Tag Archives: Donruss Rookies and Stars 2009

NFL, NFLE

Delhomme, Jake

dor&s09 delhommesco09 delhommesp09 delhommeud09 delhomme

Cards: SP 2009, Upper Deck 2009, Score 2009, Donruss Rookies & Stars 2009
Acquired: TTM 2013, c/o Home
Sent: 4/2   Received: 4/20   (18 days)
Failure: C/o Home 2011, 2012

Jake Delhomme is another storied member of the WLAF/NFLE to make it good, again further proving to me that the league was succeeding in its mandate to create better talent for the NFL.  Names such as: Kurt Warner, Jon Kitna, Quinn Gray, and Kelly Holcomb joined Delhomme in the ‘developmental league’ to further their talents in the sport and then return stateside to take the league by storm.

Jake played for the University of Louisiana – Lafayette, from 1993 to 1996. There he’d etch his name into virtually all of the school’s passing record books finishing as the Ragin’ Cajuns all time leading passer in touchdowns and yards.  Delhomme did not get drafted, however the New Orleans Saints offered him a free agent contract and he joined their developmental squad in 1997.

Jake was assigned to the Amsterdam Admirals of the NFLE that next season where he was able to polish his skills a bit more. In his first season under center for the Admirals, Jake backed up future MVP Kurt Warner. His debut was unspectacular to say the least as Delhomme posted a 15.1 QB rating that season. Returning to the league for 1999, Delhomme put it all together in a solid effort. This time Jake was assigned to the Frankfurt Galaxy. He, alongside Pat Barnes provided a 2- headed monster quarterback option that the rest of the league couldn’t handle. Jake in fact finished second in the league with a 96.8 QB rating, throwing only 5 picks to 12 TDs. The Galaxy went on to win World Bowl VII 38-24. In the game, Jake finished 9 of 14 for 126 yards and a touchdown to Mario Bailey. Delhomme has always maintained that it was a team effort that resulted in the Galaxy’s World Bowl win. The bottom line is the stats didn’t lie, and both he and Pat Barnes’ numbers on the season were almost identical.

New Orleans liked him enough that year to bring him back again in 1999. The team was suffering badly with injuries to the quarterback position and a revolving door at the position appeared with Billy Joe Hobert, Billy Joe Tolliver, Danny Weurffel, and Jake sharing time at quarterback during the tumultuous season. With only Ricky Williams on offense, the team struggled mightily, but Jake got his first start against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 16. He didn’t disappoint as he led the team to only its 3rd win of the season 31-24. I remember the game vividly, as I had watched football only casually in those ‘dead years’ after the Oilers left Houston, and secretly rooted for the Saints since I hated the Cowboys with such vitriol. While Jake did not see significant playing time over the next few seasons, buried on the depth chart behind Aaron Brooks and Jeff Blake, he did manage to hang on through an offensive overhaul and a new coach. Finally in 2003 Jake finally got the break he was looking for.

Delhomme signed with the hapless Panthers, a team with a new coach going in a new direction after a 1-15 season. Feeling that he was the right quarterback, at the right price, since there would be no rookies available for the Panthers that they’d like, Coach John Fox took a shot at Jake to compete against aging Rodney Peete. Fox wouldn’t be disappointed, and by the end of the first game of the 2003 season, the Panthers would have their anointed starter at quarterback. Jake turned a new chapter in his NFL career and blossomed into a bona fide starter at the position stringing together an impressive resume of games and statistics, helping the Panthers out of the doldrums of the NFC South. Without question, he was the free agent signee of the year, leading the improbable Panthers all the way to the SuperBowl, putting together one of the best big game performances in history, only to fall short of the Patriots by a field goal. 2004 proved to be career highs for Jake in most passer categories, but the team stunk, -stung by the injury bug. This season was notable, as I was in the fantasy football playoffs, but all my starters were not playing, so I cut and benched them all, and signed Jake as my starting quarterback and rode my way to an improbable league championship under his wing. The Panthers again returned to playoff form in 2005, as Jake continued to rewrite the franchise’s record books. Injuries to his thumb kept him out of 3 games that season, and in 2006 an elbow injury basically wiped his season out. In 2008 Delhomme returned to form with a vengeance, guiding the Panthers to their best record in franchise history, but his interception numbers began creeping up on him, and after a disastrous playoff performance in which he threw 4 picks, fans were clamoring at the gates for the end of his tenure. The same story repeated itself for Jake in 2009, as he threw 18 interceptions to only 8 touchdowns. The writing was on the wall after the season, and the Panthers’ career leading passer was unceremoniously cut.

In the journeyman phase of Delhomme’s career he went to Cleveland in 2010, and tried to help restart the fortunes of the beleaguered franchise, but again, injuries beset Delhomme. This time he suffered a nagging high ankle sprain which plagued him all season. After his one season for the Browns, Jake was cut again.  It wasn’t until late in 2011 that Jake was signed, appearing on the radar of the Houston Texans. With injuries hitting the Texans at quarterback, 3rd stringer TJ Yates needed competent and experienced teachers and quarterbacks behind him. In came Jake Delhomme and Jeff Garcia. It’d be for the Texans, after Yates suffered a bruised shoulder in the season finale, that Jake got his final playing time, leading a heroic comeback for the Houston Texans against their arch rival Tennessee Titans. While the Titans ended up winning the game, the Texans made the playoffs for the first time in franchise history, nonetheless. After the season and the Texans first playoff victory and loss, Jake has retired back to Louisiana.

I tried on multiple occasions to get Jake’s autograph and completely failed. The first time was an RTS from North Carolina, that led me to Ohio from a tip I was given. It never panned out, but after seeing that he had returned to his roots in Louisiana, I thought this was my best shot. Luckily I finally landed Jake on the third try on these 4 great cards. All of them showcase great design and an excellent action shot of him and oddly just happen to be all 2009 releases.

NFL G/Gs 103/96   Att 2932   Comp 1741   Yds 20975   Pct 59.4  Td 126   Int 101  Rat 81.3  |
Rush 175    Yds 328   Avg 1.9   Td 7   Lg 27

NFLE     Att 249      Comp 151     Yds 1657    Pct 60.1%     Td   12      Int  9     Rat  81.4  |
Rush 23     Yds 146     Avg 6.3     Td 0    Lg 20

Heisman Trophy Winner, NFL, University of Texas

Williams, Ricky “Little Earl” (2)

Cards: Donruss Rookies & Stars 09, UT Upper Deck 2011 MM x2
Acquired: In person, Ricky Williams Tailgate 9/8/2012.
See Also: Ricky Williams, Ricky Williams (3), Ricky Williams (4)

Late in August, I got an email in the evening from the Ricky Williams Foundation.  When I opened it up I couldn’t believe my eyes. The Foundation was holding Ricky’s First Tailgating event, for only a small donation of $25.00. Included in the price was BBQ, beer, games, meeting Ricky, and getting a few autographs.  It was a no brainer for me, and I bought two tickets immediately, so that I could drag Josh along this time. We arrived a bit after twelve, and parking was a hassle because of the pregame stuff going on for New Mexico. After a lot of blind wandering, we located his event that was being treated very low key. The BBQ was great, and eventually we got Ricky’s autograph on a few items. I was really pleased to get him on these 3 cards this time.

Ricky was very friendly with fans and many of them he was happy to speak to or allow to pet his Heisman. He allowed everybody to take photos and grab autographs.  I got to share Ricky’s Heisman with him which is a bit unwieldy. I’d guess the trophy was about 20 pounds or so, and there was some nicks and tears to the foundation of the base. Still it was very kind of him to let me do it, since I have been getting into doing poses with players other than the normal conventional, ‘stand there and smile pose’. Overall I think it was a great PR move by him and his team, and since I had a great time volunteering at a Christian Okoye Foundation event, I volunteered to help Ricky Williams Foundation at other events, if they needed assistance.

A bit about these cards. I really like the treatment that the Rookies & Stars went through for 2009. It still remains one of my favorite modern day sets and this card is exceptional. I got an idea after witnessing a Texans fan at a Mario Williams signing last year toting around jersey card, that I should consider getting a few of them signed. The red cards, are jersey cards and they are absolutely beautiful with it placed right below the player’s image on the card. It’s a very well integrated design, even if they use the type font ‘Birth of a Hero’.

With the UT Upper Deck Monumental Moments cards, we have two cards that frame Williams’ contributions to the history of Texas football.  First
up is the card in which he broke Tony Dorsett’s career rushing record against A&M. It’s not a bad card at all.  The action is framed well and you get the point of the card in its summation of his achievement. The second card, which highlights his school record 350 yard stomping of Iowa State,(which broke the record previously held by Roosevelt Leaks) is an equally nice card with the same warts. It really showcases how hard Ricky as to take down as 4 defenders are frantically in frame trying to catch him. I did have to use the baby powder on both cards to remove the sheen, but it worked like a charm so there was no marker loss there.  I did not like how
they used the ‘fat T’ logo on the right hand side of the card. It feels too University of Tennessee. (Any well minded UT fan would’ve used the combined UT logo to differentiate from the Volunteers.) In the meantime, I had a great time and look forward to going to and or working other events and getting a few more cards signed by Ricky in the future.

NFL

Casey, James (2)


Cards: Score 2009, Donruss Rookies and Stars 2009 (410/999)
Acquired: In person 4/26/2012, 1300 the Zone Texans Draft Party
See also: James Casey

These two cards of James are great examples of good design. They make an otherwise unexciting, in warm-ups and without pads photo shot of James look almost appealing. It certainly was enough for me to want to get them autographed. I met James at the Texans Draft Party in 2011 along with Danieal Manning.  When James autographed them he remarked that I must be a professional because I knew to put talcum powder on the card to dull the sheen on the card. I then told him that I was a big fan, and through Dave, had gotten a lot of autographs from the team in the past on cards I still had. Casey then took an otherwise awkward looking photo with me, and stuck to the book with his interaction. Casey’s autograph in my humble opinion needs some work. It’s a signature, and he needs to juice this one up.

James was moved around on the Texans offense. As a logger jam emerged at Tight End with Owen Daniels, Joel Dreessen, and newcomer Garrett Graham, the Texans liked what they had with Casey’s exceptional hands and straight on blocking. When Vontae Leach left for Baltimore to block for Ray Rice in 2011, the team made the decision to shift Casey to fullback. Casey provided immediate mismatches for teams that looked absolutely baffled when he shifted out of the backfield and out to the flat. He’d rip defenses with 18 receptions for 260 yards a 14.4 yard average including his first professional touchdown this last season in 2011, but he’d also rip his pectoral muscle against the Saints sidelining him for a good portion of the season.
In 2012, the team seems content utilizing him as an H-Back, as he creates many mismatches with his deceptive speed combined with his linebacker size. We didn’t see him much during the preseason, and the Texans with a full docket of weapons and a true fullback blocking up front, are keeping hush hush about how they will sneak Casey into the lineup later in the season for 2012.