"Even if he would have asked for 39, I would have given it to him because I have so much respect for that man," Ball said. "I was talking to him today and telling him that when I was little, he was the first person I ever got an autograph from. I'm from right outside St. Louis and he was with the Rams. I went to one of the Rams' camps when I was young -- 11, 12 years old, 13 -- and he was there. It's funny how everything comes full circle.