CARD: Topps AAF 2019 Certified Hack
ACQUIRED: IP, 2022

NOTES:

Stephen and I go back in football heritage to the very beginning of my Spring fandom. It all started with the Hail Storm game back with the San Antonio Riders in the World League in 1992. As the teams were driven from the field by the wind and hail just seconds before halftime, the field was flooded, and we were left with no halftime show. Enter Stephen.

He ran down onto the soggy field and grabbed a football and ran for the end zone, dodging security along the way. As we cheered him on, he built up a head of steam, grabbed a football and hydroplaned in for a score. As the security finally nabbed Stephen, the crowd grew angry and started booing his apprehension. He’d be escorted off the field, where he got a stay of execution from none other than Rider owner Larry Benson. According to legend Larry claimed that there was no reason to escort Stephen from the stadium, as he saved the team money, and was the best half-time entertainment they had all season. -High praise considering the frisbee catching dog came back twice that year for halftime.

Stephen and I didn’t see each other again until 2014, when he was a flag waving fan at Talons games that I attended that year in SA at the Alamodome. At that point, he’d sat through all the San Antonio teams that had come and gone.

But, it wasn’t until 2018, when Stephen and I finally came full circle. With former Riders head coach Mike Riley being named coach of the San Antonio AAF team, I thought it’d be great if I broke out my San Antonio Riders hat. As I entered the Alamodome for the AAF San Antonio franchise’s grand revealing, I ran right into Stephen also wearing his Riders hat! We immediately started chatting and realized we had a lot in common and he was surprised I remembered the Hail Storm game.

From there, he invited me to his tailgate, and then he revealed himself to me as superfan NO LIMITS SOLDIER! He was front row on the home side end zone, and got a lot of love from the team, most notably when the Joey Mbu recoverd a fumble for a TD in the endzone.

After the AAF folded, I made this card of him, thinking about the old times with the Commanders. Stephen loved it, and after I sent it to him, he signed one for me when we caught up at the San Antonio Brahmas Fan Meet & Greet in 2023. He moved on, and is now a founding member of the BRAHMAS DESTRUCTION CREW.