After transferring from East Carolina, QB Kurt Benkert got the starting nod at Virginia in 2016.
In 2017, he went 298/509, for 3,207 yards, and 25 TDs to just 9 picks.
He signed as an UDFA with the Atlanta Falcons in 2018 and spent a good time of the season on their practice squad that year.
He spent 2019 on IR with a toe injury sustained in preseason.
Waived in 2020, he then spent the season with the Saints primarily on their practice squad.
In 2021, Benkert joined the Packers, also seeing time on the practice squad.
The 49ers had him for 2022 on and off their practice squad.
Kurt was assigned to the Houston Roughnecks in 2023 to play in the XFL, but refused to report.
After the injury bug hit the San Antonio Brahmas, the team traded for Benkert and he quickly saw the field in 2 contests.
Unfortunately he broke his ribs against the Vipers and was placed on IR.
He opted to retire from the sport in August of that year.
With the Roughnecks staff essentially replacing the Brahmas in 2024, there was renewed interest in keeping Benkert, but it is unknown whether or not he even attended camp.
NOTES:
I went to all the San Antonio Brahmas games in 2023, but since Benkert got a crash course on the offense, came in for Renegades contest, quickly got injured the next week and was not heard from again- I wasn’t able to get his autograph on these cards.
After the Brahmas signed him, I was peppered with Facebook football 101s on how to understand football concepts (basic and advanced) for fans and aspiring Madden players from Kurt, so I decided to buy one. Nestled in the downloadable program, was his address, so I shot these 4 out and he kindly signed them for me.
Tyreek Hill faced an up and down college career starting as a track man at Gardena Jr College in 2012.
He’d become a hot prospect and eventually end up at Oklahoma State in 2014.
Dismissed from the Cowboys late in the year, he enrolled at West Alabama in 2015.
A versatile athlete, as a return man, receiver, and runningback, Hill displays a unique combination of skills, hands, and speed that made him an intriguing prospect.
He was selected in the 5th round of the 2016 NFL Draft as a WR by the Kansas City Chiefs, due to his dismissal from the OKC football team.
In Tyreek’s rookie year, he saw extensive time on special teams, where he led the league in punt return yards (592), average (15.2) and TDs (2).
He also had 14 kick returns for 384 yards and an 86 yard TD.
With the emergence of QB Pat Mahomes in KC, Hill became his go to bomb catcher in 2017.
Tyreek spent the next 5 years in KC raking in roughly 6,100 yards receiving and 49 TDs.
In 2022, Hill was traded in the middle of the night to the Miami Dolphins.
Despite detractors and naysayers, saying Hill was dependent on Mahomes for his numbers, Tyreek went on to have the best season of his career with 1710 yards receiving on 119 catches for Miami.
In 6 seasons, Hill has over 10k All-purpose yards, with 3 of those years over 1750 yards.
Tyreek Hill suffers from the ‘too good to be true syndrome’. Knowing these could be ghost signed I went ahead and sent these three out to get autographed. Just couldn’t miss out on getting him since he’s such a good player- with great cards to boot. After I got these back I got a ton of mail asking me if I thought these were legit or to enjoy my ‘fake’ autographs.
This is not the first time this has happened to me. On a previous occasion I got spammed by people who were upset because I got Joe Montana back TTM. They too thought it was too good to be true and that it was fake. It turns out that it’s now his standard autograph. No one calls them autopens or ghost signed anymore.
The same goes for Tyreek. While the cards I have are a departure from his original autograph, if you look at his more recent *certified* autographs, these are now the standard.
Panini Luminance has become a ‘late’ favorite of mine, even though it is from 2018. A bit disappointed that the insert card didn’t pick up his autograph better, and also that the cut out action pose is from the base card I also have autographed, but still glad to add them to the collection. Tyreek was a class act enough to toss in a Panini Chronicles as well, and all for the sweet, sweet donation of 20 bucks.
I really got into these Upper Deck Legends Marquee Matchups too late, but for the ones I could get I have been extremely pleased to get a few dual autographs on. Getting both Charlie Joiner and Steve Largent on the same card for a cheap price was worth it- especially for these two legends.
Despite his playing career ending early in the card revolution, Steve has continued to have a bevy of cards released. I really like the Panini Luminance set, even with the gaudy looking script typeface and despite my known hate for the Pro Line set, this one really was a great canvas to have his autograph grace.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
