The NFL (and pretty much every other sports league out there) has taken a back seat to the MLB in my eyes for the better half of a decade. It has to do with my inability to focus on too many things at once.
The change took place sometime in the during the 2010's. I noticed I wouldn't really care about football or even collecting football cards until both the A's and Padres seasons had ended. These days, it doesn't even matter if the A's or Padres are in the playoffs. If both teams get an early vacation, I'll pick teams that don't bother me and casually root for them until a World Series Champion is declared.
Until then... the NFL season and my Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers fanfare are put on hold. I'll check their box scores and watch highlights, but unless they are playing each other or the 49ers... I won't go out of my way to watch their games online until November.
But there was a time in my life when I would dedicate a serious amount of time following both baseball and football during the two-plus months in the fall when their seasons overlap.
As some of you might know... football cards don't generate as much interest on card blogs as baseball. However sometimes I have cards I want to share with my readers. So consider this my obligatory football post to kick off the 2021 NFL season.
Back in late July, I set up as a dealer for the first time in my life at my buddy's card show. I spent a lot of time digging through boxes looking for cards that no longer fit my collecting interests. One of the main things I targeted were "sticker-graphs". I had an entire three-row super shoe box dedicated to them. 80% of the box was stuff most collectors have very little interest in. Then there were the cards I pulled to sell at the show. These cards were the bigger names who I thought people might be interested in.
The last group of cards were cards that I decided to keep... even though I have turned my back on signed stickers. Today's post features the handful of football autographs I pulled from the box along with a brief explanation of why I decided to keep them.
#1: 2007 Triple Threads Autographed Relic Red #TTRA97 (#'d to 18)
Barry was one of those once in a generation athletes and sticker-graph or not, I'm holding onto this card.
One of the things that lured me back into the hobby was watching box breaks of products like Triple Threads, Exquisite Collection, and UD Black on YouTube. These products were out of my league, but over the years I'd add a single or two from these products to my collection. This card was purchased in 2010 for $90 (free shipping) on eBay. Can't imagine spending that much on a sticker-graph these days.
#2: Donald Driver Sticker-graphs
2008 Leaf Limited Material Monikers Jersey Number #10 (#'d to 50)
2009 Limited Team Trademarks Autographed Materials Prime #9 (#'d to 18)
2007 UD Premier Penmanship Bronze Autograph #PP-DD (#'d to 75)
2008 Donruss Classics Sunday's Best Jersey Numbers Autograph #SB-24 (#'d to 25)
Donald Driver is the Green Bay Packers all-time leading receiver... and he doesn't sign a lot for card companies. That's why back in 2009, I went out and scooped up these four sticker-graphs for a little under $100 from three different sellers on eBay within a three week period.
I was actually surprised to see these sitting in the sticker-graph box. They should have been in my Green Bay Packers PC box... which is where they reside now.
#3: 2005 Exquisite Collection Endorsements Autographs #EE-AB (#'d 01/15)
I had been looking for this card, because it's one of the nicer autographs in my Prime # PC. I actually question whether or not this is even a sticker-graph, because Boldin's signature fits perfectly inside of this window.
This card has been safely transferred into my Prime # PC box.
#4: 2008 Donruss Classics Old School Colors Autographs #OSC-11 (#'d 01/25)
Steve Largent is one of my all-time favorite football players and I had absolutely no idea I owned this card. Maybe I tossed this card into that box, because it was a Tulsa University card. But I pulled it out, because it's a Largent and it joins the Boldin in my Prime # PC.
In addition to these two autographs, Reader X recently sent me another care package and inside were two more cards that were the first serial numbered cards in the run...
2016 Elite Extra Edition Emerald Status Auto #8 (#'d 01/25)
Quantrill actually fits into two collections: Prime #'s and Stanford PC. I guess technically he's also part of my San Diego Padres PC, but he's currently in Cleveland. He was part of the trade that brought Mike Clevinger to San Diego.
2019 Topps Factory Set Sparkle Foil #231 (#'d 001/162)
2019 Topps is my favorite Topps flagship set since 2015. I bought and opened up one of these factory sets when they came out, but don't remember these Sparkle Foil parallels. Most of the #1's in my collection are serial numbered to below 100, so it was nice to see this card in the care package.
The coolest card in Reader X's most current care package was this hard signed custom of him and his son:
Thank again Xavier! There are still plenty from his numerous care packages that I need to write about. There's a really unique item he added to my Oakland A's collection that I'll be writing about in the next few days, so stay tuned.
And as for the new NFL season kicking off this week...
Are you excited? Are you rooting for any team in particular? Favorite players?
Let's go football fans! Sound off, because you might not see another football card post on here until after the World Series.
Happy Saturday and sayonara!
23 comments:
I never have more than passing interest in football until the MLB postseason is done. It's been that way my whole life.
The Bills are good now, so, yes, I'm interested in their season. I don't have favorite players in football.
Eagles
Jason Kelce and Lane Johnson
Sanders wins it, but Largent made it interesting.
Different football... but soccer has taken over my life now that I'm allowed to go to watch matches again. I went to 11 games in August.
I'm drilling over every one of those football cards, but Barry takes the cake. I'm routing for the Packers as airways and gearing up for BYU's opener tonight against Arizona.
Not excited. Haven't been for a few years now. If I had to root for a Pro team,it would naturally be the TB. College, Gators.
I follow college football and I have a passing interest in the pro game (though admittedly only when my Steelers are playing well).
I don’t have any current favorite players but I’ll probably watch the vikes most weekends. I did follow the nfl prettt closely from the late 70s until around 2010 and had some favorites then
I'm a long-time Steelers fan, but football doesn't really start for me until my baseball teams are out on the golf course. I'd frankly be leaning towards the CFL these days except they have even more overlap than the NFL, along with the limited coverage here in the USA
As Elliptical Man says, Sanders wins it. Great player, great card, not even ruined by a stickergraph! Thanks for sharing!
That Barry, though! I love the signed family custom too. There's no NFL teams in my area worth watching but as always I'll be paying plenty attention to my Wolverines.
The Giants have been so bad lately I've almost forgetton about football. When I was a kid in the late '80s/early '90s, with the Yankees playing out the string and the Giants doing great, I'd flip back and forth watching games on Sunday, with the dead Yankee Stadium (3/4 empty sometimes, believe it or not) and raucous Giants Stadium. By the late '90s that dynamic had reversed.
I'm not particularly excited about football; the teams I live and die with are the Mets and the Rangers. I'll happily root for the Giants and the Jets, in that order, but it's not nearly as big a deal for me. I'm a Northwestern alum, so I get into their college games--they made the Big Ten championship game last year, but they lost a lot of key players to injury or graduation so I'm not expecting much this season, especially after they got slapped around by Michigan State last night. But I'll be watching.
I’m not too excited about the NFL this season for some reason. I need the weather to get a bit cooler I think first.
I've always been excited for the Los Angeles Rams, even more so now that I'm working at their home games.
Has the NFL season started? I pay much less attention nowadays.
I'm excited! I find it silly how many go out of their way to say they only care about baseball. "Oh, college football started? Don't care." It's so prevalent on Twitter amongst baseball card collectors who have to go out of their way to make it known that they don't care for NBA, NFL, CFB, etc. I just don't understand one's need to express they don't care for something. It's really an insecure baseball thing.
I'm a Bengals fan, so usually the NFL season doesn't give me much reason to be excited. I do hope to see Joe Burrow return to what he showed prior to his injury, which is potentially a franchise QB.
I really like the Barry Sanders autograph you showed. So cool to have an auto his. I'm envious!
I casually watch the Bengals and/or Browns. Might watch a Thursday night, Sunday night, or Monday night game if it sounds interesting but I’m definitely a casual football fan for sure. I do collect football cards though, mainly of old Bengals players but I do pick up interesting football cards here and there from bargain bins if I see some, just for variety.
I generally don't watch the NFL because they have moved two teams out of St. Louis. I will keep up with former NC State and Mizzou players in the NFL. My favorites are probably Russell Wilson and Nyheim Hines. However, depending on the week, there are up to five former NC State quarterbacks playing in the NFL: Wilson, Jacoby Brissett, Mike Glennon, Ryan Finley, and Jakobi Meyers (now a receiver). That's 5 after Philip Rivers retired.
My team is the New York Giants. Back in the mid-90’s when the Yankees were dominating, baseball was my go to sport. Would go to a ton of games and collected mainly baseball. Then when the Giants opened the new stadium in 2010, I took over the season tickets from my dad and started to go with my son to just about every game each year. Now I barely watch baseball. And my baseball collecting is down to buy the Chrome and Optic set each year. For my now collecting is all football with some basketball (my son got me into watching basketball with him). As our situation changes, so do our interest.
I'd have to say it's between Sanders and Largent. Just can't decide, though. As for football, I haven't watched since the Barry Sanders era, probably lol. Not enough time and energy to devote to all the major sports.
I'm a long suffering New York Jets fan from Texas. Even in this state Cowboys and Texans doesn't have much to cheer on for. I notice there's been a rise of 49ers and Raiders fans. I guess we are getting lots of former Californians in this state
The NFL is 3rd on my fandom behind MLB and NBA. It may be due to the number of games or the fact that the Bears wasn't so good in the early 90s. The talk here is for Justin Fields to take over yesterday. I'm more for Andy Dalton to lose it than anoint Fields.
I didn't know Driver was a stingy signer. A coworker got a poster signed by him a couple weeks ago at a fan event in Green Bay so I was told about his lack of signing. My coworker was pretty excited about it.
So sorry it took so long to respond to these comments. Better late than never, right?
night owl - not a bills fan, but i wouldn't mind seeing them win a super bowl. definitely rooted for them when they lost to the cowboys both times in the early 90's.
elliptical man - randall cunningham is probably my favorite eagle. that guy was fun to watch
jongudmund - nice. i went to two san jose earthquakes games this summer
trevor p - i hope the packers can win the super bowl this year and somehow convince rodgers to stick around
johnnys trading spot - if you decide to collect buccaneers cards, let me know... b/c my supply of braves has been tapped for years
nachos grande - i understand. it's easier to root for your teams when they're playing well
gcrl - my niece is a huge vikings fan. her reasoning? she loves purple
shlabotnik report - i think the last time i paid attention to the cfl was when ismail had argonauts cards
the diamond king - thanks. i agree. had to hold onto that card.
dennis - not a lions fan? i actually root for them whenever they aren't up against gb or seattle
bo - i rooted for the giants both times they played the patriots in the super bowl, but was rooting for buffalo in that one super bowl
bret alan - at least you are a loyal fan. i love to collect sjsu cards, but outside of last year's bowl game, i can't remember the last time i watched one of their games
sumomenkoman - when it does cool off... i hope you get out there and see a rams or chargers game
bbcardz - that's awesome. they should be strong again this season. it'll be interesting to see who rises to the top in the nfc west.
anonymous - it started this past thursday.
the lost collector - had no clue you're a bengals fan. do you collect their cards? i remember rooting for them both times they faced the 49ers in the superbowl
adam - back to back bengals fans? nice. i think my favorite bengal of all-time is cris collinsworth.
the snorting bull - never realize nc state was an nfl qb breeding ground. very cool. big fan of russell wilson
calicokid18 - that's awesome that you and your son share an interest in collecting and the ny giants. i'll be rooting for the g-men both times they play the cowboys this season
gregory - yeah... it's hard to follow every sport... and collect them as well.
rebel coyote - sorry to hear that 49er fans are invading texas. on the other hand, i'd rather you have to deal with them, than me ;D
jafronius - not sure if driver is a stingy signer or not. i just know that he doesn't have a lot of pack pulled autographed cards. i mean he still has plenty to choose from, but not as much as you'd think.
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