NFL

Smith, Jerome


sa14 jersmith
Card: Sage 2012
Acquired: 2014, Box Breaker

Jerome Smith played runningback at Syracuse wher he rushed for 914 yards and 12 touchdowns in his redshirt junior season at Syracuse. He left with one year remaining for the NFL, but went undrafted in 2014- instead signing a free agent contract with the Atlanta Falcons. He’d make the Practice Squad and then be promoted to the active roster at the end of the season, suiting up for one game.
In 2015, the Falcons had an open competition at runningback. Smith had 22 carries for 72 yards during the preseason, but got injured and later reached an injury settlement with the Falcons upon his release.

NFL

Boyle, Nick

leaf15 nboyle

Card: Leaf Draft 2015
Acquired: 2015, Box Breaker

Nick Boyle was pushed into action as a Freshman and took control of the tight end position for the Delaware Hens. A well decorated player, Boyle was named All-CAA in both his Junior (2013) and Senior (2014) seasons. With his size and frame (6’3″,  268) he could develop into a pretty solid every down tight end at the NFL level. He already has proven hands, but needs to work on squaring up his blocking for the NFL level.

After the departure of Owen Daniels and Dennis Pitta’s back to back season ending injuries, Baltimore looked to reboot at the position. The team selected Maxx Williams early on and then came back to select the sure-handed Boyle in the bottom of Round 5 in the 2015 NFL Draft.  In his rookie season he caught 18 passes for 153 yards. He will face an uphill climb matching those numbers in 2016, as he was suspended for the first 10 games of the season for performance enhancing drugs.

CFL, MLFB, NFL, University of Texas

Davis, Mike (WR)

sage14 mdavis to14 mdavissage14 mdavis NL

Cards: Sage 2014, Sage 2014 Next Level, Topps 2014
Acquired: In Person, 1/8/16 Bud Light/ BAM Sports Tour

Mike Davis played at UT where he piled up the numbers despite issues at quarterback for the Longhorns in the twilight years of the Brown era.  He finished with 200 catches, 2,753 yards and 18 TDs to rank fourth, fifth and fourth on the career charts for the Longhorns. He is one of 5 receivers (Jordan Shipley, Roy Williams, Jaxon Shipley, and Quan Cosby) in school history to record 200 or more catches and his 10 100-yard receiving games rank second in school history. Mike Davis did well enough to earn an invitation to the Senior Bowl.

Projected to go in the 7th round of the NFL Draft, I had hoped that the Texans would select him in the 2014 draft, however he would not be selected. Davis signed a free agent contract with the Oakland Raiders after the draft but he’d be released in August.  Mike signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL in 2015, and later had a tryout with the Panthers and Chiefs.  In 2016 he was selected by ‘Team Texas’ of the fledgling MLFB.

I was able to get his autograph on these three cards, thanks in part again to my friend Shawn.  He gave me the Topps and one of the Sage cards to get signed. The bronze colored sharpie is quickly becoming my favorite as it rescues a fairly pedestrian looking autograph. Mike was nice to all the fans who attended the event in the cramped corner of the convenience store.  After a rough start with BAM a few years ago, I’ve been impressed with the handling of events by the promoter and his staff.

Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.