Tag Archives: Jacksonville Jaguars

NFL

Dillard, Jarett

Card: Sage 2009
Acquired: 2018 Box Breaker, Walmart Autographed Memorabilia

Jarett Dillard played for the Rice Owls back in 2005. He posted 3 1,000+ yard seasons back-to-back-to-back. In both 2006 and 2008 he had 21 and 20 touchdowns receiving- respectively.  Dillard owned many of the receiving records at the school upon his graduation. He finished his collegiate career with 4,138 yards on 292 catches and a whopping 60 touchdowns receiving- an NCAA record.

Jarett was selected in the 5th round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars.  (At 5-10, 185, it was thought that Dillard could not stand the rigors of a full NFL season.) During  his rookie season he logged 6 catches for 106 yards, before suffering a season ending broken ankle. Dillard’s season was ended before he even played a down in 2010, when he injured his foot and was placed on IR. In 2011, he started 5 games and caught 29 passes for 292 yards and his only professional TD – an 11 yard pass from Blaine Gabbert in a 17-3 win over the Indianapolis Colts.

The following year in 2012, Jarett was released before training camp. He’d sign with the Lions but not make the final cut. Dillard signed with the Cardinals in 2013, but again failed to make the final roster.

Jarett retired and went into practicing law, specifically: Construction litigation, contract disputes, and alternative dispute resolution, to go along with Mechanic’s lien filings… both domestic and international.

So every once in a while I pick up a Walmart or Target Autographed memorabilia hangar box. It’s a cheap frill, that keeps the autograph beast at bay for a few days while I wait for a TTM to arrive. Typically they do not hold very much of value. I like the Walmart ones just a bit more because they typically have one autograph and one bonus patch along with 4 packs of cards. In this box I got not only this autographed Jarrett Dillard card, but also a patch card- autographed by Christine Michael. Not a bad find for 10 bucks.

G/Gs   21/5        Rec 35         Yds 398            Avg 11.4          Td 1         Lg 33

NFL

Strong, Jaelen ‘Colt Killer’

Card: Panini Prestige 2015
Acquired: 2017, EBay

My friends and I liked to call Jaelen ‘Colt Killer’ because the only time that he seemed to show up was against the Indianapolis Colts- as he caught all 3 of his NFL TDs against them in 2 games. In fact his first TD grab was an improbable 42 yard Hail Mary. Oddly enough, he just failed to show up for almost any other game, and seemed to be regularly in Coach Bill O’Brien’s doghouse.

Jaelen certainly had potential. He had 2 stellar years under his belt from his time at Arizona State. While playing for the Sun Devils he posted back to back 1100+ yard, 75+ catch seasons. He was considered a raw talent, with an ideal frame, but with average speed. Some teams loved Jaelen. Others absolutely hated him. Projections were all over the board with the general consensus that he was a round 1-2 pick. In the end, the Houston Texans selected him during round 3.  Strong felt so slighted to be selected so late, he chose the number 11- because he was the 11th pick of the 3rd round, and he wanted to have a chip on his shoulder to motivate him.

Strong struggled with the rigors of NFL conditioning- showing up overweight to camp, and then an off the field issue didn’t help because the Texans are a zero tolerance franchise. He’d be released after the second game of the 2017 season. Jaelen latched on with division rival Jacksonville- but tweaked his hamstring and did not make a catch. He was cut in mid-November and after clearing waivers, joined their practice squad. Jaelen made his first start in Week 15 against San Fransisco. He’d record 3 catches for 36 yards and a TD, before tearing his ACL. Currently he’s a free agent.

NFL

Chung, Eugene (2)

Card: Action Packed Rookies 1992
Acquired: 2017, Trade
See Also: Eugene Chung

Eugene since his playing days has slowly edged into coaching throughout the pro tree working with current Eagles head coach Doug Pederson, and also respectable offensive line coaches Juan Castillo and Howard Mudd .  From 2010-2012 his title with the Eagles was Assistant Offensive Line Coach. He served in the same capacity with the Chiefs from 2013-2015.  Afterwards Chung rejoined the Eagles under Pederson and now serves as the Assistant Offensive Line Coach/ Tight Ends/ Run Game Coach.

I had considered sending out this card to Eugene for sometime as I needed it for the set, but something else always came up. D-Rock, a respectable collector from Sportscollectors.net remembered that I was an Action Packed fan from years ago, and out of the blue offered to send me one for free. He said that the person who originally got the autograph was going to throw it out because there was a slight smear. (That’s just terrible.) We both agreed that it’d be something that we’d add to our collections regardless. It just so happened that he also wanted one of the Hart Lee Dykes autographs I got. The cards that were returned to me were not mine and I wasn’t particularly attached to the Upper Deck 1991 (it’s a terrible photo) so I offered to send it in exchange for Eugene’s autograph. It meant a lot to me that he remembered me and I was glad to trade him this card he needed for his set as well.