I'll tell you right now most people won't know a lot of the guys on the list. I live in Colorado and celebrities are hard to come by. They are just regular people, but it's cool to watch someone on TV that you know or have seen in person. I don't think that'll ever change.
http://www.ranker.com/list/the-coolest-celebrities-i-and-_39_ve-seen-in-person/stokified,
John Elway
It was either high school or middle school where I saw John Elway. All summer league basketball games are played at Cherry Creek high school because there were 1,000 gyms there. I was passing by a girls game and John Elway was there watching his daughter play basketball. He was wearing sun glasses, so nobody would notice him and he looked like he didn't want to be bothered. I'm sure a lot of people have seen him before or know him, but I'll always remember that. I always thought it was pretty cool. Elway is a God in Colorado and 100% of the people have never seen him as a regular person.
Greg Barnes
You probably don't know who he is. He was the best basketball player in the state of Colorado as a junior in high school. He unfortunately died, but every time I see Kirk Hinrich play in the NBA I get reminded of Greg. Just imagine a more athletic, taller version of Hinrich and that's what Greg was. There is no doubt in my mind that he would be in the NBA today if he was still alive. When he died I remembered watching MTV the next day and Carson Daly does this long piece about Greg on MTV. I couldn't believe it. He was that good at basketball (although being on MTV had a lot to do with the high school he went to).
One of the coolest moments in my life involved Greg. I was in 6th or 7th grade and during a basketball game the clock was running out and I timed like a 20 foot shot to go in as the clock expired. I made the shot and Greg runs onto the court and gives me a big hug, it really was a great moment.
Kirk Hinrich
Birdman
I was at 24 hour fitness one day with a friend and as we were leaving Birdman walks into the gym. My friend didn't notice him, so I said "do you just see who that was." He didn't know who I was referring to and I told him it was Birdman who just walked into the basketball court area. My friend does a complete 180 and goes into the gym and tells him how big of a fan he is. Birdman was the fan favorite when he was in Denver and it was especially cool for a high school kid.
Zach Robinson
Zach Robinson was a starting D-1 QB at Oklahoma State and was drafted into NFL as a QB. I think he plays for the Bengals now as a backup. I went to the same middle school with him and we played on the same 3 on 3 basketball team for a school tournament. We ended up dominating everyone at that tournament. The other guy on the team was a D-1 CB in college. Yeah I'm the biggest loser in that group. It was funny because I was 6'2 in middle school and Zach was a lot shorter than me. I didn't grow an inch since then and Zach is a lot taller than me now.
Kevin Pritchard
Kevin Pritchard was the GM for the Portland Trail Blazers at one point. I was at Aspen high school for a basketball camp that he was running. One day all the coaches made it a big point to say I was the hardest worker in the entire camp, I even got a T-shirt for it. The next day Pritchard was walking by one of my games and I didn't hustle after a rebound or something, and Pritchard said I needed to play harder. He thought I was a fraud. I really don't care, I just thought it was cool.
Mike Dunleavy
I was in Hawaii on vacation and my brother and I were walking the streets of some city (I think it was the island of Maui, I don't remember). I spotted Mike Dunleavy about a mile away because he was so damn tall. I tell my brother and he's like you have to say something to him. So I went up to him and I said "you were the shit at Duke can I take a picture with you." So he said yes and I was too afraid to talk to him and it was kind of awkward. Then he walks away and says have a good night. Keep in mind Dunleavy had just been drafted into the NBA as the 3rd overall pick, so it was a pretty big deal at the time to me. I thought he was going to be the next Larry Bird. He's not the best NBA player of all time, but he is pretty good.