Cards: Pro Set 1991, GameDay 1993
Acquired: TTM 2021, C/o Home
Sent: 4/1 Received: 6/7 (67 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
NOTES:
Hadn’t gotten Henry Jones since… oh 1991 through the Bills so I thought I’d give him another shout out some 30 years later. He signed 2 of 3 cards- but omitted the one I really wanted him to sign- his Star Pics 1991 Fightin’ Illini card.
Cards: Upper Deck 1991 Browns Checklist, GameDay 1993, University of Texas Upper Deck 2011 All-Time Alumni, ProSet 1992, SkyBox Premium 1993-1994, Upper Deck College Legends 2011
Acquired: TTM 2020, C/o Home
Sent: 1/6 Received: 1/14 (8 days)
See Also: Eric Metcalf, Eric Metcalf (2)
Eric Metcalf is one of my favorite players during the heyday of my childhood, so I was happy to make him my first success of 2020. With so many cards signed by him at this point, you’d think that I’d written him more than once (successfully) previously- but no- the last time he signed for me was way back in 2014. How time flies!
Eric had some stellar cards over the years, and with me still needing him on his All-Time Alumni card, and his College Legends card, I figured I could shoot out a stack to him and take a shot.
Eric is one of the few pros that actually follows me on Twitter- which is very humbling. I’ve always felt that YFS guys do not get the love from the HoF that they should, and although he has been nominated on a few occasions, Eric has not gotten in.
Eric’s cards from this lot no doubt are again, epic looking. They always seem to catch him slashing out of the backfield into the open field. I loved his Upper Deck Legends entry from 2011. In fact I am surprised that they didn’t use this as his main shot on his UT cards.
The Skybox Premium came out at a time when dropping a color across a background was novel. Unfortunately these cards commanded too high a sticker price for me as I was exiting the market. I have slowly picked up one or two here or there over the years.
ProSet was done in my mind after a few packs at Cowboys training camp in ’92. I did not like how they changed the card design midway through the set and found it confusing and disorganized. I liked this version of the set and how they moved the ProSet logo down by the player name, allowing the canvas to be more free to showcase the player.
Upper Deck was a late entry into the football card market. I didn’t really think too much of their initial NFL set, however I loved their artistic subsets- especially their checklists which focused on team MVPs. The design of this card is just superb, and in a sense very timeless. I love the circle behind Eric. What possessed this artist to put that back there? It blends nicely into his helmet, and then the horizontal lines across it lower on the canvas- It’s just so delicate and well thought out.
Cards: Topps XFL 2001, Classic 1993, ProSet 1993, GameDay 1993
Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o Home (x2)
Sent: 2/27 Received: 3/28 (31 days)
Sent: 4/18 Received: 4/27 (9 days)
Bruising fullback Roosevelt Potts reminded many of Craig ‘Ironhead’ Heyward coming out of college from NE Louisiana. A tireless runner with a low center of gravity, Potts had 558 carries for 3,061 yards and 17 TDs- finishing as the school’s all-time leading rusher, and earned the Southland Conference Player of the Year Honors in 1992 when he ran for 1,266 yards.
Potts was selected in the second round of the 1993 NFL Draft by the Indianapolis Colts. He’d finish his rookie year with 900 yards from scrimmage- 771 on the ground on 179 carries used primarily as a RB his rookie year. With the arrival of Marshall Faulk in 1994, Potts switched primarily to a blocking role. He scored his lone rushing TD of his career in 1994, posting 336 yards on 77 carries and catching 26 passes for 251 yards. After a 1995 with relatively the same results- Potts was a restricted free agent with a few caveats. First he had to have reconstructive knee surgery, and second, he had been found in violation of the league’s drug policy. It was his 3rd strike and he had to serve a mandatory season long suspension covering all of 1996.
Roosevelt returned to the Colts in 1997, but for the most part that season was a wash too. He played 2 games for the Colts, and 6 games for the Dolphins. He took his skills to Baltimore in 1998 where he served another 16 game stint at fullback, rushing 36 times for 115 yards, and catching a career high 30 passes. A sneaky backfield option with a downfield bulldozing motor- Potts caught 4 TDs in his career on 106 receptions.
But wait- Potts story doesn’t just end there! He joined the XFL in 2001 playing for the Memphis Maniax after a 2 year layoff. Still displaying his hard nosed and devastating blocking up front, Potts played in 4 games catching a pass for 5 yards.
He signed this Topps XFL card for me very quickly- but included a nice note indicating that he had accidentally sent my other cards to somebody else, and if I wanted to send more- he’d be happy to sign. Eager to take him up on his offer I dropped another Gameday 93 and Classic 93 into the envelope along with this ProSet 93. He signed in no time flat and kindly answered my questions telling me that he loved watching the Alliance and will watch the new XFL when it comes out. What a guy! I feel like I could sit down with Potts, have drinks and talk Spring football with this guy all day.
Potts is an Honorary Horseshoe Legend for the Colts, and was named into the ULM 2016 HoF class.
| NFL G/GS | RUSH | YDS | AVG | TD | LG |
| 71/61 | 359 | 1475 | 4.1 | 1 | 52 |
| REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LG |
| 106 | 863 | 8.1 | 4 | 52 |
| XFL G | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | LG |
| 4 | 1 | 5 | 5.0 | 0 | 5 |