Alshon Jeffery calls them collector's items.
In his house he has boxes and boxes of Jordans he's never worn. He doesn't even want to venture a guess as to how many he owns.
"Some I may wear, some I may never wear," he said. "I've got so many shoes, man. I've got to put some in storage."
For Jeffery, growing up in St. Matthews, South Carolina, Michael Jordan was everything. Jeffery was exactly eight years and four months old when Jordan hit that step-back jumper in the '98 finals against the Jazz and Jeffery completely fell in love with basketball.
"I think any kid who even knew what basketball was back then wanted to be Michael Jordan after that," Jeffery wrote in ThePlayersTribune in March. "I was definitely one of them."
Basketball was Jeffery's first love and, naturally, Jordan was like a God. Long before he became an NFL player in the city where Jordan became a hero, long before he signed his first pro contract and long before he signed an endorsement deal with Jordan, Jeffery was already wearing his gear.
Thanks to his accomplishments and ability as a football player, he got to not only meet Jordan but also become a member of the Jordan Brand family about four years ago.
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"Coming from a small town, watching him as a kid, it's amazing," Jeffery said. "Because he takes care of his guys. We all are family."
As a Jordan athlete, Jeffery obviously gets a ton of gear. It's everywhere. On Thursday, he had 12 pairs of Jordan footwear in his locker at the NovaCare Complex: cleats, sneakers, slides. But that's not the only perk. He also gets to meet some really cool people and do some really cool things.
What's the best experience he's ever gotten to have because of Jordan?
Well, in 2015, he got to spend his 25th birthday at a private Prince concert.
"I think that was pretty cool," Jeffery said. "Rest in peace to Prince. I got to see him perform. Me and [Jordan's] birthday are around the same time. He had so many people up there. Every star that you can imagine was there, man. It was probably one of the best parties I've ever been to in my life."
Prince played at the private 30th-anniversary party of Jordan Brand at 23 Wall Street in New York on Valentine's Day, just three days before Jordan's birthday. According to published reports, celebrities like Jordan, Chris Rock, Jay Z, Beyonce, Rosario Dawson, Terrell Owens, Carmelo Anthony, Derek Jeter, Ludacris, Queen Latifah and Tim Meadows were in attendance.
It was quite a lineup of stars.
And quite a lineup of tracks from the musical icon.
Prince played for over two hours and played the hits. Check out this setlist. Prince opened with Let's Go Crazy, closed with Purple Rain and played a ton of hits like When Doves Cry, 1999, Kiss and Little Red Corvette in between.
And the whole time, a newly-turned 25-year-old Alshon Jeffery from St. Matthews, South Carolina - population just over 2,000 - stood there in awe and took it all in.
That wasn't the only night Jeffery has gotten to hang out with some famous people by being a Jordan athlete. At every event the brand has, there are tons of famous Jordan athletes.
Jeffery started going through the list: Andre Johnson, Jimmy Butler, Ray Allen, Michael Finley, Rip Hamilton. He could have kept going, but the reporter got the point.
"Of course you talk about sports, they talk about who they got in they fantasy teams," Jeffery said with a chuckle. "It's back and forth. But everybody is pretty cool, man."
And then there are the shoes.
This season, Jordan athletes in the NFL are wearing personalized cleats that celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Air Jordan XIII. Jeffery has a few different versions: green and black, all white, all black.
Last year, Jordan Brand NFL players wore the Air Jordan IX. In 2015, they wore the Air Jordan VII.
Before Jeffery came to town, the king of Jordan Brand in the Eagles' locker room was Jason Peters. According to the Eagles' media guide, Peters started his collection in 2006 and has a collection of over 2,500 in one giant closet of his home. Peters' personal favorites are the black and red 13s.
What about Jeffery's favorite?
"My favorite shoes are probably ... I like the 4s, I like the 3s, 14s," Jeffery said. "Of course the 11s. I think those are everyone's favorites, the 11. The 6s. Man, I like them all."
And maybe one day, he'll get around to wearing them all too.
