Cards: Panini Contenders 2018, UT Upper Deck 2011 NC Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o North Carolina Sent: 3/23 Received: 4/5 (13 days) See Also: Mack Brown
Well the wheels came off the wagon at UT in 2013. Despite the Longhorns finishing 9-4 and 8-5 respectively in those last two years- everyone involved decided it was time to map the Texas Longhorn program in a new direction. Mack moved into being more like a defacto booster/ promoter for the school, as UT churned through Charlie Strong until they got who they wanted in Tom Herman- a coach off of the Mack Brown coaching tree.
Mack in the meantime worked the college football angle as a commentator for ESPN and in 2018 earned a spot in the College Football Hall of Fame. Feeling the urge to coach again, Mack returned back to North Carolina in 2019- after a near 5 year hiatus from coaching.
I had gotten this National Championship card I think as a pull from the Spoodog UT break way back in 2013-ish. I had always wanted to get it eventually signed. It made sense to send it out when I got the Panini Contenders 2018- A set that ironically came out a few months after one of the message boards I was on got feedback from us and I told them it’d be great to have coach cards again. I digress however… Mack is still one of the better coaches TTM in the business. He signed these cards in about 2 weeks.
Card: TNT UT Legends Acquired: IP, 2014 See Also: Rod Babers
Over the years I’ve pretty much tapped out the complete card collection of Rod Babers. He’s a great local radio personality, and a really big fan and student of sports. It seems that whenever I run into him- we pick up where we left off, promise to hang out, and never get around to it. I mean maybe its the unsaid rule I follow that is basically even if a person is a D-list celebrity you should give them a lot of space. We tried to network for a Texans game in 2017, but that fell through. In the meantime he had a fallout with 1300 the Zone, but thankfully picked up right where he was at with ESPN doing what he does best.
I decided to pop in and say hi in 2018- A year after the last time I saw him at the Texans draft party when I had accurately predicted the Texans would trade up to take Deshawn Watson. We again picked up where we left off, and just started talking sport. His team thanked me for coming by and hanging out and we chatted for a bit. It was good times. We talked briefly about the AAF and the Texans but really weren’t able to get into details since he was pretty busy.
We catch up from time to time and he’s always very personable and friendly and loves to sign autographs.
Cards: UT UD 2011 Icons, UTD 2011 Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o Home Sent: 9/3 Received: 9/19 (16 days)
Bobby Wuensch played offensive tackle for the blue chip studded Texas Longhorns from 1968 to 1970. He’d earn All-SWC and All-American Honors in 1969 and 1970. With Bobby in the lineup the Longhorns went 30-2-1 over that span, and he’d also be named a Co-Captain of the 1970 National Championship team. A Southwest Conference and Cotton Bowl All-Decade Team member (1970s), Bobby was selected by the Baltimore Colts in the 12th round of the 1971 draft, but did not play in the NFL. He was inducted into the Longhorn Ring of Honor in 1990, and consistently ranks among the Top 50 greatest Longhorns.
Bobby wrote me a nice note with my autograph request and as of 2019 lives in Houston.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
