CARDS: Score 2009, Upper Deck Football Legends 2009 A, Upper Deck Football Legends 2008 B ACQUIRED: TTM 2021, C/o Work SENT: 1/13 RECEIVED: 2/7 (25 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
A 4th round pick of the Dallas Cowboys in 2008.
Tashard’s college resume included 697 rushes for 3,465 yards and 28 TDs, to go along with 41 receptions for 288 yards.
Battled with fellow rookie Felix Jones to back up Marion Barber at RB.
Finished rookie year with 92 carries for 472 yards and 2 TDs.
Became firmly entrenched as the 3rd string back behind Jones and Barber in 2009, but saw workload again increase due to injuries to both of them.
Had 64 carries for 349 yards and 3 TDs- including a career high 66 tard long and a healthy 5.5 yards per carry.
Again, off the bench in 2010, Choice had 66 carries for 243 yards and 3 TDs.
In 2011, Choice dealt with nagging injuries, and after a bit of bad luck, watched DeMarco Murray supplant him on the depth chart, and ultimately make Tashard expendable.
Cut by the Cowboys, Choice spent the next two seasons as an emergency RB with the Redskins, Bills, and Colts.
Went into coaching in 2016, joining the Cowboys as an intern.
Later in 2017 was added to North Texas’ coaching staff as a graduate assistant, and then later as a RB coach.
In 2019, coached RBs at his alma mater, Georgia Tech.
Landed the RBs job at the University of Texas.
NOTES:
I took a shot at Tashard right after he was hired at the University of Texas to coach their runningbacks in 2022, which created a small frenzy of TTM activity after he signed my cards.
Didn’t have much in the tank left for Jimmy, except really for this one set need out of Gameday 1992. Outside of that Spoodog- who you may recall from my in person adventures from a few years prior, was downsizing his collection, or just got so bored of the hobby he was not really into it anymore. Anyway, he gave me a bunch of unsigned cards and this Jags card of Jimmy was among them, so, inspired, I thought if I ever got another shot I’d send this one out too.
I got really lucky getting Jimmy on these cards. During the pandemic he popped up on Twitter and offered to sign for fans. This lasted all for… 3 months before he quit again.
Ernie Mills played WR for the Florida Gators from 1987-90.
Posted 81 receptions for 1585 yards, a whopping 19.6 yards per reception, and 15 TDs over 4 years in Gainesville.
Best year for the Gators came in his Senior year, when he had 41 receptions for 770 yards and 10 TDs.
Originally started as a DB but quickly transitioned to WR, hauling in his first career reception of 49 yards from Florida QB legend Kerwin Bell.
Selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 3rd round of the 1991 NFL Draft.
Mills spent his time on special teams and started two games at WR his rookie year.
He’d finish first in special teams tackles, and scored his first TD on a punt that hit the opposing team’s blocking back. (See Eugene Lockhart)
But things never really materialized for Ernie in Pittsburgh, who had a nascent passing attack, and he was battling for a roster spot with other fresh WRs, Chris Calloway and Jeff Graham.
He had his best season in Pittsburgh in 1995, catching 39 passes for 679 yards and 8 TDs.
It was a titanic year actually for Ernie as he quietly put up 2,024 all-purpose yards, including 1,304 on kick returns.
He’d be injured during Super Bowl XXX, tearing his ACL and being lost for most of the following 1996 campaign.
In 1997, Ernie signed with the Carolina Panthers and played one season for them.
The final two years of his career were spent in Dallas, as a key roleplayer for the Dallas Cowboys under head coach Chan Gailey, whom he’d played for previously in Pittsbugh.
Mills was oft injured, but still managed to post solid numbers as a reliable #3 option behind Michael Irvin and Rocket Ismail.
After a brief hiatus from the sport, Mills was spotted at Jacksonville University coaching WRs with his former college QB Kerwin Bell, holding the position from 2007-2012.
Then he coached WRs at Florida A&M from 2013-2015.
Star Pics 1991, #66Action Packed Rookies 1991, #58
NOTES:
Well, there’s Ernie Mills, with an incredibly long orbital trajectory. I had given up on Ernie basically on two separate occasions, but after noticing a few successes, I figured the one for 2021 was in the works to return to me. After some patient waiting, it indeed finally came through, and I added the Action Packed Rookies 1991 card finally to my collection.
Ernie frustrated me as he tended to sign in spurts, sometimes responding to people immediately, while on other occasions-such as mine, languished in wait. I was pretty happy to get the entry sent out in 2021 back early in 2022, but lo and behold, some 8 months after that, the original entry I sent from 2017, also arrived, rocketing up the longest wait charts officially to #5, at a cool 1806 days.
I don’t talk about Pacific 1991 enough right? To me the set was a bold design choice, but quite laughable. For some reason, it just stood out as being… simplistic, with the gradient and the 1970s style typeface. The back was again bold, but a bit wild, as the entire canvas of information was set at a 45 degree angle! I thought that the photo on this Pacific card really nailed it, so I thought it’d make a nice card to get autographed.
With these cards, I can firmly close the door on Ernie. I love his autograph. Well worth the wait and very original. A strong ‘E’, ‘M’, and ‘S’ punctuate his unique signature with great stroke, pen pressure, and placement.
Score Supplemental 1991, #56TPro Set 1991, #802
REC
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
196
2934
15.0
20
62
KR
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
80
1818
22.7
0
57
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