The Loop

Sign Boy is back, sort of, as the voice of a hunk of cheese

May 20, 2017
Sign Boy.jpg

Stories of interest you might have missed…

Sign Boy, the iconic character created for FootJoy commercials, is back, or at least his voice is back. Matt Griesser, who became a celebrity in his own right portraying Sign Boy, the standard bearer following the PGA Tour in the FootJoy ad campaign, is the voice of the cheese in a Cheez-It advertising campaign.

T.J. Auclair caught up with Griesser for this story at PGA.com. Among the enduring friendships to evolve from his nine-year run as Sign Boy was one with Peter Jacobsen.

“In 2013, Peter calls me and says, hey – can you get away for a couple of days to meet me and play golf. I told him I’d look into it. A couple days later, I called him back and he said it was to go play Augusta National,” Griesser said. “I was like, ‘Dude! Why didn’t you say that to begin with?! I’m there!’”

A grieving Bart Bryant returns to golf

“Sometimes it’s just not about the golf.

“It’s not about contending or winning or even about a score. It’s not about perfect wedges that pick the ball softly off the fairway and send it dancing onto the green and spinning back toward the flag. It’s not about birdies or expectations or top 10s. And it’s definitely not about the paycheck.

“Sometimes – even after decades playing at the highest levels of the game -- it’s just about being out there with old friends. About pulling a club out of the bag and feeling it in your hand. About not getting mad, but simply shaking your head at another chili-dip or chunk into the lake and laughing about it afterward.

“Or, in Bart Bryant’s case, it’s about healing. And about making the game that’s been your life ever since you can remember as simple as putting one foot in front of the other and just moving forward.”

Melanie Hauser, at PGATour.com, has the story of Bryant, whose wife Cathy died from brain cancer on April 5, and his return to the PGA Tour Champions at the Insperity Championship.