Cards: Action Packed Rookies 1990, Topps Metal 1996
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent:  9/2  Received: 10/7   (35 days*)
*Slight delay. Forwarded from old address.

Chris Calloway is another receiver from the Great Blue of Michigan, who played opposite of blue chip prospect Greg McMurtry, finishing with 8 touchdown receptions.  At 5’10”, 189 it was thought that the speedster may have been a bit small, but the Steelers pulled the trigger on him in the 4th round of the 1990 draft.  He’d make 10 receptions his rookie season and 15 in 1991, but would find himself on the street in 1992.

Calloway would find a home with the New York Giants who liked his speed, route running, and willingness to do the dirty work. Calloway would continue to build slowly off of his previous seasons with 335 yards receiving, endearing him to Giants fans. Chris in fact his first 6 seasons saw career highs in receptions and yards every season.  After a slight dip in 1996- Chris would peak with 848 yards receiving and 8 touchdowns in 1997. 1998 was a career high in catches for Calloway with 62.  Chris signed with Atlanta in 1999 and start 6 games, making 314 yards receiving. He’d then play one final season in New England starting 2 games in 2000 before retiring in 2001.  At the end of his career, Chris ranked 7th on the Giants receptions list with 334 catches. Among receivers Chris reminds me a lot of former Houston Oilers wideout Curtis Duncan. Since retirement, Calloway has not forgotten about football and avidly wants to get into coaching or scouting. He lives in the Altanta area and is also a member of SotL.

Well this is the first one I got back TTM after moving with my forwarding address on it. I’m assuming it went back to my old address in California from Chris’ place in Georgia then came back to me here in Texas in a round about sort of way. Still I am happy to add him to my collection. Chris’ Action Packed Rookies card from 1990 was another example of Hi-Pro Marketing doing their due diligence at the time as this would be one of the earliest of his rookie cards by 4 or 5 years. His Topps Finest gives you a good idea of what the card industry was doing during the late 90s as it was losing traction and attempting to feel out its market. Using a similar metal process to Playoff, Topps produced this shiny metal format for a while, before returning to a much more flat style. I was surprised that the card also took the ink as well as it did.  Here are Chris’ final statistics:

G/Gs  158/96    Rec  386      Yds 5497       Avg 14.2       Td 30       Lg 68