Greg Lloyd Redux

You may remember the ebay auction several months ago where you could bid on the opportunity to have former Pittsburgh Steeler great Greg Lloyd come to your home to watch the Steelers-Browns game with you and a group of friends. Since the game took place this past Sunday, I thought I would contact of Josh Korb of Steel-Town Memorabilia, the person who posted this auction, to see the results.

I'm curious as to how the idea to have Greg Lloyd watch the Steelers-Browns game at someone's house was created. Was this your idea?

It was mine. I first thought of the idea after seeing that Peyton Manning direct tv add for NFL Sunday season ticket which got me thinking. Then after watching one of the Penguins playoffs game they showed Sidney Crosby hand delivering someones season tickets and knocking on there door. I saw the excitment on there face's thought what a great idea. I just put 2 and 2 together.

Was Greg Lloyd easily willing to participate?

Yes that was easy. I have been working with Greg for years. He thought it was a great idea. He even told me a story about a similar experience back from his playing days. It was a spend the day with Greg type deal and the family had him in a back room and just pop out into the kitchen for this kids birthday. He said little guy allmost had a heart attack right there.

I'll take a little credit for posting the ebay auction on my blog (thanks to the DC Steeler Nation group) and then it got picked all over the place by sites such as Yahoo, Deadspin and The Burgh Blog. What kind of response did you and the auction receive?

Just for the record we are not part of dc steeler nation. I don’t approve of the nasty language they post on the internet. (Sean's note: I think Josh may be thinking of a different website.) The auction didn’t get noticed for 2 days then one morining I get into the office with the phone ringing off the hook, all voice mails full etc. It was nothing but radio stations calling for interviews about the auction. I ended up doing 17 total interviews including Mike & Mike, Pittsburgh ESPN, Fox Sports. It hit just about any sports football blog on the net and also the major providers like ESPN, Yahoo sports, AOL sports. I was also featured in ESPN the magazine in a interview about the auction. With all the extra traffic into my ebay store there was a few extra 1000's in sales during a week or so. I think Jim Rome put this over the top with a 30 miniute rant about the auction.



So I guess the big question is this: Where did Greg Lloyd watch the Steelers-Browns game this past Sunday?

He watched it at his home. I was able to sell the auction however the buyer wanted him for a different game later this season. I’m going to have him back up on ebay to auction him off for the next browns game 12/28/08 (pending the ok from #95)

What was the winning bid to have Greg Lloyd watch the game at someone's house? Are you willing to let us know the location (city or state) of the winner?

It sold for 7 grand. (Sean's note: WOW!) Buyer asked to remain private with all the media attention.

What is Greg Lloyd up to these days? He was definitely a fan favorite when he played in Pittsburgh, so I'm sure a lot of people are wondering what he's doing now.

He is doing great. He is married with a beautiful family living right outside of Atlanta, GA where he owns his own Taekwondo school where he teachs kids and adults. He is a 19 year 3 degree black belt. He is now known as "Master Lloyd". When he is not with the family or teaching you can most likely find Greg up in a tree stand hunting or on the golf course. That pretty sums up the 4 things that are major parts of his post football life. A lot of people wonder about Greg taking in account his "just plain nasty" style of football he played. You can aruge he is the most feared linebacker in Steeler history right there with Lambert with his brutal & ever imtimadating style of play. Combine that with the legal issues he had shortly after football it made a lot of fans wonder what kind of person he is. I can say without doubt Greg is nothing like that man they watched on Sunday. He is a very laid back person really in tune to the martial arts lifestyle living a very clam and peaceful life now. Some of his former teamates that we helped reconnect with him through apperences tell him thats not the same guy I played football with. Greg took the game so seriously that I don’t think he was able to turn a switch on & off at game time. Even the local long time media guys I talk to in Pittsburgh tell me stories about how they hated to interview Greg after the Steelers lost, not that he was a jerk but they were afriad of him. That football player image he created on the field seem to follow him around no matter what he was doing. Like his shirt said "he wasn't hired for his dispostion"



Do you have any other unique or interesting auctions or events at this time?

Well were going to be auctioning off other former Steeler players in the future. Probably just Levon Kirkland will be the only one this season due to limited time however I’m going to have a full lineup of guys for next season. Also will be doing same style concept but replacing football game with shooting a round of golf with a former Steeler. We arrange or can just about anything within reason. I love to hear new ideas so if anybody has any let me know.

We do have a big event setup in Pittsburgh for the Steelers bye weekend at Monroeville Mall 10/11 called return to the burgh. (Sean's note: I spent hours in my teenage years at Monroeville Mall.) Proceeds benifit Super Bowl XL champion Willie Williams foundation that helps kids. Our event we wanted to bring back some of the fan favorites to Pittsburgh that have disappeared over the years. Some of the names attending include Barry Foster, Bam Morris, Erric Pegram, Tim Lester, Brentson Buckner, Lee Flowers, John Jackson, Norm Johnson, Neil O’Donnell, Rick Moser, J.T. Thomas, John Banasazk and top pick Rashard Mendenhall. (Sean's note: Mendenhall certainly disappeared from the Steelers offense last week.)


You can find out more about Josh's items for sale at Steel-Town Memorabilia and his ebay store.