Arena

Holmes, Brent

Card: TNT AFL 2011, TNT Talons 2014
Acquired: In person, 3/1/14  Talons Season Ticket Party, 5/3/14 Talons vs. Barnstormers.

After playing college ball at Texas A&M-Kingsville, Brent joined the AFL in 2008 splitting time on the roster of 3 teams: Georgia, Tampa, and Philadelphia. Still he managed to haul in 69 receptions for 745 yards and 11 touchdowns.  Holmes joined the roster of the Cleveland Gladiators in 2010, where he had his finest season to date, recording 1,299 yards and 22 touchdowns on 110 receptions. In 2011, he’d split time on the roster of the Milwaukee Iron and the Kansas City Command. There he’d bag 70 catches for 772 yards and 10 TDs, before heading over to San Antonio for the 2012 season, tallying another 62 receptions and 4 TDs. Holmes has rejoined the San Antonio Talons in 2014 after spending 2013 with the New Orleans Voodoo. An accomplished return man as well, Brent has returned 178 kicks for 2743 yards and a TD.

tntafl14 bholmesI was really surprised to see how many players were in attendance to rally support and it really goes to show how much the AFL wants the Talons to succeed. When Brent saw my custom card, he got very excited and hugged the card to his chest. After telling me that the card made his week, he asked me to send him a copy of it since he had never had one before. Brent even got excited about the fact that it was from his time with the Milwaukee Iron. He gleefully signed the card and gave me his email so I could send him a digital copy for himself. I was really happy that my effort could touch his life in such a profound way.

Later at the Talons game, Brent had made his way onto IR due to a broken forearm, but he recognized me, and welcomed me with a beaming smile. I gave Brent the cards of himself in his San Antonio uniform and had him sign this TNT AFL 14 card for me.  He was instrumental in helping me get down to the field after the game so that I could snag a few autographs before the crowd hit.

I think a lot of NFL’ers have lost sight of what really makes the league: the fans. It’s not just the paying fans, or the kids, or the money- it’s all the fans they entertain.  I wish the NFL would take a page out of the Arena leagues about this, because there’s not much ceiling left for the #1 sport if they aren’t trying to foster the base.

Subtle changes were made between the 2011 AFL Starter set and the 2014 Talons release. I removed the team name, and moved the player name up. This was done for bleed and tangent purposes. In addition the player name, number, and position were also colored, as opposed to the flat white. The final thing I did was give a light poster effect to the photo to make it pop a bit from the dark image. I think the 2014 effort is a quiet refinement of the original design, but now that I’ve had time to let it set in, I’d tweak it some more too.

 

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Hart, Roy

psetwlaf91 hartCards: ProSet WLAF 1991, Ultimate WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o work
Sent: 2/7    Received:  3/4    (24 days)

Roy Hart was a 6th round selection by the Seattle Seahawks out of South Carolina  in 1988. After injuring his hamstring in the opener, Roy didn’t see action on the field until the next year in 1989, where he played in 16 games and recorded 2 sacks and 18 tackles.

The London Monarchs drafted Roy in 1991, and he’d become an integral part of their monster defense as the starting nose tackle in the team’s 3-4 alignment.  The Monarchs were a relatively well received curiosity in London, and the defense was nicknamed “The Hart Attack Defense” after Roy. He’d finish the season with 10.5 sacks (2nd in the league behind teammate Danny Lockett) and a team leading 84 tackles.  The team finished 9-1 and cruised to a 21-0 victory over the Barcelona Dragons, powered largely by the team’s defense.Dick Vermeil during the World Bowl noted that Hart is a dangerous nose guard when he is allowed to use his quickness to jump around the center. Roy was named to the All-World League First team after the season.

ultwlaf92 tvsched 1Roy returned to the NFL as a member of the Los Angeles Raiders later that year, and then the Jets in 1992. He’d then play for the CFL Hamilton Tiger-Cats in 1993, and the Las Vegas Posse in 1994.

Another difficult name to locate, I got lucky when I saw a photo from a person’s recent trip to Vegas that mentioned him, his NFL pedigree, and what he was currently up to. Cross referencing the information led me to a networking site, and gave me his job. Looking at his job’s website, revealed many emails, but not his, – however taking one last leap of faith I emailed him based on the format of his co-ultwlaf92 monarchsworkers’ emails, and amazingly got a hold of him where he was honored to sign a few cards for me. When I got the envelope back it had been meticulously taped back together. Apparently either the mailman or Roy had torn this envelope to shreds, but I have to give them props for getting it back to me.

NFL  1/0     Tac N/a     Sac 2.0   Fum 0
Int   0    Yds   0     Avg  -.-     Td  0     Lg -.-

WLAF     Tac        Sac  11.0     Fum  0
Int  0    Yds  0     Avg  -.-    Td 0     Lg -.-

NFL, University of Texas

Metcalf, Eric (2)

pset89 metcalfap90 metcalfsco90 metcalf HC

Cards: Score 1990 Hot Card, ProSet 1989, Action Packed 1990, Fleer 1995

Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent:  4/4  Received: 4/21  (17 days)
See Also: Eric Metcalf
Failure: TTM 1992, C/o The Cleveland Browns

With these four cards, I pretty much have knocked Eric Metcalf’s cards off my list- that is his Browns cards. Getting Eric’s autograph in any other uniform other than a Browns uniform would be like asking for Brett Favre on a Jets card to me. When I ran out to get Eric at Third Base a few years ago, I grabbed as many cards as I could, but didn’t have these, since three of them were lost in the mail all those years ago.  I had forgotten how nice these cards that I missed out on were.I reloaded and waited for a suitable time to shoot these cards out. Eric is very good to TTM fans- at least since I scolded him about it a few years ago. He’s one of my favorites from my childhood, so it was fitting I come around for a TTM hit.

Eric’s been busy in Seattle since returning there. He’s been involved in coaching track and field, most recently joining the staff at Washington as a volunteer assistant for horizontal jumping. Eric had an amazing track career at UT, winning the NCAA Championship in the long jump in 1986, and again in 1988.  A four-time All-American and that still holds the Texas school record for the outdoor long jump with a best of 27-8.25, Eric qualified for the finals of the 1988 U.S. Olympic Trials, placing eighth. 

 

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