I had never gotten Rick through the mail over the years, but I started stacking up a pile of cards that I wanted to get his autograph on. A perennial standout TTM, Rick inked all 6 of these cards for me. I normally don’t abuse players for so many autographs- as I’m usually a 3 and done kinda guy per letter, but since I’ve seen him get tapped for 10 before, I didn’t have too much of a problem with that.
Classic 1993 was a low hanging fruit for me for a long time, but there’s been some fun gems to mine from that set. Around that time I was tapping out of trading cards and autographs so I missed out on a lot of these sets.
Over his time at the school he set school and single season passing records.
He finished 533/955 for 6,999 yards, 49 TDs to 24 picks, along with 757 rushing yards.
He decided to forgo his senior season and declared for the 2019 NFL Draft.
Signed with the Buffalo Bills as an UDFA, and although he led the Bills to a comeback victory in the preseason finale, it was not enough to impress the team to keep him.
Selected in the 9th round of the XFL 20 Draft.
Saw limited playing time behind starter Cardale Jones.
Led the team to a comeback win against the Battlehawks in Week 5- shortly before the league was suspended due to COVID.
Signed with the Eagles in early ’21 and was transitioned to TE.
Fractured a bone in his back and spent 3 months on IR.
Started his first game, caught his first TD pass, and tore his ACL all in the same game.
Spent the majority of the ’22 campaign on the PUP list.
Joined the Giants practice squad in 2023.
Released with an injury designation in ’24.
Signed late in the 2024 season to the Commanders practice squad.
ACCOLADES:
2019 Senior Bowl South Team MVP
MAC Offensive Player of the Year 2018
NOTES:
Just before I was about to send this out to Tyree- he was cut by the Commanders in camp, so I was back to square one. After digging around on the internet I found a good address and gave it a try at the end of the year. He signed the two cards and sent a note thanking me for my support.
CARDS: Score 1990 Supplemental, Score 1991, Pro Set 1989 ACQUIRED: TTM 2023, C/o Work SENT: 1/30/23 RECEIVED: 2/26/24 (392 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Riki Ellison played college ball at USC where underwent 4 knee surgeries- which caused him to be overlooked or removed from many draft day boards.
A 5th round find by the San Fransisco 49ers in 1983.
Led the team in tackles in two of his first 3 seasons.
Had career high 106 tackles in ’85.
Had 10 tackles and 2 picks in ’83 playoff victory over Detroit Lions.
Missed most of ’87 season with a broken forearm.
Broke arm in final preseason game of ’89 and missed entire season.
Signed by the Los Angeles Raiders as a free agent in 1990.
Immediately led all Raiders LB’s in tackles over the next two seasons.
Retired after the 1992 campaign.
ACCOLADES:
All Rookie Team 1983
Polynesian Sports Hall of Fame 2017
NOTES:
Riki is probably the first player of Maori and from New Zealand that I’ve gotten the autograph of. He was signing at a pretty quick clip at the end of ’22, but I had to wait a bit over a year for this one. He’s got a great autograph! Riki appeared with other 49ers as backup singers on two Huey Lewis and the News songs.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
