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

Cards: SkyBox 1992, Action Packed 1991, Score 1990, ProSet 1990, Action Packed 1992, GameDay 1992.
Acquired: In Person, 1991, 1994, Houston Oiler Training Camp. TTM 2010, c/o Home.
Sent: 3/26   Received:  4/29   (33 days)
See Also: Ernest Givins (2), Ernest Givins(3)

Ernest Givins was a second round choice of the Houston Oilers in 1986. At 5-9 178, Ernest was considered undersized for his position when he came out of Louisville, but was an amazing route runner and ideal for the slot position. He was also difficult to tackle and had incredible acrobatic balance accounting for shelves of highlight film including a hit where he was flipped over the back of the defender and made the catch, landing on his feet in the endzone. Ernest would play for the Oilers for the next ten seasons, (and one for Jacksonville,) notching two ProBowl nominations in 1992 and 1990- where in the latter he was also named All-Pro. He went over 900 yards 5 times in his career. Ernest was also well known for his after touchdown celebration dance entitled ‘The Electric Slide’ (shown partially in action in the Action Packed 1991 card,) which quickly endeared him to Oiler fans and became recognizable around the league.

In 1995 he was cut by the Oilers and signed with the expansion Jaguars where he played for one season. He finished first on the Houston Oilers all-time list for receptions and yards and tied for third in touchdowns. As of 2010, Givins lives in St. Petersburg, and is active in the community as a semi-pro football coach for the Bay Area Gamblers and offensive coordinator for Boca Ciega High School.

I met Ernest Givins and got his autograph at training camp on two different occasions. The first time went by with little fanfare. He signed my card and I thanked him. So by the time I got back to him in 1994, I was a bit more mouthy by then so I asked him to do his trademark touchdown dance ‘The Electric Slide’. His response coyly was, “I wouldn’t want to break tradition.” It was a good laugh. I later tracked him down through the internet, partially thanks to Wikipedia and got his autograph on a few extra cards.

Games  147      Rec 571        Yds 8215         Avg 14.4          Td 49           Lg 83T