Card: University of Texas Upper Deck 2011 Acquired: TTM 2020, C/o Home Sent: 4/10 Received: 4/29 (19 days)
Charlie Talbert was a 2 way star for the Texas Longhorns from 1961 -1963, winning the National Championship in his final year at the school. He played both Defensive End and oddly- Wide Receiver, finishing with 14 catches for 188 yards and a TD leading the team. (Keep in mind this is during an era where the forward pass was rarely used.) As a defensive end he had an interception, and scored a TD on defense. His brothers Don (1959-1961) and Diron (1963-1966) also played for the school.
After graduating from UT, joined the Navy for three years. He then moved to Houston and got involved with real estate, and hotel development in Austin and Houston.
Charlie signed his UT card for me and wrote me a nice note sending greetings from him and his brothers.
When I saw that there was a small spike in Ottis Anderson autographs, I had to pound these cards out the door as fast as I could. I had gotten him in the past, way back in 2010, and paid an exorbitant fee to secure the autographs. On top of that the autographs were not consistent card to card- which really upset me. Later I pulled a certified autograph of OJ’s which really made me feel better- however I realized after the fact, because I didn’t have a firm grasp on my inventory back then, that I missed out on a lot of great cards to get signed.
Among my favorites of this era were the Score 1990 Ground Force cards. This one of Ottis was released in their Series II set. It’s a nice little shot of him, and his white uniform pops off the dark background quite nicely.
The Topps 1990 card seemed to be the ubiquitous shot of Ottis running for 3 yards with 4 defenders on him. It’s a well framed shot, if not for the hot green and yellow used to stage the significance of the image.
Much later I picked up this Absolute Football Ink certified autograph. I meant to give it away as part of a promotion to some people who I know through my Facebook group, but I fell in love with the design of the card and decided to keep it.
Very clearly I still wanted to get Ottis’ autograph still on a few more cards. Among them was his Pro Set 1990 MVP Super Bowl XXV card. This card was not released in the 1990 set, rather it was a special insert into Pro Set 1991 Series II. While somewhat rare compared to the other cards in the set, because Pro Set in general was overprinted, there really wasn’t a shortage of this card- just of demand. I was not aware that it existed until last year, but had trouble finding it in the open market. Eventually one of the new friends I had made through a Facebook TTM group I help manage (Rick) nabbed a copy for me that I got signed.
No doubt, Ottis had many set needs I was still after, and all of these represented one in one fashion or another. Hopefully I am done, but when I initially sent it to him this time around, I forgot the donation. He returned the letter and cards, so I awkwardly put it in there with the cards and a note. He responded in no time flat, signing all 4.
A two-time All-American and Outland Trophy Winner while playing defensive tackle for the Minnesota Golden Gophers, Bobby Bell was coveted by both the AFL and NFL- and ultimately was drafted by both the Minnesota Vikings and the Kansas City Chiefs in 1963.
Considered one of the most dominant defenders of his era, Bobby spent his first two years at left defensive end, earning his first Pro Bowl nomination in ’64. He then moved to left linebacker in 1965, and earned his first of 8 consecutive All-Star/Pro Bowl and 6 consecutive All AFL or All Pro nominations at the position. He earned NFL Defensive Player of the Year Honors in 1969. Bobby was also a great special teamer. He played for the Chiefs through the 1974 season, and was instrumental in Kansas City’s Super Bowl IV victory over the Minnesota Vikings. Sacks however did not become a tracked number until 1982.
Since retirement, Bobby had his number retired by the Chiefs, was named to the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team, AFL All-Time Team, the NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team, the Pro Football Hall of Fame, College Football Hall of Fame, and the Rose Bowl Hall of Fame in 2016.
Bobby has some great cards, and was an incredible player. Because of this I saw getting his autograph for a small signing fee to be a bargain. I loved both his Topps 1970 and the Upper Deck 1997 Legends card of his.
G
TAC
SAC
FUM
168
N/A
N/A
9
INT
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
26
479
18.4
6
61
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
