Panini America On Location: Wednesday at the 2014 NFLPA Debut (Must-See Gallery)

May 07, 2014

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NEW YORK — As has become customary the day before the NFL Draft, Panini America officials set up shop Wednesday inside a Manhattan hotel to engage and interact with several of football’s brightest future stars during the 2014 NFLPA Rookie Debut. One by one earlier today, top draft prospects such as quarterback Aaron Murray (Georgia), Tajh Boyd (Clemson), running back Lache Seastrunk (Baylor) and more made their way through the Panini America room to sign some of their first autographs for the company, to conduct some quick interviews and to pose for a few pictures.
In addition, Panini America officials made the most of their minutes with the NFL draft prospects by taking the time to get to know them just a little more and explain the business side of the trading card industry. Ultimately, the NFLPA Rookie Debut provides an intimate, informal setting which often seems more like much-needed down time rather than just another stop on the pre-Draft gauntlet.

And such an environment lends itself to relationship building, great story-telling and a lot of fun.
“We love what the NFLPA Rookie Debut has become and the unique access it offers us to the stars of tomorrow — that’s why we’ve been active participants here since it’s inception,” said Jason Howarth, Panini America’s Vice President of Marketing. “This is an important event as part of our activation during NFL Draft week in New York City because it gives us the ability to interact with the players before one of the biggest moments in their lives and make the collecting community a part of that. The process is invaluable for us and the players because it gives us the ability to continue to nurture our long-term relationship with the players.”
Below is a gallery of just some of the action that took place today. Stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance for additional coverage of Panini America’s presence at the 2014 NFLPA Rookie Debut.
Oh, and be sure to follow Panini America on Twitter and the #ScoreRookie hash tag during tomorrow’s first round of the 2014 NFL Draft for real-time reveals of each draft pick’s first NFL trading card.