Tag Archives: Washington Redskins

NFL, Super Bowl MVP

Rypien, Mark (2)

Card: Action Packed 1990
Acquired: TTM 2016, C/o Home
Sent: 12/12/16    Received:  1/3/17  (22  days)
See Also:  Mark Rypien

The first success I got in calendar 2017, Mark Rypien was kind enough to sign 1 of 3 cards I sent him. He inscribed the one card with Super Bowl XXVI MVP, which I thought was still cool.  Rypien’s family drips with athleticism.  His daughter has carried on in his footsteps and is a quarterback in the Lingerie Football League, while his Nephew, Brett is a starting quarterback for Boise St.

In 2014 the Washington Redskins inducted Mark into their Ring of Fame. Rypien spent eight seasons with the Redskins. From 1986 to 1993 he started 72 games for the Redskins, completing 1,244 passes for 15,928 yards and 101 touchdowns. Modestly, Rypien dedicated his enshrinement to his teammates and the 55,000 or so fans that showed up every week to cheer on the team during his magical 1991 Super Bowl and MVP run.

NFL

Davis, Robert (WR)

Card: Sage 2017
Acquired: 2017, Box Breaker

Georgia State wide receiver Robert Davis was a 4 year starter for the Panthers. He put together a good body of work over his time there with 222 reeptions for 3391 yards and 17 touchdowns. At 6’3″, 219, Davis had a pretty good pre-draft workout and snuck into the back end of a few teams’ draft boards. Eventually he was selected by the Washington Redskins with their 6th round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, who are confident that they can groom him into a pro grade talent. After spending 2017 on the practice squad, Robert was injured during training camp and was placed on injured reserve for 2018.

NFL

Blanding, Quin

Card: Panini Contenders 2018
Acquired: 2018, Box Breaker

Quin Blanding played collegially for Virginia from 2014 to 2017. He contributed immediately to the secondary as a true Freshman and racked up impressive numbers. After setting Freshman tackle records with 123 in 2014, he went on to record 115+ tackles in every year he was at Virginia.  Blanding finished his college career with 492 total tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 16 passes defended, 2 fumble recoveries, and 10 interceptions for 108 yards and a TD.  Highly accoladed, Blanding earned the ACC Defensive Rookie of the Year Award (2014), Freshman All-American (2014), first-team all-conference honors (2015), and All-ACC Honors (2016, 2017).

So even though the numbers and accolades spoke for themselves, scouts soured on Blanding’s speed, and lack of ‘game-breaking’ presence. While this would not be a deal breaker in other drafts, the unusually high grade of defensive back talent continued through the 2018 Draft.  I had him sneaking in at the back of round 6 or early in round 7 as a developmental prospect for the Houston Texans, but Quin would go undrafted. He’d sign a free agent contract with the Washington Redskins, but be waived in final cutdowns.

Quin’s autograph is pretty pedestrian- especially for a guy who has a ‘Q’ in it. It really looks more like a signature than an autograph really.  The card itself is broken up well into 3 main sections: Player portrait, player stats, and player autograph. It’s a nice looking card, but I feel like the player portrait is a bit busy and overproduced.