Category Archives: University of Texas

NFL, University of Texas

Orakpo, Brian (2)

Cards: Panini UT 2015 Patch, Pacific 2009. Score 2009, Upper Deck 2009, Press Pass 2009, Topps 2012, Score 2015*, Panini UT 2015, Donruss 2015, Panini Threads 2011.
Acquired: IP 2018, GiGi’s Cupcakes Soft Grand Opening.
IP 2018, T-Mobile Player Event, IP 2018, Back to Camp GiGi’s event
* Future considerations Lance
See Also: Brian Orakpo

Brian Orakpo and Michael Griffin had been hitting the social media circuit for a bit talking up their new joint venture- GiGi’s Cupcakes. Apparently when they both played for the Titans in Nashville they got hooked on the confectionary treat and decided that they wanted to be franchisees. Brian and Michael had posted some great photos of them cutting their teeth and learning the ropes behind the construction of their store in Bee Cave. Both of the alluded to a grand opening ‘in a few weeks’, so I kept my eyes peeled for any updates along the way. I just so happened to check their feed after I got back from the Bastrop Boot Event, and found out that Griff and Rak had done a soft opening that very same day. I was a bit miffed. The next morning I called them up, and was told that they were open today and come on down.

I battled my way about 30 miles through the sometimes frozen rain to get there, but once I arrived I was greeted by a beaming Orakpo and Griffin. (I was really shocked as the last time I saw Rak, he was a bit disgruntled, and begrudgingly gave me his autograph.) I decided to get a 4-pack (only reserving the Red Velvet for myself) and asking him to choose the remainder for me. He filled out the box nicely over small talk and rang me out. (Admittedly, it was a weird experience to have an NFL player working a register for me.)  We even got in a good laugh over their instagram, as I wholly expected somebody to be tossing dough in the back like they were making a pizza. Brian had no problem signing these 2 cards for me. Heck, I probably could’ve gotten him to sign a few more- he was in such a good mood.

Talking about going from worst to first. It was a great experience meeting him again. I even told him how I was hurt he signed with the Titans and not the Texans, and we had a good laugh at my expense over it. – And the best part: THE CUPCAKES WERE AMAZING.

Later in the year I caught up with Spoodog and his wife. I hadn’t seen them in quite sometime- either a Priest Holmes signing or a Cedric Griffin signing well over a year ago. A lot had changed for me with a baby taking need over anything else and his job just sort of precluded everything else. It was great catching up with them. In fact a whole host of people showed up I hadn’t seen in a while. This made the wait for Orakpo even easier. It wasn’t much of a line at the T-Mobile location, but it was frustrating because we were told the wrong location and shuttled back and forth until we got to the right place.

Rak was uneven at this event for me. I tried joking with him, and I let him know that I enjoyed the cupcakes, and heck that they may have been the first sugar my baby ever tasted, but I must have rubbed him the wrong way either through my joking manner or the fact that I asked him to sign 6 cards. I did give him a hard time about the Titans new uniforms. They look exactly like the CFL Toronto Argonauts. I took to calling them the Tennessee Argonauts. The pen also was giving up or he was signing lighter with each card. By the time he got to the Topps at the end, it was barely taking. He also was signing and just sort of tossing the cards at me. I felt pretty badly. Oh well… A few friends of mine asked for future considerations to get Orakpo.  Essentially what it means is that I’ll get the autograph free of charge, and they will look out for anybody me. I’m not picky as long as it is not in my collection already. (Lance and I have done these exchanges with regularity.) I went ahead and gave up the Score 2015- which I think looks terrible, and the Upper Deck 2009 Draft Edition, which I sorta wanted to keep- but this is how it goes. I hope these cards new homes appreciate them as much as I do.

Later I went to the Back to Camp event that Brian was holding at GiGi’s before he headed off to Tennessee for the year. Many Longhorns were invited, but since I got there early, and had little time I only managed to get Brian and Michael Huff. I felt badly about how I had treated Brian at the T-Mobile event. He either took it in good stride or had already forgotten about me ribbing him about the Texans. He signed 3 cards for me. Well really 2. He re-inked the Topps 2014 that came out really badly, looked over the Panini Triple Threads card, and then tossed in his Donruss 2015 Sample card. He was really informative about the process of the league. New coaches get a little bit more time and Coach Vrabel wanted them in Tennessee to get ready for the season as soon as possible. Brian and I also talked about the sample card. Apparently many companies offer the cards to the players when they come out. The Donruss card in particular was stamped/ imprinted on the back with the word ‘sample’ on it. Brian said that when he found out he had his first card, he was super excited because it was like a coming of age.

Brian signed with the Titans in 2015. By October of that season, he was already established as a team captain. He finished his first campaign in Nashville with 7 sacks, 38 tackles (13 ast), 5 passes defended, and a forced fumble.  2016, saw Rak establish near career highs with 10.5 sacks, 38 tackles (8 ast), 4 passes defended, and a forced fumble. While his numbers were slightly down in 2017, Brian finished with 30 tackles (10 ast), 7 sacks, 2 passes defended, and 3 forced fumbles. With new coach and former LB Mike Vrabel in town, it should be interesting to see how Brian’s numbers stack up in 2018.

NFL, University of Texas

Foreman, D’onta

Card: Panini 2017, Score 2017, Panini Contenders 2017 SC, Panini Contenders 2017 Gameday
Acquired: 2017, EBay. 2017, IP.

2017 was a terrible year for me in both TTM and IP events. I had struck out badly in Houston in November on both Clowney (no show) and Lamar Miller (no outside items). Furthermore I had missed Cedric Benson, and skipped out on a few events just based on a bad feeling. D’onta was originally supposed to sign the Tuesday after his breakout and breakdown game with the Cardinals- but with an Achilles injury doing him in it was postponed indefinitely.  I targeted my birthday as a possible time that they’d reschedule it for, and indeed that was the day. It was a bit late in the day at T-Mobile, but I went ahead and gave it a shot. I hadn’t seen any of my local autograph friends in a while, so I took advantage of the situation to catch up with Nathan.

I got there a little early and was surprised that there was 5-7 people already there waiting. Is the area’s autograph market finally waking up? Anyway things went well and D’onta showed up. The people at the front of the line treated the event like an autograph session and Foreman noticed it as he had a noticeable annoyed look to him. When I got to the table I reached out and shook his hand to start. It broke his current mood and he really perked up. I confirmed the truth about how he showed up at the Houston Texans’ local workout and how that really impressed them, his injury, and then I critiqued his touchdown dance- imploring him to learn about the Electric Slide. I showed him White Shoes dance, and we had a good laugh. He also enjoyed the fact that I introduced myself as ‘the real’ Lamar Miller since I was wearing his teammates’ jersey, and I gave him the sign of approval for humorously sporting Watson’s jersey  before the Cardinals game.

D’onta Foreman exploded onto the scene in Charlie Strong’s final year at Texas in 2016. Things just seemed to click for the young runningback and in his Junior Season, as he set and broke all sorts of Texas records (something you shouldn’t overlook in the company of guys like Ricky Williams and Earl Campbell).  The Doak Walker Award winner, Foreman rushed for 2,028 yards and 15 scores on 323 carries. Scouts loved his overall athletic talent butwere concerned about his blocking in pass protection.

D’onta lasted until the 3rd round of the 2017 NFL Draft. I was already excited that the Texans had selected Deshaun Watson in the first round, but when they came back and took Foreman in the 3rd, I was elated. (Rumor had it the Seahawks with the next pick had targeted him as a quick fix for their runningback corps.) Houston really fell in love with Foreman after he showed up with the local kids for a workout. With incumbent RB Lamar Miller in the lineup, Foreman would spell him from time to time and be used in a variety of packages. D’onta impressed during the preseason, sticking out head and shoulders above the competition he was running against, demonstrating bothhis knack for running with the football and catching passes out of the backfield. I sneakily picked him with my final selection of my fantasy draft and stashed him on my bench.

Foreman had his best game in Week 10 against the Arizona Cardinals. He had 10 carries for 65 yards and his first 2 professional TDs. On his last carry he rumbled 39 yards for a TD, but tore his Achilles as he fell into the end zone. He finished his rookie year with 78 carries for 327 yards (4.2 yards per carry) with 2 TDs, 6 catches for 83 yards, and on injured reserve entering camp for 2018.

NFL, University of Texas

Swoopes, Tyrone ‘Swoops’

Card: Sage 2017
Acquired: 2017, Hobby Box Breaker

A rock solid athlete, Tyrone Swoopes played for the Texas Longhorns. During his time at UT, he played quarterback and wide receiver. At the scouting combine, scouts liked his frame and skill set so much they thought that Swoopes was better suited to be a tight end. That begs the question. Were things that bad at the University of Texas at quarterback during the Charlie Strong era at one point, that their best quarterback was a tight end? Tyrone played mostly mop up duty in 2013. His best season at quarterback came in 2014 when he compiled 224/384 with 2409 yards passing and 13 TDs.

In 2015, Strong opted to take the offense in a two-headed quarterback approach with Jerrod Heard primarily manning the starting position, while Swoopes came in as part of the 18 Wheeler package. The 18 Wheeler was a mismatch package the Longhorns used placing typically 7-8 men on the line, while the QB sat in shotgun with a RB while a FB moved in motion. More often than not, it was a run play.  Primarily from this formation, Swoopes finished with 74 carries for 451 yards and 12 TDs rushing. He also threw for 537 yards and 4 TDs.  With the arrival of QB Shane Buechele on the 40 acres and him stretching the yardsticks, the Longhorns didn’t really need to use the 18 Wheeler package as much. Swoopes was backup QB for the season, and rushed 54 times for 174 yards and 7 TDs.

Swoopes is fondly remembered at UT home games for inspiring the school to play “Whoomp There it is” after every TD that Tyrone scored. Longhorn Legend Rod Babers is credited with making the association and changing the song to “Swoopes There it is”. The rest is history.

Tyrone was not selected in the 2017 NFL draft. He elected to sign with the Seattle Seahawks as a tight end. It should be an interesting transition for the former quarterback as he did not catch a single pass in college. He made the practice squad for the Seahawks and was activated for their final game in 2017, but did not see any significant playing time.