I mean- are there anymore cards that I can get signed by Haywood at this point that from a design point I like that are from his HOUSTON Oilers era? Probably a few, but there are only a few more left.
I decided to get a few more during the GTSM event in Houston in 2023. The Skybox Premium insert is the backside of a Thunder & Lightning with Warren Moon– that I’ll probably have to get at a later time, since Warren cancelled at the last second and GTSM was slow to notify everybody. It’s a great looking card. I wish I had a paint pen. I’d have had him sign in light blue.
The last time I got Warren, he quickly stopped signing again before I could clear out a few more of my set needs and cards I liked- and he appears in all the great sets of the era I collected. I definitely decided to double dipped on this one.
I was pretty disappointed recently to hear that Warren decided to change his tune and is now fully selling the HOUSTON Oilers as part of the Tennessee Titans history. This coincided with the franchise’s late attempt to fully integrate Oilers history into Tennessee, as Houston fans were clamoring again about bringing the derrick and history home. Then the Tacks decided to have a homecoming game where they flew out all the players to Tennessee. Pretty good PR move on their part.
He used to be one of my favorite players, but I saw this as an absolute betrayal. It was odd because he was even quoted as saying that he never played for this fan base or in Tennessee but here he was being inducted into their Ring of Honor.
A rare signer, I felt it’d be best if I take advantage of his current signing window and get Haywood on a few cards. Among the players, he was quite outspoken about it being a mistake the Oilers left H-Town. I wonder if he also turned and embraced the Titans as one with the Oilers like many of his backpedaling teammates.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.