When Jason Collins was a freshman at Stanford, he saw a familiar face across the room at a party on campus. He walked over to introduce himself.
“Hi, I’m Jason Collins,” he said.
“Hi, I’m Chelsea Clinton,” she replied.
“I know!”
Collins, now 37, tells the story of this “very Stanford awkward nerd introduction” a lot these days. At the time, Collins was a promising young center for the Cardinal basketball team. Chelsea was political royalty, the daughter of the 42nd President of the United States. But nearly two decades later, Collins has become something of a political figure himself.