CARD: Upper Deck College Legends 2011 ACQUIRED: Box Breaker, 2019
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Prince Amukamara was a highly regarded athlete that played CB for the Nebraska Cornhuskers from 2007-10.
With measured speed and leaping skills from his days in track and basketball, he emerged as a lockdown DB in his Junior and Senior years for Nebraska.
He’d be the second DB selected off the board in the 2011 NFL Draft by the New York Giants.
Unable to break into the starting lineup behind Aaron Ross and Corey Webster, Amukamara finished with 14 total tackles, a pick and 3 pass breakups.
He started 11 games in 2012, with 53 total tackles, a pick and 7 pass deflections.
2013 saw a career high 85 total tackles for Prince, 14 pass deflections, and another interception.
Prince had a career high 3 picks in 2014.
After the 2015 season, Amukamara signed a free agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars, earning nickleback duties.
From there he joined the Chicago Bears in 2017.
In 2018 Prince had his first career NFL TD, to go along with 3 picks on the season.
He played one final year in Chicago in 2019, but was cut in a cost cutting move.
He then spent 2020 on the practice squad of both the Raiders and Cardinals, and the 2021 offseason with the Saints.
Prince is currently considered a free agent.
NOTES:
A devout Christian, I am surprised that he didn’t put an inscription on all his cards. When Prince was drafted it came out pretty early that he was still a virgin. This briefly overshadowed his early playing career news. -He later married in 2014.
Finished second all-time in total all purpose yards (3,834) and rushing (3232) in Georgia history, behind only Herschel Walker.
Set SEC records for points, TDs, rushing TDs, and per carry average.
Cardinals traded Johnny Johnson and their first round pick to the Jets, moving up to select Hearst with the 3rd overall pick of the 1993 NFL Draft.
Ran for 257 yards and a TD, but a knee injury sidelined him for a majority of the season.
Had a 57 yard carry- the longest by a Cardinal since Stump Mitchell in 1985.
Another knee injury marred Hearst’s season early in 1994, as he finished strong rushing for 169 yards over the final 4 contests.
Topped the 100 yard barrier for first time in career in 1995, rushing for 121 yards against the Saints.
Broke the 1k barrier that year rushing for 1070 yards, and catching 29 passes, the best by a Card since 1982.
Released by the Cardinals and signed with Bengals in 1996.
Played one season with Bengals, initially as a backup, but pounded the rock for 847 yards.
Signed with 49ers in 1997 and rejuvenated SF’s rushing game.
Ran for 1019 yards on 236 carries (4 TDs) in ’97.
Had an even better ’98, running for a career high 1570 yards.
In Week 1 against the New York Jets in OT, had one of the greatest runs in NFL history, rushing for a 96 yard TD.
Broke his ankle during the 1998 playoffs- an injury that would keep him out of the league for two seasons.
Amazingly returned to form again in 2001, despite facing a career threatening injury, rushing for over 1,200 yards.
Played for the ‘9ers an additional two seasons, before playing a final year in 2004 with the Broncos.
ACCOALADES:
Doak Walker Award 1992
Second Team AP 1998
Pro Bowl 1998, ’01
NFL Comeback Player of the Year 2001
Florida-Georgia HoF
College Football Hall of Fame 2023
NOTES:
During this time of my life I was still going to training camps, but I started ratcheting down my card purchases. Whether it was cost, an over saturated market, or just discovering girls- this card came from one of those last packs I bought before I went into a long hibernation. When I came back to the hobby and went through all those boxes this card immediately went into the ‘priority box’. And 12 years later from that, I finally got Garrison’s autograph. Strange how accomplished it feels.
Before I had cooked up my plan to get a Dave Krieg autograph out of the really jaded collector mentioned in my previous Krieg post, I had sent to him and was dismayed to miss out on a response. Surprisingly he began to drop correspondence in the mail around 2 months before I got this success- after a bit over a 2 year wait.
Note: The Fleer 1990 is an uncorrected error card. Krieg’s name is mistakenly spelled ‘Kreig’ on the front of the card. As it was uncorrected and in high circulation, it’s worthless.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
