Tag Archives: tampa bay buccaneers

NFL, Pro Football HoF

Munoz, Anthony (2)

Cards: GameDay 1992, Skybox 1992, Proset 1991
Acquired: TTM 2019, C.o Home
Sent: 12/2 Received: 12/14 (12 days)
See Also: Anthony Munoz

Anthony Munoz sometime during 2019 decided to let go of his very stringent signing policy which required fans to jump through the hoops and pay a fee in order to get his autograph. Surprisingly he was signing anything and everything with no fee. I decided to give him a shot again since I had some really nice cards I had always wanted to get his autograph on. I thought that 3 was a tall order, so I felt I needed something that’d really stick out among his autograph requests- so I wrote my entire letter in Spanish. There’s a first for everything, and while I didn’t get complimented for my syntax, I did get these 3 cards back autographed in a very short amount of time.

While Anthony had an outstanding ProSet and Action Packed entry, I decided to pass them up in order to get a few nice set needs. The ProSet 1991 card art card by Merv Corning is outstanding. The autograph looks very nice on the canvas- especially on the white. I’m sure he signs this card more than any other.

The other two cards are cards that I really liked the design of, and were sets that I collected near the end of my first collecting phase in 1992. The GameDay set I am particularly fond of, and this is a nice, unique card of Anthony. I really like how it shows his padded, gloved hands- something that has become more rare and rare over the years in the league. Skybox remained near the top there at the end for me , and when I can, I love to pick up an autograph here or there on one of them.

Sometime in 2020, Muñoz closed the door again on signing for free and without the acrimonious signing policy. As of this post he is back to asking for $25.00 per item.

NFL

Jackson, Vincent (1983-2021)

Card: Donruss Rookies & Stars 2009
Acquired: COMC, 2020

Vincent Jackson’s pro career started back in 2005- when Drew Brees still played for the San Diego Chargers. A second round pick out of Northern Colorado, Jackson earned All-American honors as a punt returner and is the school’s all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards, kick return yards, punt return yards, and receiving touchdowns. He grew slowly into the Chargers offense, but with maturation of Philip Rivers at quarterback, Vincent posted back to back 1,000 yard receiving seasons in 2008 and 2009- earning his first Pro Bowl trip in the latter year. After an injury shortened 2010, Vincent returned to form and the Pro Bowl in 2011.

A coveted free agent in 2012, Vincent opted to sign with the Buccaneers and continued his Pro Bowl form. He’d post career highs with 1,384 yards, a 19.2 yard average, and a 95 yard long (average and long catch led the NFL). Jackson posted 2 more 1,000+ yard seasons in both 2013 and 2014, wrapping up his career after the 2016 season.

A beautiful card here of Vincent Jackson from Donruss in the final year of the company before the label transitioned over to Panini. Gold Stars was a subset of cards I really liked and I loved the gold paint blotch where they affixed the autograph sticker to. A very nice touch. The two road stripes at the bottom pretty much gave us a roadmap per say into what the 2010 edition was going to look like.

G/GSRECYDSAVGTDLG
155/137540908016.85795T

UPDATE: 2/15/21- Vincent’s family reported him as a missing person on 2/10 and a welfare check was performed at that time. He had been staying in a hotel in Tampa for the last few weeks, and was found today deceased by hotel staff.

AAF, CFL, NFL

Sims, Blake

Cards: Topps AAF Certified 2019
Acquired: 2019, C/o EBay

Blake Sims was Alabama’s starting quarterback in 2014. Starting all 14 contests, he was 252 of 391 for 3,487 yards and 28 touchdowns to 10 interceptions. He also ran 78 times for 350 yards and 7 TDs. Blake was not selected in the 2015 NFL Draft and teams tried to pigeonhole him in at another position other than quarterback. Sims headed north to the Canadian Football League. There he was on the roster of both the Argonauts and the Roughriders during the 2015 season.

Blake then took his skills to an unusual destination: Australia. He was going to play for the Wollongong Devils of the National Gridiron League- but the league never got off the ground in 2016, so he returned to the United States and signed with the Falcons and spent time on their practice squad before ultimately ending his season on the practice squad of the Bucs.

After he was waived by the Bucs, Sims eventually signed with the Alliance of American Football. He was assigned to the Birmingham Iron and then later re-selected by the team with their second round pick during the QB Draft. Unfortunately he’d be injured and subsequently waived by the team before taking a regular season snap.