“When I first tweeted at him, I thought there was a very slim chance that he’d see it," Paladin said. "When he replied, I thought to myself, ‘This is crazy.’”



What happened next is the most amazing story of athlete-fan interaction in the short history of social media.

That's a pretty high bar, by the way.

Kevin Durant, in the mood to play flag football during the lockout, was told there was a game at nearby Oklahoma State. He showed up. Chad Ochocinco treated 66 of his Twitter followers to a fancy dinner. Shaquille O'Neal offered tickets to a game for anyone who tagged him in a mall. He gave away 30 tickets that day.

But no professional athlete has ever spent the kind of time with a fan that Antonio Brown spent with Seth Paladin during Super Bowl week.

After a series of replies, direct messages, texts, and calls, Brown eventually invited Paladin to his hotel room. They immediately hit it off. With an open schedule, the two of them headed over to a local gym.

There, Brown showed Paladin, a Pittsburgh native, his workout routine. They lifted weights. They swam laps in the pool.

And if the story stopped there, it would have been remarkable. But it was far from over.