Tag Archives: Miami Dolphins

NFL

Williams, Ricky (5)

Cards: Playoff 1999 (6279), Leaf Rookies & Stars 2004 Slideshow, Panini Classics 2016 NL, Panini Classics 2016 Legends*, Panini Contenders 2018, Panini Elite 2018, Atomic 2002.
Acquired: In Person 2018, 43 and 34 Camp, Heisman House Tour
See Also: Ricky Williams, Little Earl (2), Ricky Williams (3), Ricky Williams (4)
* future considerations D-Rock

There is really no end to the plethora of cards I can find that I like for Ricky, so I just keep stacking them up- as long as he keeps signing of course. I’ve gotten Little Earl more times than any other player, and each time I meet him, each interaction is a unique experience. When I went to the 43 and 34 Camp, it was a blisteringly hot Texas day.  After the event ended, people swarmed him as he slowly made his way to his car. He knew if he didn’t start that way at that moment, he’d be here all night. Still Ricky practiced an immense amount of patience, realizing perhaps that he was stuck, he just stopped at the entrance to the stadium and started signing. His gatekeeper tried in vain to get people to line up, and although there were cutters I waited to get up to him. It’s like the world goes silent and nobody is there. Ricky has that effect, or I do- I am not sure. He was like, “Hey man! Long time no see.” I told him that having a kid will do that to you.

Ricky has a new line of cannabis/ natural herb  wellness products. I’m hoping to get some shipped to Texas to see if it can be of benefit to my father who suffers from lupus.

These cards are just flat out amazing. Every time I think I run out of cards, I find a few more that I really like. The Leaf 2004 Rookies & Stars Slideshow is translucent. The scan just doesn’t do it enough justice, but it is a well designed, exciting card. The Playoff 99 card is another gimmicky card. It’s translucent with the numbers in a velvet material.

Later I went to the Heisman House Tour that came to DKR before the Texas USC game. Knowing Ricky was there I packed quite a few cards for him to sign. The problem was they had a nasty gatekeeper. I got up to the stage and Ricky recognized me. We chatted for a few seconds while he signed a card. This woman came out from the door connected from the tent and shooed me away before I could get the rest. I just said to Ricky with a smile, “I’ll come back around again.” The line was not long at all for Ricky. The humidity or the weather prediction (of rain that never happened) kept people away. I got back in line, cruised back around, and got the rest of the cards signed. 

We had a good and quick chat this time. I asked him if he’d have a touchdown dance now- since the league had lifted the restrictions on the rules. He initially told me no, but then re-thought it when I suggested Arian Foster’s ‘namaste pose’. I then quickly suggested that he go on Arian’s intriguing podcast as they both had really interesting philosophical ideals. He said he’d be interested and consider it, but he and Arian hadn’t talked in a while. 

All in all again, some really nice cards I got signed at the Heisman House Tour. I really liked the NEXT LEVEL card the best- even if it is the same photograph from the Panini Elite card. The backside has him in a New Orleans Saints uniform, and could also be mistaken for the front as well if not for its lack of gloss on it. The Elite card is nice and flashy. I like where they have taken the design of this set over the years. Even the logo is a much needed improvement over the Donruss Elite logo. It’s a shield/chevron. That’s smart design. 

The Classics 2016 card is for D-Rock on Sportscollectors.net. He had previously helped me out by sending me a Eugene Chung autograph I needed. What was touching about it was that he was reaching out to me because he hadn’t seen me on the boards in a while.
 
I had been stung badly by another collector on Sportscollectors.net who offered to get me some autographs and then pulled the rug out from under me as soon as I agreed.  Anyway D-Rock’s kindness really struck me, so I offered to help him out when I had a chance. It took me a lot longer than I thought to get this autograph, but I can see why he wanted to get this one signed as the Classics card is not only a nice card, the autograph really sticks out on the canvas.

NFL

Smith, De’Veon

Card: Panini Contenders 2017
Acquired: 2017, Box Breaker

De’Veon Smith played 4 years for Michigan from 2013 to 2016. His numbers improved each year rushing for the Wolverines. His best year came as a Senior in 2016 when he carried the ball 181 times for 846 yards and 10 TDs. Over his career at Ann Arbor, he posted a line of 495 carries for 2235 yards and 22 TDs. Smith was not selected in the 2017 NFL Draft. He signed a free agent contract with the Miami Dolphins and made the practice squad after a good preseason.  It looked like there he’d stay for the foreseeable future until the Dolphins traded starting runningback Jay Ajayi to the Philadelphia Eagles. Later in the week the team elevated De’Veon off of the practice squad to the regular season roster.

I hate it when I do a redemption and it takes 5 months to get it. I was really at the point with Panini where I requested a replacement autograph, but their ‘new and improved’ redemption/ customer service system leaves much to be desired. Randomly I got a message that the card was on the way and two days later I got the autograph. Well it is a very nice looking card and De’Veon’s autograph is quality looking for sure. The timing was nearly perfect in the sense that it matched with Smith being elevated off of the practice squad. He caught 3 passes for 27 yards during the regular season, but was not tendered after the season by the Dolphins. Currently he is a free agent.

NFL

Rosenfels, Sage

Card: Upper Deck SPx 2001  (129/500)
Acquired: 2017, EBay

Sage Rosenfels was a quarterback for Iowa State from 1997-2000.  Although only a two year starter, he put up 306 completions (52.1%) for 4,164 yards and 18 TDs. Sage always seemed to have big numbers when the lights were the brightest, such as in the Insight.com Bowl, where he guided the Cyclones to a victory over Pittsburgh.  After a pretty solid combine, Rosenfels’ name began to climb in the view of many scouts. Still Rosenfels was considered a prospect without the big name glitter.

He’d be the 9th quarterback selected off the board- taken by the Washington Redskins with the 109th pick (4th round) of the 2001 draft. In 2002, the Redskins felt that they had their quarterback situation well in hand under Danny Wuerffel, Shane Matthews, and Patrick Ramsey, so Steve Spurrier traded Rosenfels to the Miami Dolphins for an undisclosed 2003 selection. Sage started only 2 games over the next 4 years, and was primarily only seen in mopup duty.

In 2006, the Houston Texans were in full rebuild mode under new head coach Gary Kubiak, but they wanted to give incumbent starter David Carr another year to develop at quarterback before they pulled the trigger. The team signed Rosenfels via free agency to back up Carr. Sage came in again during mop up duty and had a pretty decent effort throwing for 265 yards and 3 TDs in 4 games of relief of Carr.

During the off-season of 2007 the franchise traded for Falcons’ backup quarterback Matt Schaub. Unwilling to backup Schaub or take a paycut, Carr was cut.  With Schaub off-injured over the next two seasons, Sage got some starting time in playing 10 games and posting a 6-4 record. Sage had his best season in 2007- a year in which both Schaub and Andre Johnson were hard hit by the injury bug. It was a fun season- watching the team come together under Sage from a bunch of scrappy role players to a really dangerous offensive unit. Rosenfels was 154/240 for 1684 yards with 15 TDs to 12 interceptions.  Teams quickly became interested and envious of the Texans sudden rags to riches situation at quarterback.

Sage returned in 2008 but didn’t have as much luck posting 6 TDs to 10 interceptions on 174 attempts. While his yardage per game increased as he was relied on to carry the team a bit more over a 5 game period (1431 yards), Sage is instead known as the butt of a joke to many outsiders for an incident known as the ‘Rosencopter’.  With the game on the line against the Colts, he decided to scramble for the first down. Facing down three defenders, Sage heroically decided to go airborne, but got spun in the air like a helicopter….  and fumbled the ball… and the game away. (Despite this Sage has been relatively easy going about the incident, even going so far as to poke fun at himself on Twitter.) As a Texans fan however, I was more forgiving as you could tell that Sage just wanted to win.

In 2009 the Vikings finally consummated the trade for Rosenfels they wanted to do in 2008 for a 4th round pick. (Initially I was very worried about the deal because Matt Schaub had done nothing to prove that he could remain injury free- but my fears would be allayed.)  Sage never found the starting quarterback job long term- as fate intervened again with the Vikings soon thereafter signing Brett Favre.

Sage was traded again in 2010- this time to the New York Giants, where he’d backup Eli Manning. He’d be on the roster of the Giants through 2011. When starter Chad Henne was injured, Rosenfels rejoined the Dolphins for some mercenary action. Later in the year Sage made his final stop again with the Vikings, but was among the franchise’s final cuts in 2012.

He currently lives in Iowa, and is an active Twitter presence. When I posted this card to his profile with a ‘Blue Steel’ reference to Zoolander, he and a few other media personalities got a good laugh out of it. In 2017 he also attended Andre Johnson’s induction into the Houston Texans’ Ring of Honor.

G/GS 43/12     Att 562      Cpd  351        Yds  4156
TD  30            Int 29        Rat  81.2

Rush 38     Yds   95        Avg 2.0            TD 1