Cards: Panini Contenders 2018, UT Upper Deck 2011 NC Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o North Carolina Sent: 3/23 Received: 4/5 (13 days) See Also: Mack Brown
Well the wheels came off the wagon at UT in 2013. Despite the Longhorns finishing 9-4 and 8-5 respectively in those last two years- everyone involved decided it was time to map the Texas Longhorn program in a new direction. Mack moved into being more like a defacto booster/ promoter for the school, as UT churned through Charlie Strong until they got who they wanted in Tom Herman- a coach off of the Mack Brown coaching tree.
Mack in the meantime worked the college football angle as a commentator for ESPN and in 2018 earned a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame. Feeling the urge to coach again, Mack returned back to North Carolina in 2019- after a near 5 year hiatus from coaching.
I had gotten this National Championship card I think as a pull from the Spoodog UT break way back in 2013-ish. I had always wanted to get it eventually signed. It made sense to send it out when I got the Panini Contenders 2018- A set that ironically came out a few months after one of the message boards I was on got feedback from us and I told them it’d be great to have coach cards again. I digress however… Mack is still one of the better coaches TTM in the business. He signed these cards in about 2 weeks.
Slowly I had been working my way back around to Mike after about a 9 year layoff or so. I had been sold the Score 1990 card as part of a big lot of cards from the Akron Acquisition- so I needed a few more to fill out the ranks. Mike is another one of these players I didn’t want to see in his other NFL uniform (Falcons in this case). He still had some great Oilers cards I wanted to get signed- and once I got the Upper Deck 1997 card -in 2018, I made the decision to write him again. To seal the deal I also pulled this Panini Contenders card of him and put it aside for send out since I’ve gotten a few autographs recently around that set.
High grades for his Legends card from Upper Deck. Love the sports photography and how its got that nice action blur in the background. Far too often I’ve noticed photos where the people in the background are clear as day and distract from the player. In this case- this photo feels like a training or mini camp shot. I think the bushy trees give it away. Still, it’s a nice piece.
Mike’s Action Packed 1990 card is okay. I think it’s typical of AP at that time with that distance of framing images, but in this case, I feel like the image should’ve been pulled back a bit. Was Mike diving for a TD? Reaching out from a pile? Struggling to get back to the line of scrimmage? The design like all AP from 90 was simple and elegant however.
The Score 1990 set was a letdown from 89. I mean nothing could top what they did in that first set. The design here is nice, but the bordering with the logo is a bit heavy. The neon green marquee feels a bit unnecessary and forced. I kept wondering, “What does purple have to do with the Oilers?” It’s a decent action shot but I question Mike’s sense of dress as his thermal shirt sleeves are quite dated.
No question the Panini Contenders Draft Picks set has grown on me over the last… year or so. While I find it a bit over designed it’s a set that has a good selection of names in it. This shot however of Mike is terrible. He just looks like he’s jogging off the field to the sidelines.
Trey Marshall is another defensive back from FSU. While both Texas and LSU claim hegemony over defensive backs, Florida State over the past few years has been on somewhat of a roll. Sort of an afterthought to then starter Derwin James at safety, Trey came in in a pinch for the Seminoles during 2016, and recorded 58 tackles. Playing in 9 contests as a Senior in 2017, he had 44 tackles and 2 tackles for loss. An aggressive in the box safety, Marshall only had 6 pass deflections over his career and no interceptions. Still his physical tools graded out well enough that the Broncos decided to bring Trey into camp. He impressed enough to be brought back on the team’s practice squad for 2018, and was promoted to the regular season roster at the end of the year. Through 2019 he has 25 tackles, and is 1/1 on fumble recoveries.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
