Tag Archives: panini rookies & stars 2013

NFL

Johnson, Steve ‘Stevie’

CARDS: Score 2009 Young Stars, Score 2009, Panini Rookies & Stars 2013, Donruss 2019
ACQUIRED: TTM 2025, C/o Surrogate*
SENT: 7/29 RECEIVED: 8/18 (20 Days)
FAILURE: TTM 2011, C/o The San Fransisco 49ers
* fee enclosed

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • After two years at Chabot college in California, Stevie Johnson headed for Kentucky to play WR in 2006.
  • In his Senior campaign, he had 60 catches for 1041 yards and 13 TDs.
  • Both his yards and receiving TDs led the SEC.
  • Selected in the 7th round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills.
  • Caught first TD from JP Losman against the Jets late in his rookie year.
  • Sidelined for most of 2009 with a rib injury.
  • Burst onto the scene in 2010 with 82 catches for 1073 yards and 10 TDs.
  • Followed that up in 2011 with 76 catches for 1004 yards and 7 TDs, playing much of the season injured.
  • Another solid campaign followed in ’12 with 79 catches for 1046 yards and 6 TDs.
  • First receiver in franchise history to record 3 back to back to back 1,000+ yard seasons.
  • As the team struggled with a change in QB to EJ Manuel, Stevie’s numbers slipped.
  • Traded to the 49ers in 2014 and caught 35 passes for 435 yards and 3 TDs.
  • Signed with Chargers in ’15, but battled with injuries throughout the remainder of his playing career and was released in early 2017.
  • Is a big fan of Buffalo and has returned to his roots in the community.
  • Owns the trademark to the Buffalo Destroyers arena football team and is trying to revive the brand.

NOTES:

Probably the only time you’ll see ‘surrogate’ instead of ‘home’ or ‘work’ on my returns, because some sleuths figured out that Stevie’s mail was going to a different address owned by a different guy. Well the people on sportscollectors.net got suspicious and I figured I’d get to the bottom of it. So I reached out to both the surrogate and Stevie to figure out if this was legit or not.

Turns out that the surrogate is one of Stevie’s close friends going back to high school. He explained that Stevie wanted to sign autographs for fans TTM but didn’t want to give out his home or foundation’s address- which I totally understand.

The surrogate did a great job keeping me abreast of where the cards where when I sent them to him, and that Stevie would be a bit delayed since he was on vacation. I further verified this to make sure. Frankly, if someone went to this much trouble to fake this, he could just take my money and be done with it. Still it was one of my more odder TTM situations but who cares? It all worked out in the end.

NFL, University of Texas

Okafor, Alex

CARDS: Panini UT 2015, Panini UT 2015 S, SAGE Hit 2013, Bowman 2013, Topps 2013, Leaf Draft 2013, Topps Magic 2013, Razor 2009, Panini Rookies & Stars 2013, Score 2013, UT Upper Deck 2011 HACK
ACQUIRED: IP, 2024

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Local talent Alex Okafor decided to take his skillset to the University of Texas.
  • For the Longhorns, he played from 2009-2012 at defensive end.
  • In his Senior campaign he had 54 total tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks, and 4 forced fumbles.
  • During his final game in burnt orange, he set an Alamo Bowl record with 4.5 sacks, as UT defeated Oregon State 31-27.
  • Drafted in the 4th round of the 2013 NFL Draft by the Arizona Cardinals.
  • His rookie season was a wash- as a biceps injury sidelined him for the vast majority of the season.
  • In 2014, he flew under the radar, recording 8 sacks, 30 tackles, 3 pass deflections, and an interception.
  • Signed with the New Orleans Saints in 2017.
  • Had a career high 43 total tackles, 4 pass deflections, and 4.5 sacks- before an Achilles injury ended his season after 10 games.
  • Signed with the Chiefs in 2019.
  • Finished on IR after tearing a pectoral muscle that year, but not before he tallied 22 tackles and 5 sacks.
  • Suffered a hamstring injury in 2020- but still managed 21 total tackles and a forced fumble.
  • Retired after the 2021 season.

NOTES:

These events that Texas Sports Unfiltered has been hosting at the Bee Cave Covert GMC have been a real treat. We’re served lunch. A player comes in and signs a bunch of autographs and answers any questions that we may have.

Alex was extremely cordial and friendly to all the fans in attendance. He labored to sign each and every one of our items. In my case, I had traded one of the extra HACK UT UD 2011 cards I had created. It caught his eye when he was signing it for the guy in front of me and he wanted to know where he could get one. They pointed to me.

When he got to me I told him, “I’m more than happy to give him one if he wouldn’t mind signing all my cards for me.” He responded with a very thrilled, “YES!” (There were much more than the 11 here. He signed quite a few dupes so that I could again reward my friends and major participants on our TTM Facebook group.)

He then proceeded to horse trade with other fans who were there for additional cards to fill out his collection he was missing. -I love it when players collect their own cards!

He then answered a bunch of questions for us. One fan asked us who was easiest, hardest, and thrilling to sack. He answered that Tom Brady was the most thrilling to sack as he is such a legend. Alex noted he got to him twice in his career. The hardest was Lamar Jackson. When Lamar gets to the HoF some day, Alex said he’d be on Jackson’s highlight reel. The easiest to sack was Kirk Cousins. He’s just so immobile in the pocket. (Coincidentally, Alex made his first two career sacks on Kirk.)

I asked him about his monster grill facemask, (that you can see on his Bowman and SAGE Hit cards). What was his plan? Would he eventually have a grill going up the entire mask? When would it end? He laughed and said at the previous Super Bowl he was inspired by Justin Tuck of the Giants who led the d-line and had that multi-bar facemask.

He asked the equipment guy if he could get one for him from Riddell. Their response was, “I dunno…” but come Spring in 2012 it was ready to roll. Suddenly the multi bar facemask became all the brief rage. You had guys going all out (See Tavaris Barnes). Then as quickly as it happened, the NCAA and the NFL put an end to that form of expression. No explanation given. I’m sure they would have cited, ‘player safety’ but within 3 seasons it was over. No more multibars.

It’s always good to meet fellow collectors- especially card nuts like myself. While Mark G. was there to keep me grounded and provide me with a few cards I didn’t have, I met his friends Josh (an absolute monster UT collector) and Andrew (a collector with a solid depth of cards).

After discussing with Josh for a while our fandom, I had mentioned how I missed out on Alex Okafor’s UT Panini 2015 Parallel card. He offered to trade it to me for something else. -I know he really, really wanted my UT Hack, but I didn’t have anymore extras. He ended up trading me for a Panini Prism Okafor that I had gotten in exchange for the other Hack I traded to someone else- so it worked out! An absolute banger of an event.

Since retirement, Alex has pursued his passion: Teaching, improving education, reducing bullying, and reading. During his time in Kansas City he started a program that brought players into local classroom to read to kids at public schools. Currently he’s on the school board in his local hometown.

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College Football HoF, NFL

Spiller, CJ

Panini Rookies & Stars 2013, #12

CARDS: Panini Prestige 2015, Score 2010, Panini Rookies & Stars 2013
ACQUIRED: TTM 2020, C/o Work
SENT: 10/17 RECEIVED: 10/26 (9 days)

Panini Prestige 2015, #145
Score 2010, #315

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • CJ Spiller played RB for Clemson from 2006-09.
  • Ran for 1,212 yards and 12 TDs his Senior season, accumulating 3,547 total yards on the ground over his 4 years with the Tigers.
  • Also displayed explosive skills as a kick returner and punt returner accumulating 8 TDs.
  • Was selected 9th overall in the 2010 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills.
  • Spiller quickly ascended the depth chart, surpassing both Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch in the lineup.
  • Rookie season was considered a disappointment, but still managed to produce his share of highlights with a 95 yard KR TD.
  • It’d be in 2012, CJ really came into his own, running for a career high 1244 yards and 6 TDs on 207 carries.
  • He’d also catch 43 passes for 459 yards and 2 TDs including a 66 yarder.
  • CJ followed up 2012 with a solid ’13 outing, posting 933 yards on 202 carries.
  • Unfortunately injuries derailed the remainder of his career, as over the next 4 years, he’d be limited to just 7 starts in 29 contests.
  • After his time in Buffalo concluded, CJ hopped over to New Orleans.
  • He’d catch an 80 yard TD that season- Marking QB Drew Brees 400th passing TD.
  • Released in 2016, Spiller saw some playing time with the Seahawks and Jets that season.
  • In his final season with the Chiefs, Spiller was an emergency back for the team, and was literally on and off the roster multiple times throughout 2017.
  • After a few years off, Spiller went into coaching.
  • As of 2022 he’s a RB coach at his Alma Mater, Clemson.

ACCOLADES:

  • College Football Hall of Fame
  • Pro Bowl 2012
  • Jersey Retired #28 (Clemson)

NOTES:

While CJ’s career in the pros was limited, he had moments of absolute breathtaking electricity. The pass he caught from Drew Brees (for Brees 400th TD), sparked some laughs, embarrassment, and controversy. It came in OT against the Dallas Cowboys and was the first play from scrimmage, as OT rules end games if a team scores on the first possession.

Two late card set additions that I like here from Panini in both the 2015 Prestige set and the Rookies & Stars set (2013). I really like how the Prestige set is very minimal, although I’m not a huge fan of the transitioned edges. The focus is on the player and the name. That’s it. Pretty classy.

The Rookies & Stars set from 2013 was something I got into late. I loved the 2009 and 2010 set, but I absolutely hated the 2011 and ’12 sets. That caused me to take my time checking out this set. One of my big complaints about cards is that it doesn’t feel as though they are proud of their designs. They just don’t showcase them on the sides of the box. Spiller’s card is top notch in this set and I like the design and look as it’s pretty unique.

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