Tag Archives: Minnesota Vikings

NFL

Coleman, Justin

Card: Sage 2015   (171/250)
Acquired: 2016, Box Breaker

Justin Coleman played for the Tennessee Volunteers from 2011-2014. He saw action in all four years for the school posting 157 total tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, 5 interceptions for 106 yards and a TD, with 17 pass deflections. Despite his numbers, Coleman’s overall pedestrian 40 time (4.53) combined with his size (5’11”, 185) caused him to drop out of the draft. He’d sign as a free agent with the Minnesota Vikings after the 2015 Draft but be released in August. Claimed by the Patriots, he’d be cut the following day. The Seattle Seahawks signed Justin to their practice squad the day after that- and then the Patriots came back three days later and signed Justin to their active roster. Whew! Talking about a whirlwind tour.

Justin ended up being a key player in the Patriots’ secondary, playing in 10 games and starting 2. He’d finish his rookie year with 23 total tackles, 5 pass deflections, and 1 fumble recovery. Although he played for the team in 2016, he only started 1 game and had 11 total tackles and 3 pass deflections.

The Patriots traded Coleman technically back to the Seahawks in 2017 for a seventh round pick. Coleman started 5 games for the Legion of Boom recording 2 interceptions for 58 yards and 2 touchdowns, to go along with 9 pass deflections, 1.5 sacks, and 35 tackles. Moving forward through 2018 with the departure of Richard Sherman, it looked as though the Seahawks were hoping that Coleman would be a major player for the team. He became their primary nickelback and produced a career high 51 total tackles, .5 sacks, 1 interception, 1 forced fumble, 10 pass deflections, and returned a fumble for a TD against the 49ers.

Literally at the time of this post Justin was inking a free agent contract with the Detroit Lions. As offenses continue to evolutionize, defenses are forced to catch up and the specialized slot corner or nickelback is now in extreme demand. That being said, Justin is now the highest paid slot defender in the league.

NFL, University of Texas

Griffin, Cedric (2) ‘Griff’

Cards: Upper Deck 2006, Score Select 2008, Adrenalyn 2009
Acquired: In Person, 2018
See Also: Cedric Griffin

Wow, so I went out to this unbearably hot event at Del Valley stadium to get Cedric Griffin and Aaron Ross in the middle of July. That’s dedication. Anyway, it was a really good and encouraging camp for the kids. There were some great speeches from the players, and they were more than happy to provide autographs to anyone and everyone.

I patiently waited until the end. A kid kept backing up nervously, so I told him to go ahead and get Cedric’s autograph before me. Cedric and the kid looked at me and laughed. It was his son.

Cedric told me that he loved every moment of the NFL experience and cheerfully penned these 3 cards for me in no time flat.

I previously had gotten Griffin on a card or two a few years ago. I gave away the Adrenalyn card -even though I really liked it, so I had always wanted to get Cedric again on a few more cards including the Upper Deck 2006 rookie debut- which I seem to have carved out a small niche in collecting. I don’t like that particular card. It appears that somebody Photoshopped the background very poorly. The Score Select 2008 is an okay card, but the chrome is a bit garish. Thankfully, Cedric’s bold silver autograph makes up for the design descrepancies on each card.

NFL

Talley, Darryl ‘Spider-Man’

Cards: Action Packed 1991, SkyBox Colors 1993/94, ProSet 1991
Acquired: TTM 2016, C/o Home
Sent: 12/6/16 Received: 7/30/18    (599 days)

A second round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 1983, Darryl Talley never missed a game in 12 seasons for the Bills. The unusually injury immune linebacker was also a model of consistent play over his long career- that spanned in the end, 14 seasons and 4 Super Bowl appearances. Talley is the Bills’ all-time leading tackler with 1,137 takedowns, to go along with  38.5 sacks, 14 fumble recoveries, 12 interceptions and 2 touchdowns.  After the 1994 season, Talley hit the open market and signed with the Falcons, playing 1995 with them and 1996 with the Vikings before retiring.  He was inducted into the Bills Wall of Fame in 2003, and named to the Bills 50th Anniversary team in 2009.

Darryl has battled severe depression and financial hardship since his retirement, however he’s worked hard to conquer his demons, partially in part due to his wife and children. As of 2018 he acts as a football ambassador for the NFL Legends community of players. The goal is to reach out and help as many former players and let them know of the different programs that are available to them from the league. Here’s hoping things continue on the up and up for Spider-Man.

Darryl Talley had some fantastic cards over his years in the league. I was pleased to add these 3 interesting designs and/or dynamic photos to the Encyclopedia. His Action Packed 1991 card embodies everything I want to see in an exciting solo shot of a linebacker, with Talley in full pursuit about to pop a ball carrier. The card itself on the front is minimally designed, and this appeals to me, and Darryl inked this card in the right spot to accent it perfectly. – High marks indeed. Skybox had a smart debut with their base set in 1992. Their subsequent releases, not-so-much. It didn’t help that they along with their counterparts flooded the market with so much content it was impossible to stay loyal to any card company and follow a release schedule. Mind you this was the high days of adventure before the internet!

The ‘Colors’ 1993-1994 Skybox set was a really slick look but by the time this set came out, I had already had my bank account plundered regularly by the discovery of girls. Both this card and the ProSet 1991 showcase Darryl’s nice arm sleeves, that intentionally were in a webbed pattern to harken to his nickname- Spider-Man.

ProSet set the standard from 89 to 92 really. (Nobody talks about ProSet 93.) That was also their problem. I felt the cards were the minimum I’d expect from a company to show me, even though what ProSet showcased with the minimal design was really outstanding for its era before Photoshop. Great photo of Darryl. It is too bad that ProSet ate itself out of the market. I wonder what their brand would look like today if it still existed.  Overall though Darryl signed 3 of 4 cards, and has a great signature. I think I sent him a donation but honestly it was so long ago I can not recall.

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