A venerable signer TTM, Steve Grogan wraps up his collection for me by signing these two set needs for me. I never saw his Action Packed in the wild so when I bought a box of the set before the market blew up, I was very inspired by his entry- even though it’s of him handing the ball off. The Upper Deck Legends, well, I didn’t see why I should spend a dime on a certified autograph from him when I could get it TTM for free. This too is a great looking card. Too bad it doesn’t feature the signature ‘Grogan Lob’ from Tecmo Super Bowl.
The previous card that I had gotten from Eddie was gifted to my from my friend Lance, so I thought I’d try him TTM. Long rumored to not sign any Rams cards due to the fallout he had with the franchise, I thought my best bet would be to ask him to sign some Chiefs cards. Well, he signed one of two, opting not to sign the Upper Deck MVP card- but that’s okay, I really like this red parallel that he was kind enough to sign for me.
Upper Deck College Legends 2011, #56Upper Deck College Legends 2011, #BGH-GB
CARDS: Upper Deck College Legends 2011, Upper Deck College Legends 2011 Bowl Game Heroes ACQUIRED: TTM 2023, C/o Home SENT: 1/11 RECEIVED: 1/28 (17 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Played Quarterback for UCLA from 1965-1967
Threw for 4087 yards and 23 TDs (23 INT) on 465 attempts (243 completions) over college career.
Was a dual rushing threat, running for 1271 career yards and 35 TDs on 462 carries.
Rushed for a career high 590 yards and 14 TDs, while passing for 1483 yards and 9 TDs in 1965.
Threw for 8 TDs and 1359 yards, for a career high 55.8 completion percentage (87/156), while rushing for 227 yards and 11 TDs in 1967.
Selected by the Los Angeles Rams in the 1968 NFL/AFL Draft, but would be traded to the Washington Redskins after the team couldn’t agree on contract terms with Beban.
Sat on the bench behind Sonny Jurgensen and was released in 1970.
Signed with the Broncos, but was cut in camp and retired soon afterwards.
ACCOLADES:
Heisman Trophy Winner 1967
UCLA Bruins Jersey Number Retired (#16)
Unanimous All-American 1967
Rose Bowl HoF
UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame
College Football Hall of Fame
NOTES:
Gary is a legend at UCLA, but over the years, he’s signed less and less due to the resell market that exists pervasively on EBay and in other places. (In fact, he’s gone so far as to discourage people from writing him due to this problem.) These cards were awesome, and I have always liked this set to some degree, so I took a shot in the dark at him. There had been very little TTM activity on him over the last few years so, I thought no risk, no reward right? I was so happy to get these two cards back from him emblazoned with a Heisman inscription.
I’ve started getting a little too conservative with my send outs, trying to up my successes and success percentage, and I realize I’ve grown a bit bored because of it. Beban is one of those players, I should’ve written sooner and you just don’t find in every fan’s collection.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
