Tag Archives: ttm autograph

NFL

Miller, Heath “Big Money”

dor&s10 hmillerCards: Donruss Rookies & Stars 2009, 2010
Acquired: 2013 TTM, C/o Home
Sent:  12/10/13  Received: 2/4/14  ( days)

Heath Miller was an impressive specimen who played for the University of Virginia and at the time of his graduation was recognized as the nation’s top TE prospect, eclipsing many of the school’s records for statistical performance from his position. Miller slipped to the 30th pick of the 2005 draft, and was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Surprisingly, despite the team’s rich history of staunch running games and play action systems, the tight end had never been an integral part of Pittsburgh’s offensive attack. Miller has been a favorite target of Ben Rothlisberger since his rookie season, and was a key offensive addition to the team’s Super Bowl victory that year. He’s quietly moved up the career charts for the team, and in 9 years has already moved into 3rd place, as of 2013.  Heath has earned Pro Bowl nods for both his 2009 season, when he had a career high 76 receptions, and his 2012 campaign, when he recorded a career high 816 yards and 8 TDs.  Teams have taken note of Big Money, and have slowed his production by stymieing him with double teams.

Chock this one up to impatience. It looks like Heath just throws his autograph requests into a pile and then signs sporadically from there. Case in point, the response time I got from him. I have seen Miller sign in as little as 6 days. I even had friends who sent after me and got their cards signed and returned weeks before me. Evidence also from Sportscollectors.net, suggested that he is a highly reliable signer, but does so after garnering a pile together. I must have been at the bottom of that bin as I had to wait the longest of the particular group.  I really like the Rookies & Stars releases from 2009 and 2010. It’s a shame that they moved so quickly away from this excitingly abstract look to something more compositionally unoriginal, such as their 2011 release, but I guess that was at their discretion.

 

NFL

Fenney, Rick

to90 fenneyCards: Topps 1990, Topps 1990 Team Card, GameDay 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent:  3/4   Received: 4/21   (47 days)

The unqualified workhorses of the NFL who got no respect, – the Fullback, is one of my favorite positions to collect from the 80s to early 90s, so when I saw Rick Fenney pop up, I had to write him. After helping the Huskies win the Orange Bowl as a Sophmore against Oklahoma, Fenney was on the radar of NFL scouts. The Vikings selected Rick during the 8th round of the 1987 draft. With a pretty crowded backfield, including Alfred Anderson, DJ Dozier, and Darrin Nelson already established as lead backs, Fenney was able to make the squad on the merit of his special teams work. Fans embraced Rick as a sort of Great White Hope. GWH appear every few years, and they represent this lost era of white runningbacks, and are usually perceived as making it up ‘athletic talent’ with grit, determination, and intelligence.

to90 vikingsTCAnyway, Rick had a pretty quiet rookie season. He scored his first NFL touchdown in 1988 and was ranked first among NFC backs in yards per carry (4.9) -with a minimum of 50 attempts that year. In 1989, the team relied on him more heavily, and he led the team in rushing over 5 contests, and ranked second on the team (behind Herschel Walker) with 588 yards. Rick’s stats declined on 1990 due to a strained knee, and he missed time in the lineup starting only 5 games and running for 376 yards and 2 touchdowns.  By 1991, Rick was hobbled by a hip condition, and was only active for 11 games. He’d retire after the season, but not before GameDay made one last card of Rick.

gday92 fenneyRick had become interested in financial planning, – something he had picked up during the off seasons from the Vikings. He landed on his feet and went right into banking. Things got bigger and bigger for Fenney, and the long of the short is, they got too big, for him to handle. Rick set up a hedge fund in 2001, and watched all his investors’ money go down the drain. He was convicted of wire fraud and went to prison, admitting that he stole up to $2.5 million dollars. After spending 3 years in prison, Fenney has been trying to better himself everyday. Surely he feels such a nauseating amount of guilt about what happened. -A lot of that money was from friends and family.  He dreams of how he can make some of that money back so that he can try to pay back all his friends, neighbors, and family that he wronged, but I completely understand if he has insulated himself from the situation. It’s tough. I probably feel something similar about my student loans, and how my parents are cosigned on something I may never be able to afford to pay back.

G/Gs 63/16    Rush 358   Yds 1508    Avg   4.2    Td 11   Lg 28   |
Rec  71    Yds 628     Avg 8.8    Td 2    Lg 42

WLAF

Pickens, Dwight “Pick”

ultwlaf92 pickensCard: Ultimate WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2013, C/o Andre Alexander
Sent: 1/4    Received: 1/25 (21 days)

While I had no luck getting in touch with Dwight Pickens via Facebook, I did Andre Alexander, and he offered as a bonus to help me get Dwight, an elusive member of the San Antonio Riders. A college teammate of Alexander, Pickens was a dangerous receiver, he finished his college career with 61 catches for 1169 yards and 8 TDs. He also carried the ball 16 times for 156 yards and 4 TDs. An equally shifty punt return man, Pick had 32 returns for 472 yards and a TD. Selected in the 8th round of the 1990 draft by the San Fransisco 49ers, Pickens did not make the roster of the team.

He’d be subsequently drafted by the San Antonio Riders of the WLAF in 1991 as a Supplemental Selection. The Riders had quarterback issues with Jason Garrett, Lee Saltz, and Mike Johnson all taking snaps. Pick posted modest numbers in the Riders offense, which was modeled after the ‘Skins offense of the late 80s. He had 20 receptions for 249 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a barn burner that was the team’s longest play from scrimmage at 82 yards.  I am unsure as to why he didn’t return to the team in 1992, but the team had high turnover at the position anyway, with only Lee Morris returning from 1991.

Still good friends with Alexander to this day, Pick and Andre frequently get together at alumni events.  Dwight currently lives in SoCal.

Rec  20    Yds 249    Avg 12.4     Td  2      Lg 82t   |
Kr  3     Yds 63   Avg 21.0    Td  0   Lg 32  |
Pr  3     Yds 42   Avg 14.0   Td 0    Lg 19