JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- It was about a month ago when the question was first posed to Griff Sumner, a 7-year-old boy who idolizes the Los Angeles Rams' star running back like few others: "What would you do if you someday got to actually see Todd Gurley?"

"That's never going to happen," Griff said. "They're in L.A. We're never going to get out there."

But the opportunity actually presented itself this past Sunday, when the Rams played the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field, less than 200 miles south of Griff's home in Statesboro, Georgia. Griff's parents, Michael and Tara Sumner, surprised their son with tickets while he was seated in the backseat of the car during their commute to the game.

The resulting video, and the tears that flowed throughout it, became a social-media sensation -- popular enough that Griff got an invite to meet Gurley during Thursday's practice at the University of North Florida.

Tara called it "a dream come true."

"It has been a whirlwind," Tara said, "but it's been fun.

I think someone is excited to go see @TG3II play today. He's been a fan since day one! pic.twitter.com/wyVu9EnsjT

— Kathryn Langley (@kplangley1) October 15, 2017

Griff arrived Thursday in a blue Gurley jersey. He sat silently on the aluminum bleachers in front of the practice field and was told that Gurley was seated beyond the end zone, awaiting his arrival.

The tears flowed again.

"He’s very shy, and he doesn't like the attention on him," Tara said. "He would rather it be on anybody else. For 7 years old, it's just very overwhelming. It's a very overwhelming thing."

Griff grew up a fan of the Georgia Bulldogs and fell in love with Gurley as soon as the running back stepped on the field in Athens, Georgia. Griff followed Gurley through his collegiate career, then hoped he would be drafted by the nearby Atlanta Falcons so that he could watch him play. Griff's father requested tickets through his job for the Week 6 game immediately after the 2017 schedule was released.

He finally received four booth passes about four weeks ago and kept it a secret until moments before the big game.

"We almost blew it a couple of times," Tara said. "Even on the way down here, we almost blew the surprise. And I knew that he would be really, really excited. I wasn't sure about the tears. But once he started letting them flow, it took a little bit for them to stop."

Tara took video on her smartphone and sent it to her sister, Kathryn Langley, to post on her Twitter account. "See if maybe we could just get a 'like' from Todd," Tara told her, never expecting anything more. They watched Gurley rush for 116 yards in a 27-17 victory over the Jaguars, then got a retweet from Gurley and watched social media go crazy over it.

An invite from the Rams followed shortly thereafter.

Griff was shy at first, unable to speak as he sat next to Gurley on the rubberized track that surrounds the Rams' temporary practice facility. But several members of the organization came up to the family, including general manager Les Snead, head coach Sean McVay and defensive coordinator Wade Phillips. And Griff began to loosen up.

Trumaine Johnson played catch just as the team was wrapping up, Tavon Austin cracked some jokes, and Gurley came by again to sign autographs.

Griff's personality finally started to come through.

"When you see something like that, it means a lot," Gurley said. "You don't really see it until you get a video and you're like, 'Aw, snap, kids really do look up to you.' It's cool."