CARDS: Classic 1992, Pro Set 1992, Gameday 1992, Skybox 1992 Primetime
ACQUIRED: TTM 2021, C/o Home
SENT: 11/29/21 RECEIVED: 12/24/21 (25 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
NOTES:
Another set need down as I pretty much cleared out the remaining cards I wanted signed of Tony’s. The Gameday was of particular interest here, however I had no idea that Classic had done these limited print cards.
Cards: Upper Deck 1991, Score Supplemental 1991, GameDay 1992, ProSet 1991, ProSet 1991 #1 Pick, ProSet 1992
Acquired: In Person 2020, Dallas Renegades v The Houston Roughnecks
See Also: Russell Maryland
So Russell was this Cowboy that I just got once or twice at Cowboys training camp as a kid and then that was it. The other players probably told him not to shell out too many autographs because we were there all the time (and they probably suspected us of selling them). Over the years I piled up some great cards of Russell. From his college ProSet card to his Gameday card, I had heard from time to time he did sign through a project that he was doing in Florida called Reading for Dragons or something like that, but didn’t want to take the chance of that being a bad lead, so I just held on to these cards. I never thought in my wildest imagination that 30 ish years later I’d get him at a Spring Football game in Dallas, but here we are!
The Cowboys pretty much jumped at the opportunity to embrace the XFL Renegades, loaning greats Everson Walls and Russell Maryland for the Renegades game against the Houston Roughnecks. As a Roughneck fan I was given a chance to attend the road game for free- so I seized upon the chance and drove to Dallas with these cards in tow. The Dallas front office put together a really nice pregame show. The Cowboys players did an interview and then afterwards signed autographs.
Russell was a really nice guy. He didn’t have any qualms with signing so many cards now. We chatted for a few minutes about those hot summers in Austin at training camp and how much fun he had. He was surprised that I knew about Reading for Dragons and told me that he only briefly did that and that the program was long gone. After signing Russell, with a wide and broad smile, pretty much surprisingly blended in with the crowd, so much so he got pulled aside when he entered the arena, to be wanded by arena staff.
Cards: Upper Deck 1991 Browns Checklist, GameDay 1993, University of Texas Upper Deck 2011 All-Time Alumni, ProSet 1992, SkyBox Premium 1993-1994, Upper Deck College Legends 2011
Acquired: TTM 2020, C/o Home
Sent: 1/6 Received: 1/14 (8 days)
See Also: Eric Metcalf, Eric Metcalf (2)
Eric Metcalf is one of my favorite players during the heyday of my childhood, so I was happy to make him my first success of 2020. With so many cards signed by him at this point, you’d think that I’d written him more than once (successfully) previously- but no- the last time he signed for me was way back in 2014. How time flies!
Eric had some stellar cards over the years, and with me still needing him on his All-Time Alumni card, and his College Legends card, I figured I could shoot out a stack to him and take a shot.
Eric is one of the few pros that actually follows me on Twitter- which is very humbling. I’ve always felt that YFS guys do not get the love from the HoF that they should, and although he has been nominated on a few occasions, Eric has not gotten in.
Eric’s cards from this lot no doubt are again, epic looking. They always seem to catch him slashing out of the backfield into the open field. I loved his Upper Deck Legends entry from 2011. In fact I am surprised that they didn’t use this as his main shot on his UT cards.
The Skybox Premium came out at a time when dropping a color across a background was novel. Unfortunately these cards commanded too high a sticker price for me as I was exiting the market. I have slowly picked up one or two here or there over the years.
ProSet was done in my mind after a few packs at Cowboys training camp in ’92. I did not like how they changed the card design midway through the set and found it confusing and disorganized. I liked this version of the set and how they moved the ProSet logo down by the player name, allowing the canvas to be more free to showcase the player.
Upper Deck was a late entry into the football card market. I didn’t really think too much of their initial NFL set, however I loved their artistic subsets- especially their checklists which focused on team MVPs. The design of this card is just superb, and in a sense very timeless. I love the circle behind Eric. What possessed this artist to put that back there? It blends nicely into his helmet, and then the horizontal lines across it lower on the canvas- It’s just so delicate and well thought out.
