Cards: ProSet 1990 Pro Bowl, Upper Deck Legends 1997 Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o Home Sent: 7/13 Received: 8/24 (40 days)* See Also: Eric Dickerson, Eric Dickerson (2) *Fee Enclosed
The Holy Grail of ProSet cards was Eric Dickerson Pro Bowl #338 ProSet 1990. They were like $500.00+ on Beckett at one point! We’d open pack after pack of those Series One boxes hoping that a single Dickerson Pro Bowl would grace our presence- but it never did.
As the legend is told… Dickerson was not a part of the NFLPA so ProSet did not have his permission to print this card. You see players are given an all or none option by the NFL- so Dickerson opted out because he wanted the freedom of exclusivity. It was too late in the printing process so ProSet had to manually yank it from the production line- yet it was estimated a scant 40 of these cards made it out into the wild.
‘I don`t think there`ll be a market for this (Dickerson) card,” Denny said. ”It`s not a short print, under print, error or anything like that. When and if the NFLPA says it`s OK, we`ll offer the cards to collectors free by mail.”
-PROSET PRESIDENT LUD DENNY
Unlike the William Perry card in the 1989 set, ProSet did not replace or eventually get this card out. It was a gaping hole in the set that perturbed completionists such as myself. Eventually ProSet just gave up and issued a Lud Denny card in its place, but it was a promo card- certainly not available to the general public either.
After ProSet went out of business- well many years afterwards, everything went up for liquidation including these ‘rare’ cards that flooded the market. Apparently the company had just been sitting on them in their Dallas warehouse. (Since these cards existed before counterfeiting technology was developed- there’s no telling if these are fakes.) You can now find them on EBay for a relatively cheap price, hovering around $5.00, which in retrospect is probably still too expensive.
Still there’s a certain feeling of excitement looking at this card knowing it’s a part of the collection and the legacy involved- so I had to get it signed.
I loved Dickerson’s unique upright running style. While he absorbed a lot of punishing hits over the years and dropped the rock from time to time, there’s no denying his place in NFL history.
I had also wanted to get this Upper Deck Legends 97 card signed as well. It’s a beautiful canvas, and features a slightly elevated camera angle that makes it even more unique- and it is a great fill on a set need to boot!
A Seahawks Legend who just doesn’t get respect outside of the Pacific Northwest, Dave Krieg played at tiny Milton College and by the time he finished playing for the Wildcats he basically owned their record books. Coming from such a tiny school Dave didn’t get drafted, so he signed a free agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks in 1980.
Krieg worked his way up to 3rd on the team depth chart behind Jim Zorn and Sam Adkins. It wasn’t until ’81 that Krieg got some regular season reps, taking over for Zorn and from there a quarterback controversy emerged. About mid-way through the 1983 season Dave established himself as the favored starter with some truly memorable games, and earned his first Pro Bowl appearance in 1984 as he passed for 32 TD passes and 3,671 yards. He’d later break the team record with his 108th career TD pass in 1987. Still it seemed that Dave got no respect- as critics pointed to his up and down QB rating and injury history, but it seemed with the competition, Krieg thrived, and in 1988, Krieg again saw a Pro Bowl appearance, despite having the first of many ‘QBs of the future’ in Kelly Stouffer looking over his shoulder- a feat he’d engineer again in 1989. Dave held on through 1991- even with a new ‘QB of the future’ Dan McGwire also breathing down his neck.
Dave unceremoniously was allowed to become a free agent after the 1991 season, beginning a long and legendary journeyman phase to his career. To the chagrin of many Seahawks fans, he’d join one of Seattle’s division rivals- the Kansas City Chiefs. Although he’d engineer another playoff berth for the Chiefs, the franchise opted to sign Joe Montana to lead the squad in ’92. Dave would be a key backup playing with them through the 1993 campaign. Krieg played one memorable season in Detroit, backing up incumbent Scott Mitchell, posting a career high 101.7 QB rating. He’d then have less than stellar moments with the Cardinals (1995), Bears (1996), and the Tennessee Oilers (1997-1998) before retiring.
In a nod to Krieg’s stoic presence in the pocket with a porous offensive line, or his lack of awareness and small hands, Dave held the NFL career record for fumbles by a quarterback at the time of his retirement (153- since surpassed). He joined the Seahawks Ring of Honor in 2004, and briefly owned an AF2 owner of the Green Bay Blizzard. Currently he’s a motivational speaker, loves golfing and attends Seahawks events at least once a year in the Seattle area.
And with Dave Krieg- My revenge is finally complete.
To understand what I just said, you have to realize that a little over a two to three years ago, a passive aggressive collector decided to not help me- from what I understand, over the fact that I asked him what it’d cost or what he wanted in order to help me.
JustGreg initiated contact initially with me through SCN and asked me if I needed any Seahawks. I told him that I’d love to get Dave Krieg or Curt Warner on a few items, and to let me know what I needed to do make this happen. He told me he’d get back to me.
2 years later he hit me up a second time. I had forgotten about his offer. He offered it to me again to which I asked him if there was a cost associated with it, to let me know. JustGreg apparently took offense to me saying this. He then refused to help and accused me of calling him greedy. I tried to reason with him, but he became more and more obstinate, as it became painstakingly obvious he was trying to lord something over me or hold me to some collecting ethos that I clearly didn’t understand.
Greg then word vomited on me his dislike for many of the other collectors on the site. -It was very discouraging, and I considered ramping down my collecting. A few other collectors on SCN discussed the situation with me, and told me to keep my chin up.
I didn’t understand what his deal was. Did he read something on my site? Did I make a comment on something of his? Was he having a bad day? Why did he need to lord over me? Anyway. Who knows what his vendetta was.
Thanks to one of my collecting buddies, I was able to secure the address and get a success out of Curt Warner, but Dave was a different manner. He was not answering fan mail even if you found him. He was just signing in person at events- so I concocted a plan to get it done right under JustGreg’s nose.
JustGreg’s words, “Good luck with your collection,” Just kept rattling around in my head.
Another collector anonymously approached me for a need he had. I have had a lot of great luck with players from the University of Texas, and after posting a success- I struck up a conversation with him and agreed to help him get Ricky Williams, if he acted as a go between for me to get Dave Krieg through JustGreg. I’d send him the card with a return envelope, and he’d contact Greg and send the card to him. Greg would get the autograph and send back to him, and then my broker would send the autographed card back to me. The plan worked flawlessly, and I received back my card via Greg despite his best efforts to frustrate me. I also made a new friend to boot which was a bonus.
I did think that Greg and I have a lot in common as far as collectors go, and I am sure I could’ve helped him as well, but it is what it is. It is a shame really because in a way I now treat him the same way he treated me. Maybe he’ll read this post and gain some perspective and reach out- but I seriously doubt it. He’s set in his ways and I could only be so magnanimous.
After redshirting in 87 and then playing defensive line the following year, John Fina found a home at offensive tackle in 1989 at Arizona. By the time he graduated, Fina was a top rated and accoladed prospect for the 1992 draft. He’d be selected near the bottom of round 1 by the Buffalo Bills.
Fina didn’t start any games his rookie year for the Bills, but got his brief moment in the sun catching a tackle eligible TD pass during a Saturday Night game against the Colts. With the departure of Will Wolford, John became a fixture at left tackle for the Bills starting 131 games (2 Super Bowls) over the next 9 seasons from 1993 to 2001. He played one final season in Arizona in 2002 and then retired. John is notable for being a good tactician, who was quick on his feet, and was lethal in run blocking.
A native to the Arizona area, I talked to John about my travels through Tuscon, and stopping at the Motel 6 conveniently located near the junction of I-10 and the route to Tombstone. I also briefly mentioned the bizarre velociraptor statue standing outside the McDonalds in the area as well.
John has a well practiced autograph on these two cards. The loop in the F and the A in his name almost connect. I hadn’t gotten around to John yet because his Action Packed Rookies card looks so pedestrian… I think this is because his hands do not play a prominent role in the photo and he’s pass blocking, so there’s almost a pensiveness to the composition. I also feel like the size and the location of his autograph on this card match the temperament. Quite the opposite with the GameDay entry. You can really feel the drive block occurring off the canvas and the autograph itself scales in size and angles with the figure.
John is a decent signer TTM and is very good to fans in general. Since retirement he’s done some TV work, most notably appearing on a TV food show as a judge.
G
GS
155
131
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
