Cards: UT Upper Deck 2011, UT Upper Deck 2011 All Time Alumni Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o Home Sent: 9/17 Received: 9/27 (10 days)
Bret Stafford was a prototypical drop back passer and one of the first modern era quarterbacks to stand tall in the pocket for the University of Texas, from 1984-1987. He set the school record for most passing yards in a season (2223, 1986), and also career passing yards (4731)- both since surpassed.
Frequently engaged in a quarterback competition or sharing a two-headed quarterback rotation with Todd Dodge for the majority of his time at Texas, Stafford’s numbers were largely skewed by his lack of playing time and having a different offensive coordinator every year. He also transitioned through the Fred Akers era into the David McWilliams epoch.
Although largely forgotten in the pantheon of Longhorn greats, Stafford was a winner with the Longhorns posting 19 victories as the starting quarterback including a 32-27 win over Pitt in the final Bluebonnet Bowl in 1987, when he threw for over 360 yards and 3 TDs.
Stafford was probably the first quarterback I watched play for UT. I had a middling interest in the sport at the time, and I remember reading about the highlights of the Bluebonnet Bowl and being very proud of him going out like that in his final game.
I liked both his Upper Deck entries, but I wasn’t really a fan of the sepia toned All-Time Alumni card- considering how much color photography was used by then in sports.
As I have continued to mature in the hobby, I’ve become stale. I take less and less risks when I send out to addresses. I just haven’t been sending out to unproven addresses. Stafford had no successes on any of the autograph boards I frequent, but he had no attempts, little less an address to send of to, so I figured I’d give it a shot. It didn’t take Bret long to respond to me- and I was pretty excited about receiving these two back.
Cards: Playoff Prestige 2009 Prestigious Picks, Upper Deck 2009 Icons (471/599) Acquired: IP 2018, Boot City See Also: Quan Cosby, Quan Cosby (2), Quan Cosby (3)
Quan Cosby was a bonus at the Boot City event in Bastrop. I always pack a couple of extra cards for whomever stops in and Quan had to come out to support Colt, Fozzy, and Jordan. The weekend before the XFL had announced that it was returning for 2020. I was pretty juiced about it and Quan and I talked about it for a few minutes. We agreed that it was important that the league actually put a team in Texas this time if they wanted to succeed, and they also needed to not be identified as a footnote in the ‘NFL’ section. Part of the problem is the NFL is so successful, no matter what happens in any other football league, the media just squeezes it in at the bottom of the NFL sports page. This is in part due to the fact that NFL has become synonymous with football.
A former baseball player in the minor leagues and a lover of the sport, Quan has added baseball to his announcing duties, along with sideline reporting at football games for the University of Texas.
Starting to run out of cards for Quan, but I guess that’s a good thing as he signs most things for fans. I liked the Upper Deck Icons card a lot. Its got a nice balance to it and the color is great. The Playoff Prestige? Meh. It’s okay, but the card seems a bit over designed.
Cards: UT Upper Deck 2011, UT Panini 2015 Acquired: IP 2018, Gigi’s Back to Camp Event See Also: Mike Huff, Mike Huff (2)
I went to Brian Orapko’s Back to Camp event at Gigi’s Cupcakes with a treasure trove of cards in hand and not much time in my pocket. With a two hour window to work in, I was happy to get Brian, but miffed to not see any other former NFLers make an appearance yet. About 30 minutes before I left, Mike Huff walked in. I did not have any cards left of Huffy and thought that I’d get him on two blanks that I’d never get signed otherwise. Sure it’s a Bevo card from the UT set, so the best I could hope for is some chud smeared on my card from the Longhorn itself. This made more sense, especially with the fact that Huffy doesn’t make an appearance at all in the set- which I considered a snub. He signed both of these, no problem and talked to fans for a few minutes before sauntering out with his family. Mike now lives in the Austin area and as of 2018 is a member of the University of Texas’ Football Strength and Conditioning Program.
G/GS
TAC
SAC
FUM
INT
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
118/94
446
5.5
3
11
75
6.9
0
24
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
