So way, way back in 1992 or so when I got his autograph through the Packers, Darrell signed my cards with a D—— T——-. That’s it! It was pretty uninspiring.
When I unpacked the cards and started looking at the autographs online, I noticed that Darrell was a voracious signer, and that he was signing his full autograph- which is a lot better than his original. So over the years, I kicked the tires on mailing out a few more cards to him to get autographed. That was probably 15-ish years ago?
I always wanted to get the Action Packed 1990 Rookies card replaced, so I tossed that in along with a few others. He not only signed the cards, he also wrote a really nice note- saying that he’d try harder <in regards to the autograph this time around>.
CARDS: Topps 1990, Pro Set 1990, Game Day 1992 ACQUIRED: TTM 2023, C/o Home SENT: 4/3 RECEIVED: 5/5 (32 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Izel Jenkins played DB for NC State in 1984, ’86 and ’87.
Primarily a track man, he was an outstanding hurdler in college.
An 11th round draft choice of the Philadelphia Eagles in 1988.
Cracked the starting lineup in 1989, displacing 9 year veteran Roynell Young at LCB.
Unfortunately Izel also had the honor of playing opposite lockdown DB Eric Allen– so he saw a lot of targets his way.
Still he managed 82 tackles, 22 pass breakups, and 4 picks in 1989.
Returned to the bench as a part-time/ platoon starter from there starting no more than 6 contests through the 1992 season.
Finished his final season split between the New York Giants and the Minnesota Vikings before retiring.
NOTES:
Despite his limited resume, starting 28 games over the front end of his career, Izel saw a decent amount of cards produced. He was also given the unfortunate nickname of ‘toast’ and ‘the human crouton’- because fans thought he got burnt one too many times by opposing receivers.
I had gotten Paul through the Canton Acquisition way back in 2013, and posted it almost immediately to my feed. After many years I pulled out these cards and decided to send to him, knocking off all my set needs in one fell swoop. -Gruber is very kind to the TTM community and signed every card.
My friends and I used to call him ‘Hans’- after the titular bad guy from the film ‘Die Hard’. We’d frequently say, “SHOOT DA GLASS!”, When Paul was mentioned in any format or when we were playing Tecmo Super Bowl. -Those were the days.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
