Not so long ago, Michigan football and basketball players were kids themselves, wandering around NFL training camps and waiting outside locker rooms hoping for a glimpse of one of their childhood heroes.

At the time, none thought they'd one day be the object of a child's affection.

Players say they occasionally think back to being the autograph seeker as they sign before and after games. They remember the first time they asked for an autograph. Most, unsurprisingly, still have it. These are their stories.

ROY ROUNDTREE Michigan football wide receiver

"My uncle, Jeff Graham, and Keyshawn Johnson. I got a football and I was at my cousin’s birthday party and he had a lot of celebrities there because they had a charity event the next day. He was giving out stuff and I won a football, so I was, like, ‘I need an autograph.’ So I got his autograph and Keyshawn Johnson’s autograph.

"That was Wonderland right there, because all the kids were like ‘Roy got an autograph. Roy got an autograph.’ I was probably like 12. I still have the football at home."

EVAN SMOTRYCZ Michigan basketball forward

"I think it was Larry Bird. My dad was a stand-in for a commercial for Larry Bird back in the day. He used to look like him, I guess. We have a bunch of Larry Bird memorabilia in the basement. That was probably the first. Probably around 6-ish.

"It was pretty cool. I still am like that. If I go to a Celtics game, like I am over break and stuff, I’ll be down waiting at the tunnel getting autographs still."

JORDAN KOVACS Michigan football safety

"It would have to be up at one of these spring games when I was like 10 years old. I got one of those little autographable footballs and went up to as many players as I could. I was a big Charles Woodson fan and it was ’97, the year he was coming back. I wanted to get his autograph bad and he didn’t play in the spring game, but I saw a guy wearing a No. 2 jersey. He was in street clothes and everything and I went up to him and asked for his autograph. He said, ‘I’m sorry, I’m not Charles Woodson, but I’ll sign it for you if you want me to.’ I said ‘No thanks.’ I was about 7 at that point."

DARRYL STONUM Michigan football wide receiver

"Deion Sanders. I met him at one of the football camps down in Texas. He was my favorite player growing up and Florida State was actually my favorite school. I wore 21 all the way up till here because Junior (Hemingway) had 21. That’s who I idolized most. I was about 9, 10 years old. I still have the card in my room. Up here. I keep that with me everywhere I go.

"It was big. I looked up to him the most, ‘Prime Time’ was on my high school letter jacket. I played cornerback and receiver all my years. 10 years old. I’ve had it for a while. It’s in a plastic cover. I’m not about to sell it or anything."

STEPHEN SCHILLING Michigan football offensive guard

"When I was little, I can remember Detlef Schrempf was on the Sonics and he lived by my house. I remember seeing him up at the elementary school. That was one I got when I was real little and kept for a while. It was a little green piece of paper and the pen didn’t work so I remember it was all messed up. I was real young, young enough that that was the coolest thing in the world."

COLTON CHRISTIAN Michigan basketball forward

"The first one I got was Detlef Schrempf’s autograph. It happened in sixth grade because we were playing select basketball against his son and he was at the game. I got his autograph. That was the first one. I had extra shoes in my bag, so I had him sign them."

MATT VOGRICH Michigan basketball guard

"Ron Artest gave me an autograph when he was playing for the Bulls. I have no idea what he signed because it looked nothing like Ron Artest. I knew he just didn’t care and just scribbled something on there. But I remember it, kinda, because it was like ‘That’s not Ron Artest.’ He wrote like ‘Hi’ or whatever. It looked nothing like Ron Artest. I guess that’s kind of why I remember it. I thought he was awesome. I loved the Bulls. It was on a shirt and like five of them signed it, so I’m sure I still have it."

DARIUS MORRIS Michigan basketball guard

"My brother had this Babe Ruth-signed ball, this baseball that I would always look at. I knew I couldn’t touch it, but I used to always look at it and be like, ‘Man, that’s autographed by Babe Ruth.’"

ZACK NOVAK Michigan basketball guard

"Bill and Bob Jenkins. They played on the Valpo team with Bryce Drew. One of them threw the pass to Bryce, because I remember I went to the game. It was a school night and my dad took me to the game. Valpo won and they both brought out a pair of their shoes for me. They both wore like 16s. They were huge and they signed the shoe, they each gave me a shoe. I didn’t get my homework done and the next day I told my teacher ‘I didn’t get my homework done, but I did get this autograph.’ She was mad. First grade."

JOHN BEILEIN Michigan basketball coach

"I got an autographed baseball that was autographed by Sal Maglie, believe it or not. It was really a treasure. He threw the one-hitter against Don Larsen when he threw the perfect game, I believe."

JOSH BARTELSTEIN Michigan basketball guard

"Mine’s kind of different because I thought it was the coolest thing ever to get my dad’s client’s autographs after games. I would collect them, so if I went to a Bulls game or a Bears game when I was little, I would take a picture with them and usually my dad would send the picture to the client to sign so I could put it on my wall. I think the first one I got was John ‘Hot Rod’ Williams, one of my dad’s first basketball clients. That one is up there.

"There’s a huge Kurt Warner up there. It’s on my wall. A lot of them are pictures and autographed. As I’ve gotten older there’s not as many autographs. But in grade school, they were pretty much all autographed."

JORDAN DUMARS Michigan basketball guard

"I remember when I was little, like for Christmas or my birthday, my dad (Joe Dumars) got me a whole bunch of signed shoes from guys like Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, Dominique Wilkins, Grant Hill. They were all signed. My favorite player when I was little was Allen Iverson, so that was my favorite. I still have all the shoes, too."

Michael Rothstein covers Michigan basketball for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at 734-623-2558, by e-mail at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com or follow along on Twitter @mikerothstein.