Tag Archives: topps aaf certified 2019

AAF, NFL

Owusu, Francis

CARDS: Topps AAF Certified 2019, Topps AAF 2019
ACQUIRED: Ebay, 2019
TTM 2025, C/o Home
SENT: 4/17 RECEIVED: 5/8 (21 days)
FAILURE: TTM 2019, C/o Home

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Francis Owusu played WR for Stanford from 2013-’16.
  • He posted 34 receptions for 482 yards and 3 TDs.
  • Signed as an UDFA in 2017 by the Miami Dolphins but didn’t make the roster.
  • Signed to a futures contract in 2018, eventually landing on the practice squad.
  • Joined the AAF San Diego Fleet for the 2019 season.
  • He’d start 2 of 8 contests, catching 7 passes for 80 yards and a TD.

NOTES:

Shoutout to my partner in crime Joe, who helped me get this one. He had a success and so he was kind enough to provide me with the correct address. No clue what the one was I sent to in 2019, but I don’t blame him if he was tired of signing and wanted to take a break. Francis was kind enough to take his time to give me his full autograph in 2025, as opposed to the stack he probably signed shorthand back in ’19.

AAF, NFL

Richardson, Trent

CARDS: Topps AAF 2019 Certified, Panini Playbook 2011 Doak
ACQUIRED: EBay 2019
FAILURE: TTM 2019, C/o The Birmingham Iron
Paid Signing, 2024

NOTES:

Going off topic on this one today.

Trent was considered the crown jewel of the Alliance of American Football. League executives had already tossed around the idea that once the league took off and found its foothold that there’d be a place at the table for Trent once he retired to become a brand ambassador of sorts.

Initially his certified autograph was hard to come by, but eventually I was able to get a reasonably priced version of the autograph. His Panini Playbook card was another matter.

At the beginning of COVID, way, way back in 2020 initially there was panic about a nationwide shutdown. Nobody was on EBay, and I was able to snag quite a few really nice autographs of players that were just hanging out there, including this fun little Panini Playbook of Trent.

How patient am I? Way, way back in March of 2024, I committed to a paid signing quickly after I had missed out on the only other previous one I’d seen for Trent. I piled in all my set needs and rareties knowing this was the best way to get him, because he’s a zero signer TTM. Then I waited. The deadline for the signing got moved- then passed. I started to worry.

I contacted the promoter, (who I choose not to identify) and he patiently kept me up to date as to what was going on. Delay after delay. It got to a point where Richardson was saying, “I’ll get it out to you this weekend dawg.” Eventually days turned into weeks, into months… and finally, in December of 2024, the promoter, sensing his good name was being besmirched by Trent’s lack of follow through, hit Richardson with a legal letter.

This jostled Richardson into admitting there were some things going on around his house that was making it difficult for him to get back to get these things signed and into the mail, as he had promised. I quickly quipped to the promoter that I’d be surprised if Trent got the autographs back to him before March 2025.

Then in April of ’25, the promoter offered a full refund on Richardson. He still held out hope that Trent would return the items. In the meantime, all my precious rare Topps AAF Now cards are nowhere to be seen.

See Also: The Autograph Encyclopedia’s Hall of Disappointment

AAF, NFL

Simms, Matt

Topps AAF 2019 Certified, AU-MS

CARD: Topps AAF 2019 Certified
ACQUIRED: 2019, Personal Break
FAILURE: TTM 2019, C/o Home

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • After a year at Louisville, and then Torrance JC, Matt Simms transferred to Tennessee for 2010.
  • He threw for 1460 yards and 8 TDs while completing 113 of 195 pass attempts.
  • After going unselected during the 2012 NFL Draft, he’d sign a free agent contract with the New York Jets, and spent the season on and off the practice squad roster and futures list.
  • Simms saw a promising preseason in 2013, and then later threw his first professional football TD late in the season.
  • After seeing limited playing time again in the 2014 season, the team drafted two quarterbacks during the 2015 NFL Draft.
  • Simms would be claimed off of waivers in 2015 by the Buffalo Bills.
  • He’d join the Falcons practice squad after that and be on and off the team’s practice squad through 2017- when he was released with an injury settlement.
  • Matt was selected during the second round of the ‘Protect or Pick’ AAF QB draft by the Atlanta Legends.
  • The Legends went back and forth all season between Matt and former Georgia star Aaron Murray.
  • Threw for 842 yards and 2 TDs (8 INT) on 79 of 132 passes for Atlanta.
  • After the AAF collapsed in 2019, Matt resigned with the Falcons, but was placed on IR soon thereafter, ending his season and his career.

NOTES:

Great autograph and card. Love the ‘Caesar-esque’ pose. Matt comes from a solid line of QB bloodlines, with his father Phil and brother Chris, both playing in the NFL at the position as well. I took a shot on Matt on his Topps AAF base card at his parent’s house back in 2019, thinking he’d open it over Christmas- but going on 3 years now, no dice.