Tag Archives: oakland raiders

AAF, NFL

Gilbert, Garrett

Cards: Topps AAF 2019, Topps Now 2.17.19, Topps Now 2.25.19, Topps Now 3.23.19
Acquired: IP 2019, Fozzy Whittaker and Garrett Gilbert Football Camp

This event completely exceeded my expectations. Since it was raining, the event was held indoors at the Del Valle Sports Complex right next to the stadium. Instead of running through too many drills, Garrett and Fozzy ended up playing something with the kids that I hadn’t seen before but was total genius: Ultimate Football. It was fun and entertaining to watch. If this is what the XFL has in mind for their overtime periods, it looks like an exciting way to end a game.

Afterwards, Garrett and Fozzy set up autograph tables and signed everything for everyone- and I mean everything. If I had only won that last Topps AAF Now card of Garrett’s I would have run the table- but as it is I am happy that he signed these 4 cards. In fact he signed the 4 plus all the additional copies I had of the Topps AAF 2019 base cards that I ended up giving away to all my hobby friends/ contacts- with the stipulation that they send Garrett a thank-you note.

I also got to finally meet one of my new proteges in person- Mark, and we talked for a few minutes about the hobby before disembarking for the afternoon. It was a very successful time, and I did get to talk to Garrett briefly about the AAF.

Garrett is the son of former NFL quarterback Gale Gilbert. He was highly recruited coming out of high school and reminded many teams of the Oliver Luck- Andrew Luck connection. Texas was ecstatic to get him and groomed him to be Colt McCoy’s heir when he left UT. Things don’t necessarily go as planned, and as UT was still in its prime fans were expecting another title run. UT worked its way through the schedule in 2009, and fought its way into national title contention. It was a big game against Alabama, and Colt McCoy was singlehandedly giving Alabama a run for its money- but then he got injured. Garrett who was a Freshman came in, and while he did give Alabama a fight for its money initially- he turned the ball over 5 times and Texas lost the game. It was not the best situation for Garrett to get his first meaningful game time.

Things were optimistic going into 2010, and Gilbert was named starting QB at Texas, but the team slipped to 5-7- Texas’ first losing record in over 10 years. Fans were calling already for Mack Brown’s head, so the head coach put every job up for grabs including quarterback. Garrett lost out in camp in 2011 to David Ash and Case McCoy. Nursing a shoulder injury he decided to transfer out of Texas.

Fans treated Gilbert badly although he spent a lot of his time in the Austin area. He transferred to SMU which most people scoffed at- but in reality, this was a great move for him, playing under offensive guru and quarterback whisperer June Jones.

After a rough start in 2012, Garrett really turned the corner in 2013, posting career college highs in nearly all categories (335 completions, 66.5% completion percentage, 3,528 yards, 21 TDs to just 7 interceptions, and a 136.2 QB rating. He also set numerous SMU and a few UT records while at each school.

Garrett was selected in the 6th round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the then St Louis Rams. He then spent time on practice squads and emergency quarterback roles around the league from 2014 to 2016 (Rams, Patriots, Lions, Raiders, Panthers), never really getting his chance to show what he could do.

Gilbert decided to give the AAF a shot to jumpstart his career. He’d be selected by the Orlando Apollos during the QB draft and hone his skills under Steve Spurrier. It was a great combination as Gilbert ended up being the defacto league MVP. Clear and away the best QB in the league, Gilbert led the league in most passing categories. He’d earn league offensive player of the week honors after blasting the San Antonio Commanders- throwing for a league record 393 yards. He even got some notoriety for catching a pass for a touchdown on a trick play. Things were looking really good for Gilbert and the Apollos as they zoomed out to a 7-1 record and claimed the division title outright.

It was then the league collapsed. The Apollos were caught by surprise by the announcement. There would be no playoffs. No championship. No crowning of a winner. No MVP. It. Was. Over. Just like that.

Despite the collapse of the AAF, Garrett has been able to parlay his achievements with the league into a contract with the Cleveland Browns.

NFL

Edwards, Trent

Cards: Playoff Prestige 2009, Score 2009, Donruss Rookies & Stars 2009
Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o Home
Sent: 11/7   Received: 11/23   (16 days)

Trent Edwards played for the Stanford Cardinal from 2003-2006.  He’d post 5429 yards on 487 of 865 passing, for 36 TDs to 33 interceptions over his time there and be selected in the 3rd round of the 2007 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills. He surprisingly started  for  9 games his rookie year for the Bills and threw for 1630 yards on 151 of 269 passing. While his TD to INT ratio (7 to 8) was troubling, all signs pointed to up for the young signal caller.  Against the Dolphins, he’d notch a career high 4 TDs in a 38-17 win.  

In 2008, Trent came out red hot as he won his first 5 of 6 overall, but a concussion that he suffered during a week 5 loss to the Cardinals was said to have contributed towards his long term struggles the rest of the year as the Bills lost the next 6 of 8 to finish 7-9 overall. After struggling through part of the 2009 season due to injuries, a porous offensive line, and inconsistency- it appeared that the Trent Edwards experiment was on its back 9.  

Although he opened 2010 as the starter for the Bills, Trent’s time with the team was short.  He’d be cut after the second game in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick. 

Claimed off of waivers by the Jacksonville Jaguars, Trent would back up David Garrard at quarterback. He’d see some playtime as an injury substitution, but lose both his games against the Titans, and later against the Houston Texans. After failing to catch on with the Oakland Raiders in 2011, Trent joined the Philadelphia Eagles in 2012 and completed 2 of 2 passes for 14 yards- but this would be the final NFL action he’d see in his career. He’d spend the next year or so bouncing on and off the rosters of the Bears and the Raiders (again) before finally deciding to hang up the cleats in 2014.

Trent has some really nice looking cards, and the Rookies and Stars and Score are some of my favorites to get signed. He has a solid autograph that really goes over nicely on these cards. I like the Playoff Prestige when lined up next to the Score card, as they are obviously from the same sequence of shots.

Trent is now involved with helping to make the game more high tech investing in and being a part of a firm that creates VR head set technology for quarterbacks to view their complete 360 surroundings. 

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CFL, NFL

Hill, Kenny ‘Trill’

Card: Panini Contenders 2018
Acquired: 2018, Box Breaker

Here’s an interesting card from one of those blaster boxes of Panini I’ve become so loathe of recent. If I told you 4 years ago, Kenny Hill would be on a TCU card and not be enshrined alongside Johnny Manziel as a one of the Texas A&M great quarterbacks, you would think I was mad- but here we are.

Backing up for Manziel for just one year in 2014, Kenny was handed the keys to the Aggies fortunes a year later. He would not disappoint in his first start- breaking Manziel’s single game school passing record (511 yards), and Jerrod Johnson’s single game school record (44 completions), against then #9 South Carolina. Almost immediately sensing an opportunity Hill trademarked his moniker ‘The Trill’ for promotional purposes- but after warming up against what turned out to be mid-tier talent, Hill’s number began to tail off against tougher opponents. After losing 3 straight games, he’d be benched- and then suspended for 2 games.  Was the pressure too much at AtM or was the school just not patient enough? Who really knows? Whatever the circumstances, Kenny transferred to TCU in 2016. On the season it should be noted he threw 23 TDs to just 8 interceptions and completed 66.7% of his passes.

After a subpar 2016, Kenny again lit up the scoreboard, bringing his signature style of football to the Horned Frogs posting almost identical numbers to his year as starter at AtM. In his final game he’d beat the Stanford Cardinal 39-37 in the Valero Bowl, as TCU finished ranked 9th in the nation.

Kennny was unselected in the 2018 NFL Draft. He’d sign with the Oakland Raiders, but was quickly cut. Later he’d be picked up by the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL, but is rumored to be high on the wishlist of the upstart AAF San Antonio franchise.