Category Archives: University of Texas

University of Texas

Street, James (2) (1948-2013)

utud11 street 69GCard: University of Texas Upper Deck 1969 National Champions (05/30)
Acquired: 2015, Spoodog Box Break
See Also: James Street

Arriving from Longview, Texas, James Street worked his way up from 7th string quarterback -to starter (two games into his Junior season), leading the Longhorns to a 20-0 record. He passed away in 2013 and is survived by his wife and 4 kids.

When we split up the boxes during the box break, I had not come across any gold cards or big hits- then I got this hit, which made up for it all. Overall this card looks pretty good. I like how Upper Deck got this nice action shot of James and the transparency on the 1969 near the bottom. I’ve seen some other UT cards that don’t work, but admittedly the gold on this one is pretty classy. James also has a very nice autograph that matches the classiness of the card.

 

NFL, University of Texas

Griffin, Michael (2)


Card: Playoff Contenders 2007, Score 2008, Panini UT 2015
Acquired: 2016, EBay.  IP 2018, GiGi’s Cupcakes Soft Grand Opening
See Also: Michael Griffin

After Michael’s 9th season in the NFL, in which he recorded 101 tackles, an interception, and a sack, he was released in the off season by the Tennessee Titans.  With gas still left in the tank, Michael signed with the Minnesota Vikings for 2016. He’d be injured during the preseason and released. Rehabbing from his injury Griffin signed with the Carolina Panthers. He played in 10 games contributing 30 tackles.  In 2017, Michael joined Longhorn Legends TJ Ford and Cory Redding in finishing his bachelor’s degree with Griffin’s being in youth and community services.

I’ve always liked the Playoff Contenders series, strictly because it follows a slow evolution rule, much like the Corvette. Every year, small tweaks in the design and look of the card. The 2007 entry was a nice set, but I really disliked the tiny Titans pinstripe type. It says baseball, not football with that typeface. It’s also just dangling out there distracting from the image of the player. It does not pass the thumb test. Basically if you put your thumb to the image over the Titans pinstripe the image looks better without the pinstripe. Still it was a pretty solid card and the certified autograph works well on this canvas.

Fellow Longhorn and Titan alum, Brian Orapko and Griff had been teasing the grand opening of their cupcake restaurant GiGi’s in Bee Cave.  After I heard they had a soft opening for their social media fans the previous day, I made the trip from East of Austin all the way to Bee Cave through the freezing rain. It paid off as both Brian and Orapko were there as well as Jamaal Charles (special random guest appearance)! Michael was kind enough to pen the Panini 2015 UT card as well as his Score 2008 card. The cupcakes were also really good too!

NFL, University of Texas

Jeter, Tommy ‘Tom’ (2)

gday92 tjeter cla92 tjeter bl

Cards: GameDay 1992, Classic 1992
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Home
Sent:  12/9   Received: 12/23  (14 days)
See Also: Tommy Jeter

Wow… and with that Tommy Jeter vaults into the top 5 worst autographs I’ve ever seen. I mean don’t get me wrong… I’m happy and all that the Longhorn Legend signed these 2 cards for me, but this autograph is not really legible and they don’t really match at all. I guess I can make out a loop for ‘J’ and the hook at the front of the signature could count as a ‘T’ but this is a far cry from what I originally got from him at Eagles Training Camp back in 1994.  I wanted to get Tommy on these two additional cards I had for years. The Gameday 1992 was probably my favorite outside of the Star Pics entry and the Classic I couldn’t pass up since it’s a great action shot.

Really, this was more like a failure and then success, but when I get the RTS and I’m able to flip it right back out to a new address- I just count them one and the same.  Jeter is a family man now. He’s a huge fan of his kids who are all involved in sports at some level.  As of 2017, Tommy is a Regional Manager for ACME Brick Co.