Tag Archives: cincinatti bengals

NFL, XFL

Sharp, Hunter

Card: Sage 2016
Acquired: 2017, Box Breaker

Hunter Sharp played wide receiver for Utah State from 2014-2015.  He posted some solid numbers playing for the Aggies, catching 66 passes for 939 yards (7 TDs) in 2014, and 71 receptions for 835 yards (9 TDS) in 2015.

Sharp was not selected in the 2016 NFL Draft, but signed as a free agent with the Philadelphia Eagles. Later in the year he joined the practice squad of the Denver Broncos- a team he’d be on and off the roster throughout much of 2017.  The Giants picked Hunter off the Broncos roster in December of 2017, where he’d finish the season with 5 receptions for 54 yards and a TD. Unable to make the cut with the Giants in 2018, Hunter subsequently joined the Bills, and the Bengals. He’d be selected by the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL in 2020 during the supplemental portion of the draft- but was injured in camp.

Arena, NFL, usfl, WLAF

Bennett, Ben

Card: ProSet 1991 WLAF Insert
Acquired: 2018, EBay
Failure: TTM 2014, C/o Home 

Ben Bennett was a prolific quarterback for the Duke Blue Devils finishing as one of the top passers in NCAA history, throwing for 9614 yards on 820 completions (1375 attempts) and 55 TDs from 1980 to 1983. 

Selected in the 6th round of the 1984 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons, but ended up playing in the USFL for the Jacksonville Bulls. Bennett then bounced around camps for the Falcons, Oilers, Cowboys, and Bears, eventually seeing a little action playing for the Bengals in ’87.  He’d join the Arena Football league playing for the Chicago Bruisers in 1988 and 1989, leading the team to the championship in the latter season. After playing for the Dallas Texans in 1990, he was selected by the Sacramento Surge of the WLAF during the first round of the positional draft. 

Ben was expected to be the starter for the Surge, but he’d be supplanted by former KC Chiefs 2nd round pick, Mike Elkins- who took all the snaps after the first game. Bennett returned to the Arena Football League later that year with the Orlando Predators.  Ben at this point became a star for the young league. He’d play for Orlando through 1995, before taking one season pitstops with both the San Jose SabreCats and the Portland Forest Dragons.  Ben is known in Arena lore for the ‘Miracle Minute’ in which he engineered a 16 point comeback in under 1 minute. Ben was inducted into the Arena Football Hall of Fame in 2000. 

Outside of his impressive Arena Football resume, Ben has been involved as coach for the Milwaukee Mustangs (1998), Greensboro Prowlers (2000), Florida Bobcats (2001), Florida Firecats (2002-2004), Manchester Wolves (2005-2007), Austin Wranglers (2008), Orlando Fantasy LFL (2010), the New Orleans Voodoo (2011), and the Orlando Predators (2012). 

I had previously tried to get Ben way back in 2011, but had no luck. Since then, I’ve seen no successes or addresses for him that I could use, so I went ahead and just picked this autograph up off of EBay after verifying its integrity. 

NFLATTCPDYDSPCTTDINTRAT
0/1522533.3017.6
RUSHYDSAVGTDLG
2178.509
USFLATTCPDYDSPCTTDINTRAT
0/213711353.810142.5
ARENAATTCPDYDSPCTTDINTRAT
192810691416855.426781N/A
RUSHYDSAVGTDLG
11367.609
WLAFATTCPDYDSPCTTDINTRAT
1/02696034.60239.6
NFL, University of Texas

Cosby, Quan (3)

Cards: Playoff Prestige 2009 Prestigious Picks, Upper Deck 2009 Icons (471/599)
Acquired: IP 2018, Boot City
See Also: Quan Cosby, Quan Cosby (2), Quan Cosby (3)

Quan Cosby was a bonus at the Boot City event in Bastrop.  I always pack a couple of extra cards for whomever stops in and Quan had to come out to support Colt, Fozzy, and Jordan. The weekend before the XFL had announced that it was returning for 2020. I was pretty juiced about it and Quan and I talked about it for a few minutes. We agreed that it was important that the league actually put a team in Texas this time if they wanted to succeed, and they also needed to not be identified as a footnote in the ‘NFL’ section. Part of the problem is the NFL is so successful, no matter what happens in any other football league, the media just squeezes it in at the bottom of the NFL sports page. This is in part due to the fact that NFL has become synonymous with football. 

A former baseball player in the minor leagues and a lover of the sport, Quan has added baseball to his announcing duties, along with sideline reporting at football games for the University of Texas.

Starting to run out of cards for Quan, but I guess that’s a good thing as he signs most things for fans. I liked the Upper Deck Icons card a lot. Its got a nice balance to it and the color is great. The Playoff Prestige? Meh. It’s okay, but the card seems a bit over designed.