Tag Archives: cleveland browns

NFL, University of Texas

McCoy, Colt (2)

utud11 mccoy mmCards: UT Upper Deck 2011 Memorable Moments, Panini Absolute 2011,  Playoff Prestige 2012
Acquired: IP 4/17/2015, Sam’s Wholesale Lakeline Grand Opening
See Also: Colt McCoy

I had long debated going to the second day of the Sam’s Wholesale Grand Opening, but with a perfect storm of days I had to take off anyway, it made sense that I go ahead and dive in for the former Longhorn signal caller. I had 5 or 6 cards of him, but outside of the Longhorns card here, I really wasn’t that jazzed about anything I had. Thankfully Spoodog offered me a fairly nice Playoff 2012 to get autographed.

pres11 mccoyColt’s career has been… bumpy… since getting traded from the Browns in 2013 to the San Fransisco 49ers for low end picks. He didn’t look all that spectacular in the preseason, but still managed to do mop up duty in 4 games behind Colin Kapernick. After the season Colt signed with the Washington Redskins. The collective brains of the NFL yawned at the signing. (I myself had hoped he’d be brought in by the Texans.) Most pundits had written McCoy off and now going up against RGIII and Kirk Cousins, Colt managed to claw his way onto the roster and patiently bide his time as the best 3rd string quarterback in the NFL. McCoy eventually got his shot as injuries and inconsistency plagued the Redskins at quarterback. He’d lead the team to back to back exciting victories over the Titans, and then the heavily favored Cowboys.  Injured late in the season, his performance was good enough to earn him a new contract with the Redskins.

Amem11 mccoyThe first few people through the line got way too many multiples signed. This ruined it for the rest of us. Colt’s signature is not a quick one, taking roughly 15 seconds to complete for each card. With a decent line building, this caused the gatekeepers to ask us to limit our requests to two a person. It was not unreasonable at all- but with them not patrolling the fans at the front with McCoy, people abused it anyway. I decided 3 was not unreasonable for me to get signed as that was my original thought. When I spoke to Colt, I told him that his heroics in the Redskins Cowboys game was the stuff of legend. He grinned from ear to ear and told me it was one of his fondest memories in the NFL. He also told me that he prefers Colossians 3:23 as his testament verse of choice.

NFL

Kruger, Dave

sage13 KrugerCard: Sage Hit 2013
Acquired: 2014, Box Breaker

Dave Kruger attended Utah like his big brother before him- NFL linebacker Paul Kruger.  A team captain on defense, Dave played tackle (6’5, 264) and racked up 116 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and a forced fumble in 37 starts.  He was not drafted in 2013 but later signed with the Cleveland Browns. He was cut before the season began and as of 2016 is considered a free agent.

NFL

Tate, Ben ‘Goldbrick’

Card: Donruss Rookies & Stars 2010  (#34/250)
Acquired: 2016, EBay
Failure: TTM 2012, C/o The Houston Texans

Ben Tate played for the Auburn Tigers in college. His best season came as a Senior when he ran for 1362 yards and 10 TDs on 263 carries. He finished his college career with 3321 yards. He had some amazing highlight film that really emphasized displayed his burst and size. I immediately tapped him as being selected by the Texans in the second or third round. Tate was one of the best backs available in the draft. After missing out on Ryan Matthews and  bypassing Toby Gehart the Texans traded up to select Ben.  He’d join a crowded backfield with Ryan Moats, Arian Foster, Jeremiah Johnson, Chris Henry, and Steve Slaton in 2010.

Both he and Johnson tore up the Cowboys defense during the preseason, but Tate injured his ankle during the game. He’d be on injured reserve the entire 2010 season.  Tate paired with Foster to form a nasty duo in 2011,  and ran for 942 yards in 15 games.  During that season Tate suffered from a myriad of injuries from his quadraceps, to his back, and to his groin… ankle and foot.   Nonetheless, it was rumored that the Browns offered a 2nd round pick for Ben in the off-season but the Texans decided to reject the offer.

Tate was nagged by injuries in 2012 as he gathered a paltry 279 yards. Head, toe, hamstring, were among the malaise of ailments that kept Ben on the injury report and on the bench 15 games that year.

With Foster on IR for the entire 2013 season, Tate was counted on to step up and ran for 771 yards on 181 carries in relief of Foster.  It was a contract year for Tate, and he was ‘running for dollars’-to Free Agency.  He played through a lot of injuries again. The Texans meanwhile collapsed to a 2-14 record, and Gary Kubiak and his coaching staff would be released. The Texans were faced with a dilemma- resign Tate to a monstrous contract and cut Foster or keep Foster and let Tate walk. It was quite the debate but in the end the Texans chose Foster over Tate.

Ben signed a large contract with the aforementioned Cleveland Browns in 2014.  He showed up to camp out of shape, and not well conditioned but planted as the #1 back in the team’s RB rotation. He ran for 333 yards on 106 carries, but after missing two games early in the season due to injury, and then being embarrassed in a home game against the Texans rushing only 2 times for -9 yards the writing was on the wall.  He’d be cut the following week, but quickly found gainful employment with the Minnesota Vikings. In 3 games he’d run 13 times for 38 yards before Tate was cut again. The Steelers then picked him up for a game and Ben carried the load 5 times for 19 yards as an injury replacement for Le’Veon Bell.

After the season, Ben received some nibbles in Free Agency, from the Cowboys, Lions, Chiefs and 49ers at various points of 2015, but ultimately was not signed.

Well. Well. Well. Ben Tate. One of my least favorite TTM experiences. After Tate had sat around his whole rookie season on IR, I wrote him a letter asking for his autograph and enclosed 2 cards. Instead of signing them, returning them, or chalking this one up to the mailman monster, Ben Tate liked them enough that he put them on his Facebook account. I know this because I followed him at the time and the exact cards went up roughly a week after I had sent them through the mail. It left me asking him on his page, “Hey, those are my cards. Are you going to sign them?”, and other awkward statements like that. He just ignored me.   It didn’t help that on Facebook that all Ben talked about, no matter how things were going with the Texans was War Eagle this, War Eagle that. He never talked about playing for the Houston Texans.  I had always heard that Tate lacked the commitment to football. Rumors.  Over time my feelings about what happened grew into contempt, and by the end of 2012 I was referring to Ben as ‘Goldbrick’. (Goldbricking is a derogatory name given in sports to players who are collecting a paycheck or are injured all the time and are consequently using the excuse to not be on the playing field. )

It’s tough to categorize where Ben falls, and my personal experience and observation, coupled with his body of material you could color Ben’s desire and commitment either way.

Confident I’d never see my cards I sent him again, I decided to go ahead and buy this certified autographed patch card and close the book on this player.