A (New York) Jet Flies Low, Swoops Up All the Cookies

If you happened to be out and about on Sunday, March 6, you would know how miserable it was outside. Rain. Wind. No one wanted to be out there.

Now, imagine trying to sell Girl Scout cookies in that.

That was the scene outside on South Street for Girl Scout Troop No. 847. Led by Troop leader Cathy McCarthy, the group braved the elements in the name of Thin Mint lovers everywhere.

Ironically, it was a person who does not eat any cookies that saved the day.

"He bought a couple dozen boxes of cookies," said councilwoman Rebecca Feldman whose daughter, Audra, is a member of Troop No. 847. "He said, 'I'll take everything you have.'"

The generous cookie buyer? New York Jets tight end Dustin Keller.

A resident of Morristown for three years, Keller said as soon as he had pulled into the supermarket parking lot, it was obvious the girls looked miserable, cold and wet.

"I saw the girls standing outside and it was raining, and I just thought if I was selling something for my sport or activity I would love if someone took them all off of my hands," Keller said. "So I did."

A member of the Jets since 2008, No. 81 said he doesn't actually eat the cookies he bought. "I'm not sure how many are there," Keller said. "They're actually still in the box. I plan on giving them to anyone that wants them. My diet doesn't allow me to eat them.

"But I'm sure if I still have them by the time the season comes around that I'll be able to find a chubby offensive lineman to take them off my hands. Probably Nick Mangold," he said.

Audra Feldman doesn't care who the generous man outside the supermarket gives the cookies to–she's just glad he took two cases of cookies off her troop's hands.

"I'm hoping he'll come back and buy all of our cookies," the 10-year-old Normandy Park School fourth-grader said. "When I found out (who he was), it cheered me up. Hey, I know a Jets player."

Rebecca Feldman, who is a self-admitted non-follower of sports, called Keller's purchase simply "a very generous act from a person," not just a sports figure.

"I'm pleased anyone would be so generous," she said.

And while the football player needs to stay in top shape for the 2011 season, if he did allow himself a little treat, the choice of Girl Scout cookies is obvious.

"Shortbread, for sure," Keller said.