Category Archives: NFL

Lockhart, Eugene (2) ‘Mean Gene the Hitting Machine’

to89 lockhart ud91 lockhart s&s92 lockhart sco90 lockhartflr90 elockhartto90 elockhart

Cards: Score 1990, Stars & Stripes 1992, Topps 1989, Upper Deck 1990, Fleer 1990, Topps 1990, GameDay 1992.
Acquired: 2012, Canton Acquisition. TTM 2015, C/o Home.
Sent: 12/28/15       Received:  1/9/16      (12 days)
See Also: Eugene Lockhart
Eugene is a solid bet TTM for fans, and since I had quite a few extra cards of his that I wanted to get signed, I thought I’d go ahead and give him a shot with the Fleer, Topps 90, and Gameday cards. The other cards were all part of the Canton Acquisition back in 2012- when a friend decided to sell his collection as he was exiting the hobby. I don’t normally buy signed cards from other collectors but I felt that as part of a package it was worth the purchase. There’s definitely a difference in the signatures, but that loopy ‘E L’ in both groups is there to trust that it is genuine enough. Each of the cards gday92 elockhartare quite unique. The Stars & Stripes were among my least favorite set- capitalizing off of American pride while just looking bad with the garish Photoshop effect on the type.  Each of the entries have very unique photos as the Topps 90, (in which most cards of the Cowboys are straight up portrait style,) has grown on me over the years.

After emerging from prison from a three year stint for being a part of a mortgage fraud scheme, Eugene has been humbled, but rededicated himself in life to the things that matter most.  He’s a family man who loves to cook. He has goals and wants to become a motivational speaker for kids and incarcerated inmates, and join the Dallas Cowboys Alumni Association so that he can meet and greet all his fans. He’s a warm story and I hope that he is able to find the validation and redemption he deserves.

Darby, Alden ‘The Juice Man’

sage14 adarby
Card: Sage 2014
Acquired: 2015, Box Breaker

Alden finished his career at Arizona State with 217 tackles, 2 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 10 interceptions at Strong Safety. He had 2 interceptions he returned for TDs, oddly both against the USC Trojans. He ran a decent 4.5 40,  displays the physical prowess to play all positions in the secondary, and is a smart gunner on special teams, but went undrafted in 2014. A practice squad mainstay so far in his brief NFL career, Darby has yet to see game time action outside of the preseason. Picked up by the San Diego Chargers in 2014, he signed with the Steelers in 2015, but was cut in early September of that year. The New Orleans Saints quickly scooped Darby up and added him to their practice squad.  He was signed to a futures contract by the squad in 2016.

 

Armstrong, Bruce (2)

pset92 armstrong pset91 armstrong PCards: ProSet 1991, ProSet 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent: 11/17   Received: 11/24    (7  days)
See Also: Bruce Armstrong

The venerable Bruce Armstrong really nailed down the right/ left tackle positions for New England throughout the late 80s and into the 1990s, so much so that he was nominated for the NFL HoF in 2011, and the Patriot organization retired his number. Armstrong over his storied career played in a franchise high 212 games. Amazingly enough he started as a tight end at Louisville, before switching over to tackle as a Senior- where he allowed zero sacks. Armstrong had it all over his career with the Patriots, combining speed, power, and durability, making him a formidable pass and run blocker.

Merv Corning’s work on the Pro Set Superbowl cards were  not enough, so the company had him come back to create the All Pro subset in 1991. He also chipped in some spot work on ProLine as well. While I was never a fan of ProSet 1992’s break in style between the two series that year, they still had some pretty good photos littering the set and this card with the red pants is a really nice throwback issue the Patriots briefly did.  A solid signer, the venerable Armstrong boasts a 90% response rate (250+ attempts) through 2015.