Tag Archives: topps aaf 2019 certified

AAF, NFL, XFL

Johnston, Daryl ‘Moose’ (4)

Cards: Topps AAF Certified Player Issue 2011, Upper Deck College Legends 2011 Bowl Game Heroes
Acquired: TTM 2020, C/o Home
Sent: 4/22/20 Received: 4/29/20 (7 days)
See Also: Daryl Johnston, Daryl Johnston (2), Daryl Johnston (3)

I really hustled hard for Daryl Johnston this time around. I had seen on a few sites that he was giving away his player issue version of his certified Topps AAF 2019 card- that I did not have, and along with the fact that he was GM of the Commanders, and it was super expensive on the secondary market, I really wanted to get my paws on that card. I wrote a solid 9 page letter talking about how our lives had intertwined over the last- 30 ish years or so. It was the longest letter I’d ever written to a player.

Daryl has been very good to the TTM community, and as a whole has been a gracious signer outside of those rare instances. Instead of flooding him with cards, I just sent this one Upper Deck College Legends card and asked him for the certified one, since I was a season ticket holder to the Commanders. I was very happy when he responded in no time flat and added the tag #Swords Up! giving the Commanders card a bit of personalization. It gave me a nice bounce in my step for the day.

I had high hopes that he’d pen an inspired response to me about his AAF experience, but the stories that I had read led me to believe that he was caught just as flat footed as the rest of us, even though he was fighting in the trenches everyday for the league. After his AAF experience, Daryl went on to join the XFL 2020 Dallas Renegades, and despite the boasted money behind it, the league folded only after 5 games due to COVID concerns.

AAF, CFL, NFL

Hunt, Akeem

Cards: Topps AAF 2019 Certified
Acquired: EBay, 2019

A quick and shifty runningback, Akeem Hunt played college ball for the Boilermakers of Purdue from 2011 to 2014. In both his Freshman and Sophomore years Akeem averaged over a gaudy 8 yards per carry, while being utilized on kick returns. His playing time grew over his Junior and Senior campaigns, and in 2014 he finished with 1242 yards from scrimmage and 8 TDs.

A free agent signee of the Houston Texans after not latching on with either the Giants or Ravens, I was very impressed by Akeem. He started one contest his rookie year in 2015 and ran for 96 yards on 17 carries over the course of the season. He spent 2016 there as well before being signed by the Chiefs in 2017. The Chiefs used Akeem primarily as a kick returner. He had 611 yards on 25 kicks but did score his first professional rushing touchdown.

After being released with an injury settlement by the Chiefs, Akeem was in training camp with the Titans but didn’t make the squad. He then joined the Alliance of American Football for 2019. I felt the signing was a quality one- being familiar with his work on the Texans. he immediately became my favorite Orlando Apollo, and I pined for his autograph on his cards.

Hunt bolted out of the gate for the Apollos and led the league in rushing after the first week with 73 yards on 10 carries.

Being a part of a team that loves to win as you can see and just being a part of a team that has a great coaching staff that loves to put points on the board and just to drive up the enthusiasm of all our players and the motivation that goes in that people don’t see or the fans don’t see through our practice or whatnot—all the people coming together just to build this league, it speaks volumes for everybody that’s on the playing field that has so much passion for the game.

-Akeem Hunt on his early success in the AAF

On the season, Akeem finished with 37 carries for 185 yards and a TD., to go along with 5 catches for 49 yards in 7 games (2 starts).

During the hotly contested San Antonio Commanders versus the Orlando Apollos matchup, fans around me erroneously identified Akeem Hunt as Kareem Hunt- (the former Chiefs player who was suspended from the NFL for beating his girlfriend). Thankfully before anything could happen, I updated the fans on the difference between the two.

In early December of 2019, Akeem signed with the Ottawa Redblacks of the CFL- but the league suspended operations early in 2020 due to COVID issues.

AAF, NFL

Christian, Gerald

Card: Topps AAF 2019
Acquired: 2019, Box Breaker

Gerald Christian split time with Florida(2011) and Louisville (2013-2014) with the bulk of his numbers coming while playing for the Cardinals. He finished with 64 catches for 882 yards and 10 TDs.

Christian was selected with the final pick of the 2015 NFL Draft by Arizona, and spent the entire season on IR. In 2016, he was signed by the Bills and spent the next year on and off the roster through 2017, later briefly returning to the Cardinals.

Late in 2018, Gerald signed with the Alliance of American Football Atlanta Legends. He’d later end up on the Arizona Hotshots before the season kicked off. Gerald finished the season catching 14 of 20 targets for 158 yards and a TD.