NFL

Bishop, Blaine

to97 bishop bow96 bishopCards: Topps 1997 Hitmen, 1997 Bowman’s Best
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Home
Sent:  8/3   Received:  8/17   (14 days)

During the mid-90s, Blaine Bishop was one of the best strong safeties in the NFL. While his interceptions didn’t show it, he certainly made up for it with his ability to enforce at the line of scrimmage and nose for the ball in the box.

Blaine was drafted in the 8th and final round of the 1993 draft. A surprisingly deep draft, 6 players drafted in Round 8 made the ProBowl in their careers- more than any other round in that draft except for Round 1 (7) or Round 2 (also 6). Bishop was to provide depth for talented Houston Oilers secondary that already included Cris Dishman, Darryll Lewis, Mike Dumas, Steve Jackson, Marcus Robertson, Bo Orlando, and Bubba McDowell.  Bishop beat out former second round pick Mike Dumas and join the Oilers roster that season starting 2 games for the team. As the team imploded in 1994 with the implementation of the salary cap, Coach Jack Pardee resigned under fire. Defensive coordinator Jeff Fisher took over, and Bishop saw a more important role in the defense starting 13 games that season.  From 1995-1997 Blaine earned 3 Pro Bowl appearances, and joined the team when it commuted to Tennessee in 1997. He’d earn another Pro Bowl appearance in 2000, but an injury shortened 2001 ended any hopes of a repeat.  In 2002, Blaine played one final season with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Blaine, as of 2015, lives in the Nashville area where he does radio and sports commentary. One of the last connections to the Houston Oilers, I had been looking for a few cards for sometime that represented Blaine. Topps really upped their game with foil quality cards and the Hitmen series in the mid-90s have been some of my favorites from their collection.

G/Gs 138/120        Tac  544       Sac 15.5        Fum  11
Int 5     Yds 103      Avg 20.6       Td  1         Lg 62t

NFL

Gurley, Todd

sage15 gurleyCard: Sage 2015 (212/250)
Acquired: Twitter Promotion 2015, C/o SA-GE Collectibles

I had never won a promotion before through Twitter, but when SA-GE Collectibles announced a giveaway, I had to take a shot downfield. SA-GE was looking to see fans player collections, so I emptied my binder of all my SA-GE autographed cards and sent them a photo. Pretty soon thereafter I was followed by a few copycats, but the message had been sent, and I made an impression. A few weeks later I received 2 cards. I thought that I’d get an Alfred Blue card, but lo and behold I received this awesome Todd Gurley card along with a really nicely designed Anthony Harris card. After thanking SA-GE for the card, I was spammed by a few interested buyers, but I’m not in it to sell it.

I had been following Todd Gurley for a while. On my long drives to Houston for Texans signings, I had listened to pundits talk about how good he was and his numbers spoke volumes.  Although injuries derided his 2013 and partially his 2014 campaign, Todd graded out rightfully so with a first round grade.  In 3 years at Georgia, Todd rushed for 3285 yards on 510 carries with 36 TDs.  Considered a rare blend of speed and power, Gurley would have been the #1 overall pick if not for an ACL injury that sidelined him for the remainder of the 2014 campaign and through the combine.

The St. Louis Rams looking for that bell cow back selected Gurley with the 10th overall pick of the 2015 draft.  Todd got on the field near the end of September against the Steelers, and had his first bust out game against the Cardinals the following week rushing for 146 yards on 19 carries- the first of four straight 100 yard games. He scored his first TD against the Browns on 10/25 and finished with 1,106 yards on 226 carries and 10 TDs, propelling Gurley to the Pro Bowl and NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Honors.

NFL, XFL

Johnson, Reggie

aprks91 rjohnson
Card: Action Packed Rookies 1991
Acquired: 2014, Albany Acquisition

Reggie Johnson appeared on the NFL scene quietly in 1991.  He finished his college career at Florida State with 52 receptions for 544 yards and a 10.5 yard average.  Johnson was the first tight end taken off the board at number 32 overall. He caught his first touchdown (since High School) in his first professional game against the Bengals in 1991.  It took another 30 games for him to catch another- in the season finale against the Chiefs in 1992. Reggie recorded a career high 20 receptions for 243 yards and a TD in 1993. He was cut by the Broncos due to the salary cap in 1994, and briefly was picked up by the Bengals. Over those next four seasons, Johnson played for the Packers (1994), Eagles (1995), Chiefs (1996), and Packers (1997) again before retiring. Over his career, Reggie was known as a good special teams player and goal line blocker. He returned briefly to play football  for the XFL Birmingham Thunderbolts in 2001.

Rec 66    Yds 791    Avg 12.0      Td  6      LG 48

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