Tag Archives: St. Louis Cardinals

NFL

Hart, Jim

tntss hart

Cards: Upper Deck Legends 1997, Topps 1971, Top Notch Trading Cards Signature Select
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent:  9/2    Received: 9/11  (9 days)

One of my earliest memories of even seeing football was in the 1970s when as a kid I would go across the street and play with my friend Cody. His parents were big football fans and they’d have the Cardinals on whenever they could. I just remember those white on red uniforms. His dad would be sitting in the living room watching the Cardinals, and I remember watching Terry Metcalf do his thing.

to71 hartJim Hart’s career spans a rare 3 decades of football. 1966 to 1983 seems like a long time and it is, especially when you go undrafted. Hart ended up impressing the Cardinals brass who signed him after a tryout.  He’d take over the starter duties soon thereafter, and while Jim’s teams struggled early on, he’d flourish under Don Coryell and the team became known as the Cardiac Cards for their comeback wins and exciting contests.  His best season came in ’74 when Jim was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Year. He also earned Second Team All-Pro.  A 4 time Pro Bowler, Hart earned the honor from 1974-1977, and was given the Whizzer White Player of the Year for his charitable contributions in 1975.

udldg97 hartIn 1981 the Cardinals drafted their second franchise quarterback- the also vastly underrated Neil Lomax. The writing was on the wall, and Hart was slowly being phased out.  Jim played for the Cards through 1983. He’d spend one largely forgettable season with the Washington Redskins in ’84 before retiring. While Kurt Warner is now considered the Arizona Cardinals best QB, I’d argue that Hart was the best St. Louis quarterback that the franchise has seen- but those heroics are largely diminished or forgotten by a fanbase that didn’t care or know who he was during Hart’s heydays. Jim is considered an excellent TTM signer.

G/GS  201/180    ATT 5076    COMP 2593    YDS  34655
PCT  51.1       TD 209     INT 247       RAT 66.6
RUSH  159     YDS 207     AVG 1.3     TD 16      LG  23

NFL, usfl

Renfro, Mel

to71 renfroudldg97 renfro

Cards: Upper Deck Legends 1997, Topps 1971, Top Notch Signature Select 2013, HoF postcard
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home*
Sent:  2/10     Received:   2/18   (8 days)
* Signing fee of $10 per flat included.

tnt13g mrenfroMel Renfro was a star 2 way player for Oregon, playing both cornerback and tailback, while also excelling at track for the Ducks. After rushing for 1,532 yards for the Ducks over 3 years, he was drafted in the second round by the Dallas Cowboys in 1964. Intially slotted to play runningback Coach Landry made the call to move him to safety where he had an outstanding rookie season with 7 interceptions, and was the NFL leader in kick and punt return yards.  In his second season the Cowboys switched Mel back to runningback in the hopes that he’d inject some life into the offense, but was returned to defense with the emergence of Dan Reeves.

Although he held the designation of return specialist for much of the next few years, Renfro moved from safety to corner in 1966, culminating in leading the NFL in 1969 with 10 interceptions. Over his career with the Cowboys Mel was named All Pro 5 times, and to the Pro Bowl 10. A two time Super Bowl champion, Renfro was co-MVP of the 1970 Pro Bowl and named to the Dallas Cowboys’ Ring of Honor in 1981. Mel is the team’s all-time leader in both career kickoff return average and interceptions. Renfro was inducted into the NFL HoF in 1996.
mem renfro

He’s spent some time coaching in the USFL with the Express, and the St. Louis Cardinals. A motivational speaker, Mel is pretty engaging with fans. I missed out at Dallas Stadium Fan Day at the end of the year. My timing was perfect to get Rocket Ismail, but so perfect, Mel came out just as I finished getting Rocket- so I ended up having to go to the very back of the line. I went ahead and wrote him a few days later including the customary signing fee.  Renfro signed all the cards I enclosed, and as a bonus included an autographed Hall of Fame postcard, a signed business card, and he asked if I could send him an extra copy of the custom Top Notch card that I sent.  A very short wait for such a great return, and a fair price to boot.

The Topps 1971 set has grown on me over the years and is a seminal classic to me. On the other hand the Upper Deck Legends 1997 is very disappointing. Considered a classic as well in its own right, I was pretty disappointed in this entry. The photo is not inspired, and it even looks like a thumb got in on the action on the left side. Sad. The profile photo of Mel is also from later in his career.  I went for some action photos for Mel’s Top Notch entry. I very much enjoy the classic press photo shots that were very popular during the 70s and used two different ones  for either side.

G/Gs 174/152     Pr 109     Yds 842     Avg 7.7     Td 1     Lg 69t
Kr 85    Yds 2246    Avg 26.4     Td 2      Lg 100t
Tac N/a     Sac N/a     Fum 12     Int 52    Yds 626    Avg 12.0      Td 3    Lg 90t

NFL

Anderson, Ottis ‘OJ’ (2)

flr99si andersonCard: Fleer 1999 Sports Illustrated
Acquired: Target Autograph Memorabilia, 2013
See Also: Ottis Anderson

Probably one of the worst autographs I ever received TTM from a player was from Ottis Anderson, so it came as quite a surprise when I pulled an autograph from him out of one of the Target Autograph Memorabilia packs, but also because it had his full autograph. – Not just his first name. A very nice pull.

I actually had this Sports Illustrated at some point, and while it’s not a bad looking card, I partially understand why Fleer went the way of the do do, with sets like these. Previously I had received one of these Fleer Sports Illustrated cards from Roger Craig, but the design and look is so stale, that I thought these were thrown together promotionals. They didn’t even bother to remove the bar code or price from the original magazine.

The University of Miami’s, (FL) all time leading rusher at the time of his graduation, Ottis racked up 3331 yards, -including 1,266 his Senior season. He went on to have a prestigious career with the St. Louis Cardinals and earn NFL RotY Honors in 1979. In 1986 the Cardinals cut Anderson, thanks to the abuse of heavy running all those years. He’d make a comeback, and help the Giants win Super Bowl XXV against the Bills.