Hello, and welcome to the Hall of Great Disappointment. This list was created after much deliberation and I do not take it lightly. Each member has a story to tell.
Some were promises that were made in vain, while others may have broken cardinal rules of ‘The Hobby’, or I may have made a custom card for them that they asked for and received and never signed.
It is my hope that these players will understand the trolling involved with the HoD, and that what we experienced was a miscommunication that can easily be rectified. Since I’m no longer on Twitter, I can be found on Bluesky, Insta, or Facebook.
Mario Bailey (2018, 2020, 2022)
I’ve sent to Mario multiple times now and never got a response. He has a few NFLE, XFL, and an Oilers card, so I really wanted to get him on a card or three. I was having a conversation with a friend on Twitter and Mario Bailey busted in on it. I took him to task over not signing TTM, to which he insisted he was a great signer. He, kindly offered to sign anything I sent via the Seahawks. Sending via informed mail I confirmed the delivery of the package to the Seahawks office and let him know of such. He never signed them and never responded, though later he was touched when I pointed him out in a replay, on the sidelines with the Oilers during his rookie season- but that was it.
Trent Richardson (2024)
Trent’s a unique case, as I went through a promoter to get his autograph on some AAF cards of his. It was at a great price and I was confident that my cards would be safe with the Trent via the promoter. I was wrong. It took over a year to get the situation resolved. All Trent had was excuses for why fan items hadn’t been signed. The promoter kept forwarding me Trent’s sad sack stories, and eventually was so burned by Trent, just gave me the financial equivalent of the cards. Now mind you these were low print Topps AAF NOW cards so it just left me wondering what happened to them or if they ended up in Trent’s PC.
See Also Trent Richardson
Dan Sileo (2020)
Dan found me through Twitter and took a keen interest in my website. We talked about the history of the World League, in which he played for the Thunder. He was so pumped he even told me he was going to bring me on his podcast/ radio show. I sorta blew it off, because, by now, I’d been burned so many times by promises I didn’t want to get my hopes up. I decided to make him a custom card of his time in Orlando for him. He was very excited. He got them and he said he’d sign one and send it back. I reached out again later and he said he’d forgotten and would get it to me soon, but never did.
Jon Horton (2011, 2017)
Jon has many WLAF cards that I wanted to get signed. After tracking him down in Europe, and then to his performance gym in the Netherlands, I reached out to him through Facebook. He moved the conversation to Gmail, where I agreed to send him his cards, as well as extras for him to keep on my dime, and he’d get it back to me. It cost me a handsome amount of money and time to get it to him. He never responded to me. I so believed that it was just a mistake that I foolishly sent to him a second time.
Joe Campbell (2014)
Joe Campbell played for the New York-New Jersey Knights and the Chargers. I had a Pro Set WLAF card of him that I wanted to get signed, and after much digging I discovered him through Facebook. I reached out in a PM and after a few days he responded… with porn. Really graphic porn. I probably surprised him by callously responding to him, and that led us to a conversation where he told me he was writing a science fiction novel. He then told me he wanted $100.00 for his autograph.
Jeremy Lewis (2014)
Jeremy Lewis was an offensive lineman who came to my attention when he played for the San Antonio Talons in 2014. I was really diving into creating custom cards and after he asked, I made one for him. In the following weeks he’d be signed to the CFL to play for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, before I could give him his card. I reached out to him on Twitter and he asked me to send it to his home address. After doing so and confirming the arrival of the cards, I reached out to him, but never heard from him again.
Ben Tate (2011)
Ben Tate was a highly touted powerback coming out of college. After sitting in a doctor’s office reading about his recovery from surgery his rookie year, I decided to follow him on Facebook and reach out TTM. A few weeks after sending a card to him via the Texans, he posted the unsigned card to Facebook and kept the card without ever responding to me.. even after I pointed it out. But hey Ben… “War Eagle….”
See Also Ben Tate
Reggie Slack (2010, 2019)
I was a big fan of the Auburn QB and had gotten him years ago at Houston Oilers training camp back in 92 or 93 I think…. Anyway I really wanted to get him on a custom and after tracking down the elusive QB on Facebook, he was excited to get a custom 1990 pro set card of himself in his Oilers colors. I also did a custom of him in his Knights uniform in the vein of Pro Set WLAF 1991. He asked me to ship it to somewhere in Canada, and after a small delay, I sent the package out. It was return to sender with no such person at the address. I wasn’t happy but chocked it up to mistake. When I reached out to Reggie he never responded to me.
See Also Reggie Slack
Sam Acho (2025)
I was a season ticketholder to the San Antonio Brahmas of the XFL/UFL and was keenly aware that Lifetime Longhorn Sam Acho did sideline work for them. Before one of the games in 2024 I caught his attention and talked to him for a few minutes, and he was surprised that I drove all the way down from Austin for these games. The next year I had printed out a custom for him and hoped he’d sign one for me.
When I saw him, I called him out, he looked excited to talk at first, until I asked him for his autograph. He then said, “I need to go to the bathroom. Let me get you after that.” He then magically appeared on the field and completely avoided me for the rest of the game.
Later I was told by other fans (and UT players for that matter) that Sam is a bit finicky with giving out his autograph. -If he didn’t want to sign, why not just tell me?
See Also Sam Acho