Former NFL star Gerald McCoy is a big Batman fan, but even the Superhero had to make way for Kobe Bryant. During an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, McCoy was asked if he still has his Batman-themed Rolls-Royce and revealed he has changed the theme.
“I have the Rolls-Royce, but I made it Kobe after Kobe passed away,” McCoy said. “So, it was Batman.”
McCoy hasn’t completely put Batman completely to the side, though. He revealed his Cybertruck is Batman-themed, and he was wearing a Batman chain during this interview as well. Talk about a superfan.
Getting back to that Rolls-Royce, host Dan Patrick wondered what the vehicle looked like now, and McCoy shared the details.
“It’s red, still red,” McCoy stated. “And I put the Mamba logo on the front of my hood.”
That’s a fine way to pay tribute to Bryant, who tragically lost his life in a helicopter accident on Jan. 26, 2020. His daughter, Gianna, was among the eight other individuals who passed away in that crash.
The incident shocked the entire world, and it would have been particularly painful for McCoy, as he had always looked up to Bryant. Fortunately, the former did at least get to meet the latter and have a conversation with him prior to that.
“I met Kobe at the Players’ Tribune meeting in LA,” McCoy said. “… They called me and they was like, ‘Last year Kobe was supposed to be there, he wasn’t there. This year, he’s for sure going, he’s for sure confirmed. Are you going?’ I’m like, ‘I’m already heading to the airport.'”
The likes of Michael Phelps, Kevin Durant, Derek Jeter, Paul Pierce, and Maria Sharapova were all there, but McCoy was only interested in meeting Bryant.
“I’m like, ‘Hey, listen, no offense. Where is he at?'” McCoy continued. “So I see him walk down the steps, and I’m like, oh my gosh, this is happening. And he just walks in, and he’s just a normal dude. He walked up, he’s like, ‘What’s up, big fella?’ and he’s shaking everybody’s hand. They sit down, we have a meeting, we go through the Players Tribune, we have a great meeting.
“Then afterwards, we went outside to the pool where they was having the afterparty,” McCoy continued. “And he comes outside, and he comes sits next to me, and he slapped me on the leg. He was like, ‘What’s up, big dog? How you doing?’ And we hold a conversation. Then I ask for a picture, and then he leaves.
“It was almost the perfect meeting of one of your heroes, honestly,” McCoy added. “And one of the people I looked up to my entire career, and it was a great feeling.”
McCoy, a six-time Pro Bowler, admitted he was more nervous about meeting Bryant than playing in a big NFL game. The 37-year-old stated he did not want to mess up this first meeting between them, and in that nervousness, forgot to say a lot of things he had always wanted to tell the Los Angeles Lakers icon.
It speaks to Bryant’s greatness that he had such a big impact on athletes across sports. In his 20-year career with the Lakers, he won five titles, two Finals MVPs, one MVP, and two scoring titles. Bryant inspired a whole generation of basketball players, and Dallas Mavericks star Kyrie Irving spoke about why he is immortalized.
