Card: Panini Certified 2014 (412/699)
Acquired: 2020, Panini Points Redemption

Charles Sims played runningback from 2009-2012 for the Houston Cougars. He ran for 2370 yards on 384 carries scoring 29 TDs, and displayed soft hands, catching 158 passes for 1707 yards and 8 TDs. An academic redshirt in 2010, Charles opted to use his last year of eligibility in 2013 with the West Virginia Mountaineers. He had a solid Senior campaign, boosting his draft stock, rushing for 1095 yards (208 carries) and 11 TDs, while catching another 45 passes for 401 yards and 3 TDs.

Sims was a 3rd round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was supposed to be a compliment to incumbent runningback Doug Martin, but was used primarily as a passing down back. He played in 8 games his rookie year and ran for 185 yards and a TD, while catching 19 passes. A sneaky Fantasy Football pickup in 2015, Charles had his best year as a pro, with 529 yards on 107 carries, and 51 catches for 561 yards and 4 TDs.

Over the next two seasons, Charles was oft injured, but still managed to catch 59 passes for 439 yards and 2 TDs. He was released in 2018 with an injury settlement.

A great image of Charles on a tri-color patch, it was a no brainer to select this card as one of my Reward Points Redemptions.

I had built up a stack of points from Panini breaking open packs of College Contenders in 2018/2019. I just didn’t find anything I liked and I was looking for the right time. When the COVID pandemic hit, I decided to go ahead and spend my points. It seemed like a strong possibility that even mail could be infected by the virus- so I wanted to get it done. I found 3 cards I really liked the design of and felt that there was a nice value in and placed an order.

Unfortunately 2 days after I placed the order, the state essentially went into lockdown for over a month. Not to be a Karen- but Panini did absolutely no footwork on their end to notify anybody that they were going to be shut down. I had to contact them directly to get an update- while all the while the company continued to do give outs and promotions on their end.

I got an apology, but throughout the entire crisis, Panini never put any notification on their site- nor did the offer to compensate me for my trouble, such as refund me my shipping.