Jordan Spieth Comments on Professional Autograph Seekers

Jordan Spieth is not a fan of professional autograph seekers trying to make a profit off of him. 

Per ESPN.com, Spieth had a heated interaction with a group of men who "started to heckle" him when he didn't sign their items while walking off the course at Pebble Beach on Wednesday, where he was practicing for this week's PGA Tour event. 

"It's not really worth me spending time arguing, but I'm just not really appreciative of people who travel to benefit off of other people's success," Spieth said. "I enjoy signing and I sign for kids whenever we get the chance. But these guys have these items that you've already seen online. 

"Our team keeps track of that kind of stuff, and these guys just have bags of stuff to benefit from other people's success when they didn't do anything themselves. Go get a job instead of trying [to] make money off of things we've been able to do."

The situation with the autograph seekers didn't stop after he was going off the course, as Spieth said one of the men in the group dropped an "F-bomb in front of three kids" when he was signing an autograph for a young fan. 

"I was just a little frustrated at the end, and I didn't appreciate the language that was used. It was just some scums that bothered me," he said. "If you ask anybody universally, it's frustrating and they frustrate us."

Spieth is not the first athlete to speak out against professional autograph seekers. While playing with the New Jersey Devils in 2014, Jaromir Jagr told Randy Miller of NJ.com he didn't "mind to sign for the real fans, but I hate those people who are making money on it."

The practice of making a living off autographs from professional athletes is not new.

In 2009, autograph seeker Nick Novinski told NPR's Jacki Lyden he attended a Super Bowl with a bag of footballs trying to get them signed to later "sell for about ($100)" and that he was paid on commission with an all-expenses-paid trip from his boss. 

The choice to sign or not sign is up to the athlete. Spieth's decision to give young fans an autograph could become an increasingly normal tactic for athletes who don't want to dismiss everyone but want to prevent the professional autograph seeker from making money off the athlete's name.