Tag Archives: fab four

NFL

Jeffires, Haywood (4) “Freakwood”

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pset92 jeffirespset91 jeffiresud91 jeffiresJeffires and meCards: Topps 1990, Topps 1992, Topps Stadium Club 1992, SkyBox 1992 LL, ProSet 1992, ProSet 1992 PB, ProSet 1992 LL, ProSet 1992 Milestone, Upper Deck 1992, Upper Deck SP 1993, Fleer 1991, Fleer Ultra 1991, ProSet 1991, Proline Portraits 1992, Proline Profiles 1992, Proline Profiles 1992 #2, Score 1991, Upper Deck 1991.

Acquired: In Person, 10/26/14 GMC Monday Night Football Tour
See Also: Haywood Jeffires, Haywood Jeffires (2), Haywood Jeffires (3)

When I heard that Haywood Jeffires was appearing with Ernest Givins at the GMC Monday Night Football Event in Houston I penciled it on my itinerary for that weekend. Held at the Katy Mall, it was pretty much a straight shot once I got to the 10. Unlike previous events and the Austin event held the previous year there was a limit on the vouchers to prevent multiple autograph requests. This was not announced before the event. If that had been the case, I may not have gone. Ernest was a last second cancellation- replaced by another member of the Fab 4, Curtis Duncan. Still I planned ahead in case of a problem and things worked out great.

Oh and the insane amount of cards that Haywood signed, I just used my autograph mind control powers on the handlers. After talking to them for a few minutes, they just let me ask Haywood directly when there were no more fans waiting in line. I mean the worst he could say was, “No”, right? I offered him any card that he wanted, but he just opted to sign everything I had instead. He loved my Houston Oilers hat, to which I explained to him it was classic, not vintage since it was actually an Apex hat from 1992. We talked about the preseason game against the Cowboys when Bucky Ricahrdson flipped a last second pass to his left hand and tossed a TD in the end zone, and about how long I’d been a fan of his, bringing up how I wrote him in the past for his autograph, when he used to shorthand his autograph to “H. Jeffires”. He asked me how I knew that, and I said that I was a real fan, remember? He tossed in the final photo with all the cards as a final send off. By far abashedly this was my biggest single player haul ever, beating out a previous in person appearance by Eric Metcalf by 8 or 9.  I’m sure I’ll dig up a few more cards of Jeffires for next time, even though he’s already zoomed to the top of my most acquired autograph player list.

mem14 jeffiresWhen I asked Haywood about who was the toughest matchup he faced, he first said the Browns with Minnefield and Dixon, then Pittsburgh, and finally just said the whole AFC Central because the teams all faced each other twice a year and they all knew one another so well. Jeffires was unaware of his status on Tecmo Super Bowl and had not played the game. Haywood and Curtis hugged when Duncan arrived. Apparently they hadn’t seen each other in quite a while and it was a nice reunion of sorts.

 

NFL

Givins, Ernest “EG” (2)

Cards: Score 1989, ProSet 1989
Acquired: In Person, 6/10/12, 610 Houston Fan Fest III
See Also: Ernest Givins

Ernest Givins is just a classy guy. He treats his fans incredibly well, – especially those who recognize him and remember him for his playing days with the Oilers. At Fan Fest in Houston this year, both Ernest and Haywood were stationed at the same table.  I had gotten Givins a year or two ago TTM, and in person, lo those many years ago at Oilers Training Camps, so I was super stoked to see him again in person. It did not take me long to recognize him in the crowd wandering around on the floor. When I bellowed “EEEE GGGGG!” ,  he turned around and said hello. I asked him again to do the Electric Slide, and he laughed and said he just might.

A few hours later I got to the front of the line and asked him about it. Haywood started laughing and Ernest told me he had already done it twice, once at the front and back of the auditorium. I growled a bit and we laughed. He resisted the handlers attempts to move his line along and signed 2 cards for me. I thanked him for being so good to his fans, and even to his TTM fans. He told me that he tries extra hard to honor all his requests, and signs everything he can for his fans. I told him that I had gotten some autographs earlier last year and I wanted him to know that his efforts go above and beyond were surely appreciated. I asked him if Louisville had inducted him into their HoF, to which I learned they still hadn’t. (An absolute crime in my book.) He flashed his trademark smile and told me he’d love to be there.

Jeffires has been quoted on record that Givins is the best receiver he has ever seen. Givins played slot, primarily in the run n shoot. While people try to bag on it as a gimmicky offense, remember that most teams now run a spread variant or similar which is the same thing. He always seemed to have somewhere around 900 sub yards, and 70 catches or so, but he also had two other primary receivers (Hill, Jeffires, and Jeffires, Slaughter), that always got more looks than he did. But Givins made the acrobatic catch over the middle, -and rarely dropped the ball.  He was basically the Wes Welker of his day.  Currently Givins is a Vice Principal and coaches semi pro football in Florida, but still looks to be in fine shape. He has been quoted as saying that based on the amount of money kids make these days playing football, give him two weeks to prepare and he’d be back in game shape.

Givins and Jeffires do the Electric Slide: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHtL40i2Xvc

NFL

Jeffires, Haywood (2)

Cards: SkyBox 1992, SkyBox 1992 Major Impact
Acquired: In Person, 6/10/12, 610 Houston Fan Fest III
Failure: TTM 2010
See Also:  Haywood Jeffires

Well another former Oiler that I was trying to get is off the list. Haywood Jeffires is known in autograph circles, at least TTM as a very difficult autograph to acquire.  On many websites that post autograph percentages through the mail, he rates at a fat 0%.  Unfortunately I sent off 5 cards to him in 2010- and never saw them again.  So when I got word that Ernest Givins and Haywood Jeffires were going to be at the same table for Fan Fest this year, I immediately penciled them near the top of my list to get.  I had many more that I intended to get autographed, but with a limit of one per person, I was fortunate to get two from him. To get the additional card signed, I cited his zero percent signing rate, to which he coyly admitted that he does not sign anything through the mail. Haywood looks almost the same as he did when he retired, and he still wears those turtlenecks, even if it is 90 degrees outside. I told him he was always my favorite player when he joined the team when I was a kid because we shared the same birthday. He tested me and asked the date which surprised him. In order not to scare him any further, I quickly thanked him for his time, shook his hand and was on my way,  pleased with my acquisition on these two very fine cards.