Coming soon to Ebay: a giant foam Wisconsin cheesehead hat signed by President Obama himself.
Yes, you heard it here first.
Or you probably read it yesterday in the news – I’m a little behind in my reading. Here’s the scoop, courtesy of Channel 3 news in Madison (photo above is courtesy of Jessica Arp):
Liberian immigrant Mansfield Neblett, 46, told the Secret Service if he couldn’t wear his cheesehead hat to see President Barack Obama’s speech, he wasn’t going to come. He ended up made it to Obama’s speech, hat and all.
President Obama was in Madison yesterday, speaking at a middle school about education reform. Neblett has daughter attending the school, so was invited to attend.
He showed up wearing the giant orange foam hat, and after much discussion, the Secret Service determined the hat wasn’t a security risk and let him keep it. But just before Obama took the stage, Neblett said someone representing the president took the hat and said she would get it signed by Obama.
The hat indeed came back, signed by the President. Neblett said he intends to sell it on eBay and put the money he makes back into his construction business. Neblett said he was wearing the hat because he owes it to the state. He immigrated to the United States seven years ago from Liberia.
I checked Ebay this morning, and no hat yet. There is a normal foam cheesehead hat on there, and after two bids, it’s up to a whopping $10.50. I’m thinking Neblett’s hat might fetch a bit more.
