CARDS: Pacific 1991, ProSet 1990 ACQUIRED: Autographs Inked Private Group, 2021 FAILURE: 2020, C/o Home SEE ALSO: William Fuller
I’ve always wanted to get William Fuller on a few cards, since I sorta didn’t like the others I had gotten him on way back during Oilers training camp. You fail 100% of the shots you don’t take, so I figured I might as well give him another shot during the pandemic.
Waiting over a year and getting no response, I thought I might as well cash in a few chips. Since I missed out on them I went ahead and invested in these two cards that I had wanted to get signed sometime ago. (This represents one of the few times I’ve actually purchased autographs through my private Facebook group.) I remember carrying that Pacific 91 in camp and squiggling blue Sharpie on the back of it by accident. Still I’m left with 2-3 more cards I’d love to add to the collection. He does a fairly affordable private signing once or twice a year. I might look into that in the future.
Among the remainder of any cards out there that I needed of Steve, this was probably it. A set need, I really enjoyed the Upper Deck Legends 1997 set. This is a great photo of Steve, on a simple yet well designed canvas. After his political career fizzled out, Largent moved back to Oklahoma where he serves on the board at Tulsa. He rarely has signed through the mail since 2017 really and this didn’t set me back at all to acquire this certified on card autograph.
As the Seahawks have recently discovered their legacy, Steve has seen a renaissance of sorts in popularity- with current Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf even sporting his jersey in 2019, calling Steve, “The GOAT.” Steve himself is a big DK Metcalf fan and believes that he has a great career in front of him. In 2020, Metcalf shattered Largent’s single season receiving yardage record- to which Steve called DK up and congratulated him. Steve is pretty much retired and lives in Tulsa full-time and speaks to his former QB Jim Zorn on a weekly basis.
A big back clocking in at 6″0′, 220, Ronnie Harmon played 12 seasons in the NFL where he acquired a reputation as a solid pass catching threat out of the backfield, and a bruising back to take down.
He began his NFL career as a 1st round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 1986. Harmon played there through 1989 catching 144 passes for 1452 yards and 10 TDs, while rushing 244 times for 968 yards and 3 TDs. By this point Ronnie had fit snugly into the 3rd down back role for the Bills, but with Thurman Thomas coming on strong in his second season as the bell cow back, the Bills felt they could let Ronnie go.
Ronnie took a big change of scenery when he signed with the San Diego Chargers in 1990, where he’d continue to be one of the most outstanding 3rd down backs in the NFL. A pass catching machine- Ronnie garnered 378 catches for 3939 yards, and 12 TDs over the next 6 seasons. In 1992 he caught a career high 79 passes and earned his only Pro Bowl honor, leading all runningbacks. He also never missed a game while playing for the Chargers.
In 1996, Ronnie entered the twilight of his career, playing for the Houston Oilers during their final year in Houston, and joining the franchise during their transition to Memphis the following year. During that 1997 season he’d be cut and sign with the Bears, before retiring, but not before tacking on another 60 receptions.
Ronnie holds the interesting record as the only player in NFL history to averaged 4.5 yards per carry on a minimum of 600 rushing attempts, while also averaging 10 yards per catch on at least 550 receptions.
Ronnie Harmon has a proven track record of not signing through the mail, and with a long and extensive NFL history, that criss-crossed the league, he has always been a player that I wanted to get the autograph of.
2020 was not a great year primarily because of COVID, but because of it, there were a lot more random private signings that popped up. Luckily I spotted a Bills signing with Ronnie and Lee Evans for a very affordable price, so I dropped these two cards in the mail.
I was more of a fan of Ronnie’s exploits playing for the San Diego Chargers than the Buffalo Bills, so I reached into the box and pulled out these two set needs. I really loved his Skybox card. It’s a great shot of him dashing for daylight and frames his size dynamically on the canvas.
G/Gs
RUSH
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
181/27
615
2774
4.5
10
48
REC
YDS
AVG
LG
TD
462
6076
10.4
24
93T
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
