Tag Archives: san fransisco 49ers

NFL

Driskel, Jeff

Card: Sage 2016 (59/250)
Acquired: 2017, Box Breaker

Jeff Driskell started his college career at Florida, but after losing the starting job (partially due to injury) he opted to transfer for his final year of eligibility to Louisiana Tech.  While playing for LA Tech, Jeff had his best year in 2015, starting all 13 games and going 279 of 448 for 4,026 yards, and 27 touchdowns to just 8 interceptions. By all accounts this was the best school single season performance by any quarterback since Tim Rattay.

A multi-sport athlete Jeff was not only selected by the San Fransisco 49ers in the 6th round of the 2016 NFL draft, he was also selected by the Boston Red Sox of the MLB in 2013. He was released before final cut downs in 2016, but was snapped up by the Cincinnati Bengals, where he served as the 3rd string QB.

Trapped behind Andy Dalton and AJ McCarron, it didn’t really seem like Jeff was going to go far in Cinci, but the coaching staff has really taken a liking to him. AJ McCarron was traded in the 2018 off-season to Buffalo, and an open QB competition ensued for backup between Matt Barkley and Jeff. He played well enough that it was believed that Jeff may have had the inside track on the job, but he suffered an injury during the preseason and began the 2018 campaign on IR.

NFL

Ryans, DeMeco (2)


Card: Playoff Contenders 2006, Score 2010, Adrenalyn 2010, Leaf Certified Fabrics of the Game 2009
Acquired: 2017, EBay. TTM 2018, C/o The San Fransisco 49ers
Sent:  1/22    Received: 2/7      (16 days)
See Also: DeMeco Ryans

In 2011 Ryans started all 16 games at linebacker for the Texans. He’d post 44 tackles, 4 pass defensed, and 1 forced fumble. With the clock ticking on a new contract, the Texans opted to trade Ryans to the Eagles. DeMeco was a favorite in Houston, so when fans got word of what happened they were pretty unhappy.

Ryans moved on to Philadelphia, where he was immediately shifted back to middle linebacker for 2012. DeMeco led the Eagles defense logging 86 tackles, a sack, an interception, and 4 passes defended. He’d have one more banner season in 2013 with 4 sacks, 102 tackles, 8 passes defended, and 2 interceptions for 46 yards. After an injury shortened 2014 limited Ryans to just 8 games, he played one final year in 2015 before he opted to retire.

DeMeco has sued the Houston Texans and the stadium for poor surface playing conditions stemming from his knee injury in 2010. As of 2018 DeMeco is a linebackers coach for the San Fransisco 49ers.

My buddy Lance had a surprising success getting DeMeco courtesy of the 49ers, so I decided to go ahead and shoot some cards out and take a shot. I really liked how the Score and Adrenalyn cards looked, so those were no brainers. (I was just surprised at how well the Adrenalyn turned out.) Equally surprising was how few patch cards I could find for the venerable Ryans, so I went ahead and picked up this somewhat uninspiring Leaf card, that just feels overly designed.

He inscribed the cards with not one but two bible verses.

Matt 6:33
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God,and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Mark 16:16
“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

G/Gs   140/139     TAC   735       SAC  13.5       FUM  7
INT   7         YDS   63       AVG   9.0         TD   0        LG   36

NFL

Martin, Keshawn ‘K-Mart’

Card: Playoff 2012
Acquired: EBay, 2017

Keshawn Martin was quite the enigma. He had respectable numbers at Michigan State as one of Kirk Cousins‘ favorite targets.  K-Mart dabbled in all phases of the game for the Spartans, returning, receiving, rushing, – heck he even threw a pass or 2. He was most dangerous as a speedy return man, evidenced by the 2 punt returns and the kick return he had for a TD. In his Senior season (2011) he had a career high 777 yards on 66 receptions. The Houston Texans needing return and wide receiver help, selected Keshawn in the 4th round of the 2012 NFL draft.

He’d overtake Trindon Holliday in camp and assume return duties. The Texans hoped that Martin would also grow into being a reliable slot receiver along the way. Although Martin’s career was punctuated by some great moments he had a couldn’t crack the starting lineup, because he had a hard time catching passes. It also didn’t help that the Texans went through a quarterback carousel. Martin played for Houston through the 2014 season. In 2015, Houston traded Keshawn to the New England Patriots. He finished his Texans career with 38 receptions, 416 yards, and 3 TDs. As a returner Keshawn had 80 returns for 2001 yards, and 94 punt returns for 858 yards and a TD.

During his lone season with the Patriots, Keshawn saw time in 9 contests catching 24 passes for 269 yards and 2 TDs. Although he was signed to an extension after the season, he’d be released during the final cuts in 2016. He joined the 49ers briefly, later landing on the roster of the Lions in 2017 but as of early 2018 appears to be a free agent.

Really nice card of Keyshawn here. I like the depth of the image, especially the definition to his face.  The design also is very complimentary. I’d give this set high marks. Keyshawn’s autograph is unfortunately pretty terrible and doesn’t compliment the excitement that the card embodies at all.