Roma legend Francesco Totti looks back on his life, revealing a man stayed in prison to see him, and that he was once hidden from fans by a monk.
Er Pupone is releasing his autobiography on Thursday, and to promote his upcoming book he appeared on RAI’s ‘Che Tempo Che Fa’.
“I thank the publishing house, Paolo Condò, who were behind me for a whole year,” Totti said.
“It wasn’t easy, either for them or for me.”
In the introduction to the book, Totti speaks about visiting Rebibbia prison.
Roma legend Francesco Totti looks back on his life, revealing a man stayed in prison to see him, and that he was once hidden from fans by a monk.
Er Pupone is releasing his autobiography on Thursday, and to promote his upcoming book he appeared on RAI’s ‘Che Tempo Che Fa’.
“I thank the publishing house, Paolo Condò, who were behind me for a whole year,” Totti said.
“It wasn’t easy, either for them or for me.”
In the introduction to the book, Totti speaks about visiting Rebibbia prison.
“We went around the cells and there were inmates who supported every team. There were Roma and Lazio players, and they were all very happy because for them it was like seeing the Pope.
“There was a table for us to sign autographs and this lad was screaming and gesticulating. At a certain point he began to try to push his way forward.
“He wanted a photo with me, but I couldn’t understand why he was so determined.
“I learned that he was due for release the week before, but he’d asked for permission to stay because he knew I was coming.
“He told them: ‘If you make me leave, I will do something crazy to be sent back here!’’”
Totti is so beloved by the Giallorossi fans that he is often referred to as ‘The King of Rome’, but his fame can be trying.
“It’s even worse now, I thought when I stopped playing it’d be better but it’s the same: photographs and autographs everywhere.
“I remember a week after we won the Scudetto, we were in a restaurant in Testaccio where there are a lot of Roma fans.
“People discovered I was there and the only way to escape was to climb over to the other side of the wall, where there were some monks in a convent.
“So I climbed over, in the dark, and I saw this person with a lamp. It was a friar who asked me what I was doing there, and accompanied me to the front – then asked for a photo.”
The former captain also gave an insight into his home life, revealing he sends his wife, Ilary, to check if he hears a noise in the night.
“If it happens, yes, before I just used to hide!” Totti laughed.
“I’d just pretend to be dead. Now Ilary goes, if she didn’t I wouldn’t have married her!”