Josh Jasper was a dual threat kicker and punter for the LSU Tigers from 2007-2010. He’d connect on 75 of 76 extra points, and make 47 of 56 field goals for a total of 216 points. Jasper also punted 41 times for 1631 yards.
Josh went unselected in the 2011 NFL Draft. In fact, he had to wait until the conclusion of the lockout in order to sign with a team. After a short tenure with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he signed with the Toronto Argonauts in 2012. In 2013, he joined the AFL New Orleans Voodoo and went 1/2 of field goals and 10/16 on extra points.
5 years later, Josh was selected by the Memphis Express of the Alliance of American Football. He’d go 3/5 on field goals with a long of 38- missing two from over 40 yards (9 points).
Along with punter Brad Wing, Jasper was cut after Week 3 concluded in the AAF season, as the Express dropped to 0-3 on the year.
Cards: Topps AAF 2019, Topps AAF 2019 Certified Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, EBay 2019 Sent: 4/11 Received: 5/3 (22 days)
When the different AAF groups were talking about what players they were impressed by, I was surprised that they brought up the lumber laying Orion Stewart. He was apparently really impressing in camp for the Commanders. He quickly proved to me during that first game what a force he was for SA in the secondary, laying down the law against the Fleet. In that first game he hauled in a pick, deflected two passes, and made 6 tackles. At the end of the game, he and a gaggle of players came over to the visitor’s endzone and mugged my sister and me for hugs… well primarily my sister- but still it was a great memory to make- and Stewart became one of my favorite players.
Orion was a 3 time All-Big 12 safety at Baylor, playing in 49 games while starting 36 of them. He recorded 12 interceptions over his time playing for the Bears, and ended up third on the school charts with 227 career interception return yards.
Stewart was not selected in the 2016 NFL Draft- and saw brief stops with the Broncos, Redskins, Giants, and Bills. In 2018 he signed with the Commanders and he and Derron Smith made the most fearsome safety duo in the league. He also came up with a nickname for the secondary (- which was one of the league leaders in creating turnovers), calling their group “Area 51”. In fact at the last game, I brandished a homemade sign with it on there as well.
After the league collapsed, Orion signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019. He signed his base card in 22 days- which was a day after his certified arrived in the mail. I got an incredible deal on the certified autograph. I got 4 for about half the price of a hobby box, and a hobby box typically comes with 3 autographs, so you do the math.
Well 2019 is off to a good start with my first official success in Mark Carrier former Bucs, Browns, and Panthers receiver. Along the way with all three franchises he seemed to leave an indelible and respectable mark on each franchise. It wasn’t until 2018 that wide receiver Mike Evans of the Bucs broke Mark’s single season receiving yardage record for the franchise during the last game of the season. A stellar TTM respondent, Mark signs virtually everything- provided you of course don’t confuse him with the defensive back from the same era. As this is the 10th year I’ve been back at the game, I’ve decided to dust off the books and write some of those players who responded to me over the years. Mark was one of those who responded way, way back in 2011, signing a slew of cards for me.
In 2014, Mark announced the Panthers second round pick at the draft. As of this post he is the Director of Player Relations for the team.
A player with a stack of amazing cards, I had wanted to reload and get back to Mark again for a few more that I had overlooked.
Probably my favorite of this stack is the Upper Deck 1992 Buccaneers Checklist. The artwork is just amazing on this card. They just don’t make them like they used to anymore. The bold outline around the card is just right and frames the image in a very classy way. I especially like how Mark’s profile image and him catching the football take precedence over the buccaneers by simple boldness of color.
His 1,000 Yard Club card was like most cards from Topps to me at the time- always at least a distant 3rd or 4th in quality or interest to me. While the look is quite dated, that is part of the charm of this card. The boldness of the yellow combined with the orange and green is typical of design from that era. Still it is a great photo of him and at the time it was the only glossy card that was in each pack.
As usual during this period for the most part, Action Packed set a high bar for others to follow in terms of photo quality. This card was no different, and is an exciting action shot of Mark. Most photos it seemed were also framed from this distance in the set as well in a very comfortable ‘in your face’ distance. I didn’t have this card but when I saw it, I knew it’d look amazing autographed so I picked up one.
The GameDay 1992 card feels like the weakest to me of the group. Maybe because it is the only one with a defender in the image, or the fact that the rules of the card are for only the main subject to be in color, take away from the overall shot, but regardless- this was more of a set need than anything else.
Mark has a pretty solid autograph all the way around. The looping C in his last name really makes his mark go.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
