tom hanks
From @KendraSMoyes Twitter

We all have the people in our lives that we look up to and Tom Hanks is no exception. Even though he’s won both a Globe Globe Award and an Academy Award, and has films that have grossed over 8.4 billion dollars worldwide, it only makes sense that there have been people that inspired him along the way.

Tom Hanks is a huge fan of recently deceased NFL legend Ken Stabler, who passed away in July of last year. Nicknamed “The Snake,” Stabler played for the Oakland Raiders, Houston Oilers and New Orleans Saints.

It was in Oakland that he really left his mark on a young Tom Hanks. That’s where Hanks went to high school.

When Kendra Stabler Moyes, Ken Stabler’s daughter, heard that Hanks was a fan of her father’s she sent a piece of memorabilia to him, not really expecting anything back. Maybe a thank you.

Instead, Hanks sat down at his typewriter to tell Kendra just how much her father meant to him.

The letter reads:

Dear Kendra and Alexa,

Beyond the heroics on the field, and, say, a Super Bowl victory, why a young fan takes to any one football player is a mystery. A personal attraction.

In Oakland, the capital of Raider Nation, the years I was a kid there we had everyone from the Black Panthers, the Hell’s Angels, the Zodiac Killer, and Charley O. Finley. And, we had the Raiders …

Your father, with his left-handedness and those two bad knees, displayed a permanent smile of bemusement that said — win or lose — “ain’t this fun?” I really did see in him the honor to be found in playing the game, of using one’s God-given talent, of taking pleasure in the effort.

That Ken Stabler came from the likes of Alabama yet played right there in my hometown helped me understand the variety found in the USA. Using a pair of pliers to change the channel on my busted up kids TV (it had a few knobs missing) I would tune in San Diego to see your Dad play, or Shea Stadium to see him take on the Jets — learning that if you were good enough you could do your thing wherever you wanted.

I’m honored to wear the fine bit of Stablerwear you sent along and will continue to offer up to anyone who comes my way, and maybe just asks how I ended up where I am, that you just have to throw deep, baby …

-Tom Hanks

 

 
What a guy.