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There are certain moments in life where we feel truly humbled. Whether you’re a doctor, a teacher or a professional athlete, everyone has been in a situation where they are dealt a reality check and experience something seemingly bigger than life itself.

Recently, one of those moments happened to me. And it came during a brief visit with baby and his parents, with the little boy not knowing the impact he was leaving on my life.

Before a recent training session at AZ Alkmaar, I was introduced to Ruud van Meersbergen and Danielle Bons. They were a very nice couple, with Danielle recently giving birth on her birthday — November 12 — to a son.

Ruud and Danielle drove 160 kilometers (roughly 100 miles) to Alkmaar so they could introduce their son to me. Obviously, I have met children of all ages during my travels across the world with soccer, but this was a unique, special introduction that was a first in my life.

I was meeting a boy named after me.

Yes, Ruud and Danielle named their son, Jozy. Same spelling and everything. If that’s not humbling — when people you’ve never met name their only child after you — then I don’t know what is in life.

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The irony in it all is that Danielle and Ruud live in Eindhoven. Yes, the home to one of our league rivals, PSV. We got a laugh out of that, but they said they liked AZ and enjoyed watching me play.

Ruud had set up the meeting with me through one of our team executives and I got to chat with them and meet baby Jozy for about 20 minutes. We took a bunch of pictures together and were able to talk about their son, soccer and other things.

My publicist, Jeremy Pond, received an e-mail last week from Ruud that included the photos. He is going to post them on jozyaltidore.com for you all to see. I had to ask Ruud and Danielle how to hold Jozy, because I hadn’t held a baby that small in quite some time. I think I did O.K. with the little guy.

Needless to say, it was an amazing moment for me. I was truly honored.

As an athlete, moments like that let you know you’re doing more than just scoring goals and performing in matches. They give you the general feeling and belief you’re doing something right off the field of play. They give you a sense that you’re making an impact on people and positively influencing those around you.

And at the end of the day, that’s what truly matters the most.

Striker Jozy Altidore has 30 goals this season for AZ and more than half a million Twitter followers. Become one here.