Second thoughts

Uber driver finds Wright way to Buffalo

Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees’ young slugger, hits the ball really, really hard — the exit velocity says so.
Aaron Judge, the New York Yankees’ young slugger, hits the ball really, really hard — the exit velocity says so.

Offseason NFL minicamps are supposedly voluntary.

Trying telling that to cornerback Shareece Wright, a six-year veteran who is in his first year with the Buffalo.

Wright was trying to get from California to Buffalo last Sunday, with a layover in Chicago, but missed his connecting flight due to delays.

The next flight to Buffalo was not scheduled until Monday morning. The problem was Wright had to be in Buffalo, for team meetings at 7 a.m.

So Wright contacted Uber, an on-demand private car service, and driver Hadi Abdollahian got the call.

At first, Abdollahian said he thought he was signing up for a three-hour drive to Buffalo Grove, Ill., not Buffalo, when he picked Wright up at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport.

Abdollahian didn't flinch when Wright told him he needed a ride to Buffalo in N.Y., approximately 500 miles from Chicago.

"I'm a man of my words and if someone says it's an emergency he really means it," said Abdollahian, 26.

Two other Uber drivers had canceled on Wright as soon as they found out the final destination. [Uber does not reveal the destination until the passenger gets in the car and the driver starts the trip.]

Abdollahian, in his Nissan Altima, drove Wright all the way to 1 Bills Drive arriving with minutes to spare before 7 a.m. meetings.

The Uber trip cost Wright $632.08. On top of that, Wright tipped Abdollahian $300.

"He didn't complain once," Wright said. "He kept me from stressing out. The only thing he complained about was people driving 50 miles an hour. His focus was to get me on there and he did."

When news spread about what measures Wright took to make sure he got to Bills minicamp on time, a local company, Bluerock Energy, gave Wright a check to reimburse him for the Uber ride. But Wright said he thought Abdollahian deserved it more and passed it on to him.

"Anyone who's that passionate and focused about what he's doing, I'm more than willing to help anyone who's putting that foot forward to be successful," Wright said.

Abdollahian confirmed he received the check and shared a photo of it on Twitter. He didn't ask for a selfie or take pictures of it because he didn't "want to be that guy," he said.

"He was so friendly. I loved his company. I wasn't expecting to meet someone like this," Abdollahian told CNN. "I really appreciate him."

Iron-fisted Judge

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, 25, has hit 21 home runs this season, which makes him the first Yankees player age 25 or younger to hit at least 20 home runs before the All-Star break since Roger Maris in 1960.

What makes Judge's feat unique is how he hard and far he hits these home runs.

In Sunday's 14-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles, Judge, 6 feet, 7 inches, 282 pounds, hit one at Yankee Stadium in New York that traveled 496 feet and landed in the back of the bleachers in left field, the longest distance a home run has traveled since ESPN began tracking home run distances in 2009.

On Saturday, in a 16-3 victory over the Orioles, he hit one that had an exit velocity of 121.1 mph, which is the hardest-hit home run since Statcast started measuring exit velocity in 2015. In addition, he had a double that traveled 116.3 mph, becoming the first player to have two hits of more than 116 mph in one game.

SPORTS QUIZ

How many interceptions does Shareece Wright have in his six-year career?

ANSWER

1 (took place in 2013 when he played with San Diego).

Sports on 06/12/2017

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