At a Washington, D.C., bar on Monday, one of my brothers and I had the pleasure of meeting one of our sporting heroes, Wayne Rooney. A long-time star striker in the English Premier League, Rooney now plays for D.C. United.

But as longtime fans of Everton – an upper mid-tier club in the Premier League – my two brothers and I (one is currently researching whales off the coast of Africa) have held Rooney in high regard since he began playing for Everton in August 2002. While Rooney was quickly sold to Manchester United, where he spent 13 years and scored many goals, he returned to Everton for one final hurrah in last year’s 2017-2018 season. For us to meet Rooney was a cause for great excitement.