CARD: UT Upper Deck 2011 ACQUIRED: TTM 2020, C/o Home SENT: 5/13 RECEIVED: 7/18 (66 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Robin Sendlein played LB at Texas from 1977-’80.
One of the most dominant LBs out of the SWC during the late ’70s, Robin had 5 forced fumbles in 1978, and 12 for his career- ranking second on the school books all time.
Selected in the second round of the 1981 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings.
Over his time in Minnesota, Robin played in 56 games- starting 9.
He’d post a sack and 4 forced fumbles.
In 1985, Sendlein was traded from the Vikings to the Dolphins in exchange for the rights to USFL WR Anthony Carter.
With the Miami Dolphins he started 3 games that season notching 1 forced fumble.
Two more injury plagued seasons ended Robin’s career after the ’87 season.
Went into firefighting in Arizona where he spent nearly 20 years.
Retired and now lives in Texas.
NOTES:
Still digging through a few of these COVID sendouts some five years later. Some just got lost in the shuffle and Robin was one of them. Robin’s son Lyle also played for Texas and the NFL.
Marc Trestman is considered one of football’s great minds when it comes to QB whispering as he has played a hand in many a great QB’s ascensions or been on the coaching staff as of their rise.
After being unable to wrest the starting QB job at Minnesota, Marc Trestman transferred to Minnesota State University-Moorhead.
Unsigned, he spent camp with the Vikings in ’79 and ’80 as a defensive back but didn’t crack the lineup.
He began his college coaching career at Miami (FL) in 1981, and by ’83 was serving as the team’s QB coach.
Then in 1985, Trestman embarked on a series of stops as a positional coach and offensive coordinator in the NFL (Vikings, Browns, 49ers, Lions, Cardinals, Raiders, and Dolphins).
After a brief stop at NC State in 2005-’06, Trestman returned to the NFL as a consultant with the New Orleans Saints in 2007.
It’d be in late 2007 that Marc really carved out a name for himself as he was hired as HC of the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL.
Paired with GM Jim Popp, Marc’s Alouette teams won back to back CFL Grey Cups in 2009 and 2010.
By 2012, Trestman was garnering NFL attention, and in 2013 he was hired as the Chicago Bears head coach.
Trestman was the first coach since Bud Grant to jump from the CFL to the NFL.
He’d finish his rookie head coaching season 8-8 as the Bears would break multiple offensive team records.
Unfortunately he’d not see the same success in 2014, as the team slid to 5-11.
After a stop in Baltimore as their OC in 205/’16, Marc returned to the CFL where he had the most success.
Reunited with Jim Popp – this time in Toronto, where the Argos pulled off a worst to first, winning the Great Cup in 2017.
He’d be fired after the 2018 season.
Marc hopped on over to the XFL 2020, where he coached the Tampa Bay Vipers to a 1-4 record before COVID took down the league.
After a long hiatus, Trestman was hired by Jim Harbaugh to be an assistant with the Los Angeles Chargers in 2024.
ACCOLADES:
CFL Coach of the Year 2009, ’17
NOTES:
I was interested in learning more about Marc and I thought the best way to do so was to see his offensive mind at work, so I asked him to diagram up a play with his autograph. He. Did. Not. Instead I got a note, which I thought was a bit snarky, wishing me luck with whatever I do with the autograph, or something like that. Okay dude.
Cortez Hankton played WR at Texas Southern from 1999-’02.
At the time of his departure, Hankton was the all time leader in many categories for the Tigers, and finished with 3,400 career yards, 175 receptions and 30 TDs.
Undrafted he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2003.
He managed to make the Jags roster, catching 17 passes for 166 yards his rookie season.
In 2004, Hankton only had 9 receptions, but scored his first and second professional TD.
After the 2006 season, he signed with the Minnesota Vikings, but didn’t make the squad.
Joined the Bucs in 2008- but was injured and spent the entire year on IR.
Released in 2009, Cortez joined the fledgling United Football League, signing with the New York Sentinels.
He’d catch 11 passes for 144 yards, as the Sentinels were euthanized after the season, in favor of Hartford.
Hankton played for the Florida Tuskers in 2010, where he started 6 games, and caught 23 passes for 283 yards and 2 TDs.
As the Tuskers then moved themselves- he’d join them in Virginia as the Destroyers in 2011, adding 12 catches for 151 yards to his resume.
Went straight into coaching after that and has travelled the college circuit, first at Dartmouth (2012-’14) and then later at Vanderbilt (2015-’17) as a WR coach.
In 2018, Cortez took his skills to Georgia as their WR Coach and then also as a Pass Game Coordinator.
He’d hop to LSU in 2022 where he shared the same duties from his time at Georgia.
Cortez in ’24 also picked up co-offensive coordinator duties as well.
ACCOLADES:
UFL Offensive MVP 2010
NOTES:
All of a sudden the guys who played in the UFL- no not the ’24+ iteration, but the ’09 version have started popping up. I got teammates Cortez Hankton and Brooks Bollinger back to back TTM. I have to thank my friend Lance who sent out to Cortez a few months ago and let me know that he was coaching with the Tigers.
It took me a hot minute to send out to him all I had of Cortez was an early beta version of my custom that was on some pretty weak paper, so I decided to go ahead and do it right and reprint it on some nice card stock. It’s a great looking card.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
