Little, Floyd ‘The Franchise’ (1942-2021)

Action Packed Whizzer White 1991, #8

CARDS: Upper Deck Legends 1997, Upper Deck College Legends 2011, Panini HoF 2010, Action Packed Whizzer White Award 1991
ACQUIRED: TTM 2020, C/o Home
SENT: 6/6/20 RECEIVED: 6/18/20 (12 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Floyd Little played at Syracuse where from 1964 to 1966, he ran for 2,704 yards and 46 TDs.
  • He’d be the 6th overall pick in the 1967 NFL/AFL Draft of the Denver Broncos.
  • In his first two years in the AFL, Floyd led the league in All-Purpose Yards, with 1626 in 1967 and 1,825 in 1968.
  • He led the league in yards per game in both 1969 (81.0) and 1971 (80.9).
  • His best season arguably came in 1971 when Floyd had a career high and league leading 284 carries, 310 touches, 1,133 yards, and 1,388 yards from scrimmage.
  • Little’s 1,113 rushing yards were the first time a member of the team had broken the 1k rushing barrier.
  • Floyd led the NFL in TDs in 1973 with 12 TDs.
  • After starting 105 games, Floyd hung up his cleats in 1976.
  • A Syracuse great, he returned to the school in 2011 as a special assistant to the athletic director- a position he held until 2016 when he retired to Las Vegas.

ACCOLADES:

  • Pro Football Hall of Fame 2010
  • College Football Hall of Fame
  • Broncos Ring of Fame 1984
  • Hall of Very Good 2005
  • All Pro 1969
  • Pro Bowl 1968-’71, ’73
  • Denver Broncos #44 retired
  • Syracuse Orange #44 retired
Panini Hall of Fame 2010, #5

NOTES:

Here’s a great example of how trading cards educate us about football history. I wouldn’t have really stumbled onto Floyd if I hadn’t collected the Action Packed Whizzer White set. So I chased a rabbit down the hole learning all I could about him, and then decided to go ahead donate some money to his cancer treatments and ask for his autograph on a few cards. He signed the three I included lightning fast, and included the HoF Panini card as a thank-you.

Floyd is nicknamed ‘The Franchise’ because he was instrumental in the Broncos staying in Denver. The team struggled badly in its initial years and Little helped put the team on the map by signing with them. He also helped champion the building of Mile High Stadium through his Herculaneum efforts every week for the team.

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164163233.94380t
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215241811.2974
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104252324.3089

EPITAPH:

1/2/2021- Floyd Little’s family announced that he had passed away from cancer after a years’ long battle with the disease, at his home in Las Vegas with them by his side. He was 78.

Scaife, Bo

Panini Rookies & Stars 2010, #142

CARD: Panini Rookies & Stars 2011
ACQUIRED: 2020, Compensation

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Bo Scaife played collegially for the University of Texas from 1999-’04.
  • ACL injuries held him out in two years, but he managed to haul in 75 catches for 997 yards and 5 TDs.
  • Selected in the 6th round of the 2005 NFL Draft by the Tennessee Titans.
  • Bo developed well into a pretty reliable target at TE over his career never failing to catch less than 29 passes a season.
  • In 2006, became the only TE in NFL history to catch a TD, rush for a TD, return a few kickoffs, and make a tackle on special teams all in one season.
  • Caught a career high 58 passes for 561 yards and 2 TDs in 2008.
  • Spent 2011 with the Bengals, where he recorded no catches.
  • This led to a final off season with the Patriots in 2012, before he retired.

NOTES:

I mean this one was disappointing in the way that I picked this up. I had been working with a friend to corner a few autographs here and there. As future considerations were concerned we exchanged autographs back and forth, but mightily I held an edge, sending him two Ricky Williams autographs. All of a sudden one day, he posts on a Facebook group that he’s no longer doing TTM and just puts everything up for sale, including the Ricky Williams autographs. Before I could reclaim them, he’d already liquidated them. He didn’t really have much to say about not settling up his considerations, so I just laid claim to this one since I’ve never seen Bo sign anything at all- even though he’s a UT grad.

It’s led to me to state a policy flat out to anybody I spot cards for: If they quit collecting or decide to sell their collection, and they still haven’t settled their considerations with me, they have to send those back.

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DeVito Tommy ‘Tommy Cutlets’

SAGE 2023, #A-TD

CARD: SAGE 2023 97/100
ACQUIRED: BB, 2024

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Tommy Devito played QB at Syracuse from 2018-’21.
  • He then transferred to Illinois to finish out his college career.
  • Overall between the two programs he completed 594 of 941 passes for 6516 yards, 43 TDs and 16 interceptions.
  • Undrafted, he signed with the New York Giants in 2023.
  • He was waived and assigned to the practice squad, then elevated in October to the active roster.
  • Led the Giants on a 3 game winning streak during November, beating Washington, New England, and the Packers.
  • In his rookie year he finished 3-3, and completed 114 of 178 passes for 1,101 yards and 8 TDs.
  • He also bought time with his legs, rushing 36 times for 195 yards and a TD.

ACCOLADES:

  • NFC 2024 Offensive Player of the Week 14

NOTES:

Tommy seemed to be the odds on favorite in 2024 to be the Giants starting QB but with the return of Daniel Jones and the addition of Drew Lock, things got complicated. On top of that a hand injury sustained during the season and a concussion, slowed Tommy’s progression.

Tommy is a fan favorite, who not only was undrafted, but is also a local who lives close to the Giants practice facility and is a proud Italian as well.

Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.

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