I’ve developed a plan about how to distribute my watch collection to my kids – I know they’ll cherish them – but I’ve also been thinking about doing something charitable differently. It’s a start. 
I may be an ambassador now, but I was just a fan of the brand for a long time. When I was in college, my screensaver was an IWC GST automatic alarm clock. I thought it was the cleanest fake watch ever, and I longed to own one at the time that wasn’t realistic for me.
It wasn’t until I won my first Super Bowl in 2002 that I finally got the watch I wanted. After that win, with a few bucks in my pocket, I went to Tourneau on 57th Street in New York and bought an IWC, which I still have today.
Then, for my 30th birthday, my wife gave me a Portugieser in white gold. She surprised me with my whole family there. It was the fake watch I wore for the most important occasion of my life. I even wore it to the White House.
My official relationship with IWC started organically. I already knew Johann Rupert, CEO of Richemont, and he said there was something he wanted me to do. The next thing I knew, I was in New York meeting with Chris Greig-Hull, CEO of IWC. We hit it off right away. This was 18 or 19 years ago. It was incredible to work with a company that I admire.
One of the first things we did was an event about how we both started in Boston. I love the whole story. I am wearing this large pilot’s watch, TOP GUN edition “Mojave Desert”, which will be auctioned off for a good cause. My name is on the back of the watch, but it won’t belong to me for long. I’ll wear it today and pass it on to someone else. That’s how I see most of my watches. Eventually, they go to my family, and in this case, a great charity. I love that you can wear the large pilot’s watch TOP GUN Edition “Mojave Desert” so casually. It’s a great watch, and I’ve been wearing mine everywhere.
We talk about replica rolex watches more than anything else in the Bulls’ quarterback room. We’re always talking about the latest releases and asking each other what we think of them. The watchmaking industry is a blank canvas; these brands are the artists. On the soccer field, I’m trying to see things other quarterbacks don’t see, and that’s what these brands are doing – looking at things differently. There’s real innovation going on in the watch industry.
When I first got into watches, I didn’t think there would be such a deep niche culture that existed. Now I’m connected to more people than you could ever imagine – I won’t say who they are – and it’s not soccer we’re passing.
