Upper Deck College Legends 2011, #56Upper Deck College Legends 2011, #BGH-GB
CARDS: Upper Deck College Legends 2011, Upper Deck College Legends 2011 Bowl Game Heroes ACQUIRED: TTM 2023, C/o Home SENT: 1/11 RECEIVED: 1/28 (17 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Played Quarterback for UCLA from 1965-1967
Threw for 4087 yards and 23 TDs (23 INT) on 465 attempts (243 completions) over college career.
Was a dual rushing threat, running for 1271 career yards and 35 TDs on 462 carries.
Rushed for a career high 590 yards and 14 TDs, while passing for 1483 yards and 9 TDs in 1965.
Threw for 8 TDs and 1359 yards, for a career high 55.8 completion percentage (87/156), while rushing for 227 yards and 11 TDs in 1967.
Selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1968 NFL/AFL Draft, but would be traded to the Washington Redskins after the team couldn’t agree on contract terms with Beban.
Sat on the bench behind Sonny Jurgensen and was released in 1970.
Signed with the Broncos, but was cut in camp and retired soon afterwards.
ACCOLADES:
Heisman Trophy Winner 1967
UCLA Bruins Jersey Number Retired (#16)
Unanimous All-American 1967
Rose Bowl HoF
UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
NOTES:
Gary is a legend at UCLA, but over the years, he’s signed less and less due to the resell market that exists pervasively on EBay and in other places. (In fact, he’s gone so far as to discourage people from writing him due to this problem.) These cards were awesome, and I have always liked this set to some degree, so I took a shot in the dark at him. There had been very little TTM activity on him over the last few years so, I thought no risk, no reward right? I was so happy to get these two cards back from him emblazoned with a Heisman inscription.
I’ve started getting a little too conservative with my send outs, trying to up my successes and success percentage, and I realize I’ve grown a bit bored because of it. Beban is one of those players, I should’ve written sooner and you just don’t find in every fan’s collection.
After picking up a few cards of Johnny via the Canton Acquisition way back in 2012, I went ahead and decided to close him out on pretty much the rest of the cards I had of him. Upper Deck for once, though came through with a nice shot of Johnny splashing through a wet field. The color is also outstanding on this shot. -A true winner.
Both his Score and Fleer cards are also outstanding shots of a predator linebacker in motion. The Fleer however sorta cheated, using an older shot of Johnny (also seen in his Panini Stickers entry from 1989). Johnny has a really nice stylized autograph. I love how he loops the ‘M’ of his last name under the ‘eads’. Solid.
CARDS: Score 2009, Upper Deck Football Legends 2009 A, Upper Deck Football Legends 2008 B ACQUIRED: TTM 2021, C/o Work SENT: 1/13 RECEIVED: 2/7 (25 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
A 4th round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 2008.
Tashard’s college resume included 697 rushes for 3,465 yards and 28 TDs, to go along with 41 receptions for 288 yards.
Battled with fellow rookie Felix Jones to back up Marion Barber at RB.
Finished rookie year with 92 carries for 472 yards and 2 TDs.
Became firmly entrenched as the 3rd string back behind Jones and Barber in 2009, but saw workload again increase due to injuries to both of them.
Had 64 carries for 349 yards and 3 TDs- including a career high 66 tard long and a healthy 5.5 yards per carry.
Again, off the bench in 2010, Choice had 66 carries for 243 yards and 3 TDs.
In 2011, Choice dealt with nagging injuries, and after a bit of bad luck, watched DeMarco Murray supplant him on the depth chart, and ultimately make Tashard expendable.
Cut by the Cowboys, Choice spent the next two seasons as an emergency RB with the Redskins, Bills, and Colts.
Went into coaching in 2016, joining the Cowboys as an intern.
Later in 2017 was added to North Texas’ coaching staff as a graduate assistant, and then later as a RB coach.
In 2019, coached RBs at his alma mater, Georgia Tech.
Landed the RBs job at the University of Texas.
NOTES:
I took a shot at Tashard right after he was hired at the University of Texas to coach their runningbacks in 2022, which created a small frenzy of TTM activity after he signed my cards.
RUSH
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
372
1579
4.2
10
66
REC
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
81
574
7.1
0
20
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
