Tag Archives: Houston Texans

NFL

Prentice, Travis “Touchdown Travis”

ud00spx prenticeCard: SP 2000
Acquired: 2013, Target Autographed Memorabilia

When the Miami (OH) Redhawks were really good, three names always come to mind on offense for the school over roughly the last 15 years: Ben Rothlisberger, Martin Nance, and Travis Prentice. Prentice was a touchdown machine, evidenced by a whopping 25 TDs his Sophomore season, 19 in his Junior season, and finally 17 as a Senior. At the time of his departure from Miami (OH) Travis was a multiple NCAA record holder, most notably with 78 career TDs, -shattering the record previously held by Ricky Williams. His career numbers included 5,596 yards on the ground and an amazing 862 carries without a fumble.

Travis didn’t turn in exactly Earth shattering combine numbers, and came in as the 9th rated back, but the perennially rebuilding Browns under Chris Palmer tabbed Prentice in the 3rd round of the 2000 draft. Behind Cleveland’s shoddy line, things were difficult for Travis. Expected to be the back of the future for the team, he played in all 16 games and rushed for 512 yards and 7 touchdowns- but only averaged 3.0 yards a carry.  The Browns finished at a dismal 3-13 and Palmer and his staff were dismissed. With a new coach in Butch Davis, Travis was cut and signed with the Minnesota Vikings in 2001, adding 2 more touchdowns to his resume by the end of the season. Again on the street after the season, Travis signed with the expansion Houston Texans in 2002. Reunited with his head coach Chris Palmer, who was offensive coordinator for the team, Prentice lost out on final cuts to veteran James Allen and 3rd rounder Jonathan Wells. He’d sign with the Cardinals later and looked to make the roster, but at the last second the team signed NFL All-time leading rusher Emmitt Smith. Tired of the journeyman life and the NFL business approach Travis elected to retire. He doesn’t look back on his time in the league with any regrets, and currently works as a professional health and rehabilitation specialist. While many of TD Travis’ records are now being broken, one would suppose it is only a matter of time before he gets into the College Football Hall of Fame with his impressive numbers.

This is a pretty nice card. I was surprised to get not only an autograph, but a patch card to boot.  For a profile shot, it appears that there was some care or design taken in creating it. The 2000 ‘limited’ print run on this card only underlines the circulation problem in the industry.  Overprinting players that are not high in demand is an issue still even today for many of the card publishers and hurts the collectible side of the market. Still I was excited to add TD Travis to my collection. It is these guys who have a heavily accoladed, yet short and rich history that sometimes really catch my eye, almost like a musical one hit wonder.

G/Gs   30      Rush 187      Yds 525     Avg 2.8          Td   9        Lg 17      |
Rec   38        Yds 201    Avg  5.2     Td  1    Lg   13

NFL

Miller, Billy

sco03 millerCards: Topps 2004, Score 2003, Score 2004
Acquired: 2013, C/o Elite Performance Factory
Sent: 6/1   Received: 7/8   (37 days)

Billy Miller is best remembered by Texans fans for scoring the franchise’s first TD against the Dallas Cowboys in 2002. His reaching grab on the opening drive of the game, (an eventual 19-10 victory) served notice of Miller’s determination to be accepted as a football player on the pro stage. It also was the first touchdown scored at Houston’s Reliant Stadium. Miller was originally drafted by the Denver Broncos as a wide receiver out of USC in 1999. The 7th round choice did not see any playing time through 2001, and was so upset about being cut that season by the Broncos that he used his ‘turk buckslip’ as motivation, taping it to the inside of his locker.

Basically adopting a “Will do anything mentality”, Miller arrived in Houston before the team took the field its inaugural season, not even really registering a blip on the free agent signee radar. sco04 millerShifting to TE, Billy supplanted Rod Rutledge in the lineup and quickly developed a rapport with quarterback David Carr as his safety valve. With his soft hands and speed, he provided a mismatch against nearly all opposing linebackers and defensive linemen that might shift into coverage to stop him, forcing most teams to deploy a DB in coverage when he released out into the flat. Billy became the team’s first receptions leader, finishing the 2002 season with 51 catches (for 613 yards and 3 TDs), in 7 starts. In 2003, he added another 40 receptions to his team leading total, but already with the emergence of Andre Johnson by 2004, Miller’s reception accomplishment has been rendered to an interesting footnote.  An injury riddled 2004 limited Billy to 17 receptions and a touchdown. He’d score that final touchdown with the Texans, in a 31-21 rout of the Tennessee Titans, as the franchise finished 7-9.

The Texans in 2005 decided they were ready for primetime football with the big boys, after their impressive 2004 season. To further this theory they decided to purge their roster of many of their expansion draft players. Billy in the meantime signed with the Cleveland to04 millerBrowns, suiting up for only 3 games but getting no play time.  In 2006 he’d join the roster of the New Orleans Saints and his statistics saw a slow but strong rebound. Over the next 3 seasons, he’d record 86 receptions for 1036 yards and 3 touchdowns. Resigning with the team in 2009, Miller blew out his Achilles in training camp. While he’d win a Super Bowl ring for the Saints victory over the Indianapolis Colts, Billy decided that it was fine time to retire.

Miller currently runs Elite Performance Factory, a strength and conditioning facility gym in California. In 2013, Miller was named the strength and conditioning coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

G/Gs  114/36      Rec 200     Yds 2248    Avg 11.2   Td 10    Lg 57

 

NFL

Texans Ambassadors

mem ambassadorsAcquired: IP 9/1/2013,  Houston Texans Kemah Boardwalk Kickoff

Initially I had not intended to attend the Houston Texans 2013 Kickoff at Kemah. A 200+ mile drive to stand in the sweltering heat for a few hours to get the autographs of players to be named was a risk I didn’t really feel like taking, but after being prodded by a fellow collector to go, I barreled right into the event and didn’t look back. I made sure that I had all the cards I could get of the ambassadors, minus the few that didn’t have any.

The wait was abysmal as expected. The most exciting part of it was the middle aged, bleached blond, tacky glittered shoes, big haired woman, her brood, and henpecked husband that decided with an hour to go, that they were justified to skip everybody in line and move to the front. When their initial plan was foiled, she went to the manager in charge and started complaining. After losing the argument, she smugly told her family that they were just going to cut everybody else in line through the exit anyway. The management dispatched 2 15 year old girls to block the exit, but the woman pushed in anyway. As myself and the others in front began to get antsy over the woman and her brood’s behavior, the courtesy patrol showed up and pushed them all out, much to our glee, and the woman’s cursing.

Autographs:

ND Kalu played collegiality for Rice University and was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 5th round of the 1997 draft. He also played for the Redskins, before returning to the Eagles, and then finally the Texans retiring after the 2008 season. He finished his career with 157 tackles, 31 sacks, 2 FF, and a pick for 15 yards he returned for a TD. He’s retired to the Houston area and works in sports radio.

JJ Moses is the Texans all-time leading yardage leader in punt returns for the Houston Texans. He played for the team from 2003-2006 and was one of the shortest players in the league’s history. In addition Moses is an NFLE veteran with the Scottish Claymores and is considered one of the league’s warmer rags to riches stories. He has taken to calling me ‘Superfan’ since he remembered me from the 2013 Austin draft party event and my penchant for remembering his specific career details.

Jamie Sharper had an exceptional career for the Baltimore Ravens before joining the Texans via the Veteran Dispersal Draft in 2002. He’d go on to lead the team from RILB for 3 seasons and be the only player not to miss a single start. In 2003 he led the NFL in combined tackles with 301. After the 2004 season, Jamie played a final season with the Seattle Seahawks, making his second Super Bowl appearance. He is one of two players I own a jersey of.