Ezekiel Elliott’s stiff arm is in mid-season form.
At least for some fans on Saturday afternoon.
The Dallas Cowboys’ running back was at the Amon G. Carter Exhibit Hall signing autographs as part of the National Fantasy Football Convention.
Problem is Elliott arrived much later to the autograph session than was expected, leaving some fans in line for over two hours. Waiting long hours for an autograph, especially for someone as popular as Elliott, isn’t out of the ordinary.
Fans were mostly irked that Elliott would only sign his own merchandise, which included a shirt, which fans could buy for $25.
Most only learned this after previously being told they could have two items signed with no stipulations on the type of items.
“I spent $3,000, I bought a booth, I bought a legends pass, and I waited two and a half hours and I couldn’t get an autograph,” said Roberto Cartagena, who came in from Los Angeles for the event. Cartagena, who has a company called Sports Libs, which combines rapping and fantasy football, bought a $1,900 booth and $1,000 Legends pass for the convention. He bought two Dallas Cowboys mini helmets expecting to get Elliott to sign them to use as a giveaway on his website but was denied.
“They told us he was signing two items and then five minutes before I’m up there (in front of Elliott) they tell me it can only be his merchandise,” Cartagena said. “And I offered to buy his merch even though no one will want it. If I’m going to use that as a giveaway, no one will want it. It’s ugly. So I’m out $3,000.”
Ricky Villa, of Arlington, said it’s the third time he’s been stiffed by Elliott when trying to get memorabilia signed.
“That’s the third time I’ve interacted with Zeke and he’s been a punk all three times,” said Villa, who shot a quick selfie video in front of Elliott voicing his displeasure. “And he just looked at me. He doesn’t care.”
Not everyone walked away annoyed. Joshua Green and his family drove down from Liberty, Kansas, for the event. He was disappointed that the professional images he bought at the convention specifically for Elliott to sign were useless but still happy to get a few seconds with the running back.
“I was kind of hit,” Green said. “We bought these (glossy prints) thinking we could get them signed so that kind of sucks.”
Mike Green, of Fort Worth, said he spent about $95 attending the convention, but said it was “absolutely” worth it.
This story was originally published July 14, 2018 7:16 PM.