The Carolina Panthers have a new lifelong fan, thanks to a letter from team owner Jerry Richardson.
A 12-year-old from Oklahoma hand-wrote letters to executives of 32 NFL teams. He was shocked and delighted to have received a personal response from Richardson.
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Cade Pope was home sick from school the week before Christmas. He needed "something to occupy his time" so he asked his parents if he could write to every professional football team.
Cade wrote 32 letters -- one to the CEO, owner or president of each team.
On Dec. 26, Cade sent 16 letters to the NFC teams. On Jan. 5, he sent 16 letters to the AFC teams.
Cade's letter read, "My family and I love football. We play fantasy football and watch NFL games every weekend. My parents are St. Louis Ram's fans. My brother is a Kansas City Chiefs fan. I don't have a team to cheer for yet. I am ready to pick an NFL team to cheer on for a lifetime!"
Cade's mom Heather Pope said he didn't really have one team he wanted to hear from, he just wanted to see what kind of response he'd get.
Last Thursday, a delivery man arrived with a box from the Panthers.
Cade found an autographed Luke Keuchly helmet and a handwritten note from Richardson that read:
Cade-
We would be honored if our Carolina Panthers became your team. It would make you proud by the classy way we would represent you. You will love Luke Keuchly, Thomas Davis, Cameron Newton, Greg Olsen and all of our players.
Jerry Richardson
Founder and Owner
The letter now resides in Cade's room. Pope said it's the gesture that impressed her the most.
"It's not the merchandise, it's not the items they sent us," she told ABC News. "It's what they tell us. Why he should be their fan."
