

[Scott5114]

Colin Hay and Michael Dukakis are probably the most significant.

Men at Work is one of my favorite bands. Would love to get the chance to meet Colin Hay.

I like this because it implies Gov. Michael Dukakis (D-MA) is also a member of Men at Work.

[WillWeaverRVA]

What about meeting people before they were famous?

In that case I have met current NFL player Mo Alie-Cox, as well as current NBA players Bones Hyland, Vince Williams, and Justin Tillman, as all of them played basketball at VCU.

In the original spirit of this thread...

Shaka Smart
Jimmy Wales
Matt Kenseth
Denny Hamlin
Rusty Wallace

Was he as big of a jerk as he comes off as being?

It was before he moved up to the Cup Series, so not yet.

[Takumi]

What about meeting people before they were famous?

In that case I have met current NFL player Mo Alie-Cox, as well as current NBA players Bones Hyland, Vince Williams, and Justin Tillman, as all of them played basketball at VCU.

In the original spirit of this thread...

Shaka Smart
Jimmy Wales
Matt Kenseth
Denny Hamlin
Rusty Wallace

Was he as big of a jerk as he comes off as being?

It was before he moved up to the Cup Series, so not yet.

Going by people who knew him growing up, it started long before he reached Cup.

[Life in Paradise]

DeForest Kelley, Gerald Ford, Patti Loveless, Phyllis Diller, Don Mattingly.  So we have an actor, president, country music star, comedian, and sports figure (player/coach).

[Road Hog]

Mike Huckabee
Alex Rodriguez
Beto O'Rourke
Nolan Ryan
Troy Aikman

I'm sure there are others worthy of cracking the top five, but here you go.