Tag Archives: ttm football autograph

NFL

Fryar, Irving (2)

Cards: Action Packed 1990, Action Packed 1991, GameDay 1992
Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o New Jerusalem House of God
Sent:  1/13            Received:  3/17     (64 days)*
See Also: Irving Fryar
* Donation Enclosed

I had seen a fair amount of TTM returns coming in for Irving Fryar for a nominal donation. Armed with a few extra cards I always wanted to get autographed, I decided to give him another shot.
To be honest, things have been rough for Fryar since his playing days, as he has been in and out of trouble with the law for mortgage fraud. He was released in 2016 after serving 8 months in prison.

GameDay and Action Packed were among the most gimmicky of the early 90s cards you could get, but early on they rewarded you with outstanding action shots of your favorite players.  I couldn’t decide between these 3 cards, so I went ahead and sent all three out and took a shot. I really liked the GameDay card. It’s impactful and the framing is deliberate and precise. You can feel that Fryar is right at the moment of making that catch. The Action Packed 1991 is a very nice profile picture taken and framed at just the right size.  While the 1990 Action Packed card does nothing to stand out from his other cards, it is a rarity to see- little less to have autographed.

NFL

Ryans, DeMeco (2)


Card: Playoff Contenders 2006, Score 2010, Adrenalyn 2010, Leaf Certified Fabrics of the Game 2009
Acquired: 2017, EBay. TTM 2018, C/o The San Fransisco 49ers
Sent:  1/22    Received: 2/7      (16 days)
See Also: DeMeco Ryans

In 2011 Ryans started all 16 games at linebacker for the Texans. He’d post 44 tackles, 4 pass defensed, and 1 forced fumble. With the clock ticking on a new contract, the Texans opted to trade Ryans to the Eagles. DeMeco was a favorite in Houston, so when fans got word of what happened they were pretty unhappy.

Ryans moved on to Philadelphia, where he was immediately shifted back to middle linebacker for 2012. DeMeco led the Eagles defense logging 86 tackles, a sack, an interception, and 4 passes defended. He’d have one more banner season in 2013 with 4 sacks, 102 tackles, 8 passes defended, and 2 interceptions for 46 yards. After an injury shortened 2014 limited Ryans to just 8 games, he played one final year in 2015 before he opted to retire.

DeMeco has sued the Houston Texans and the stadium for poor surface playing conditions stemming from his knee injury in 2010. As of 2018 DeMeco is a linebackers coach for the San Fransisco 49ers.

My buddy Lance had a surprising success getting DeMeco courtesy of the 49ers, so I decided to go ahead and shoot some cards out and take a shot. I really liked how the Score and Adrenalyn cards looked, so those were no brainers. (I was just surprised at how well the Adrenalyn turned out.) Equally surprising was how few patch cards I could find for the venerable Ryans, so I went ahead and picked up this somewhat uninspiring Leaf card, that just feels overly designed.

He inscribed the cards with not one but two bible verses.

Matt 6:33
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God,and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Mark 16:16
“Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”

G/Gs   140/139     TAC   735       SAC  13.5       FUM  7
INT   7         YDS   63       AVG   9.0         TD   0        LG   36

NFL

Pastorini, Dan (2)

Cards: Topps 1975, Topps 1977
Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o Home
Sent: 1/10/18       Received: 1/20/18    (10 days)
See Also: Pastorini, Dan

How time flies… It’s been roughly 5 years since I got Dan Pastorini at the Houston Fan Fest in 2012. I traded away one of my cards to a fan who didn’t bring anything for him at the event and buoyed by Dan’s very interesting book, I decided to give him a through the mail shot. It’s amazing that these cards are 40+ years old now. Dan really didn’t have any action shots in the card family, primarily because the vast majority of his cards were released under the Topps label. Still his 1975 issue with something between a scowl and a glance is a pretty nice card. He lives in Houston, and makes frequent appearances at Houston Oiler themed events. In addition, Dan remains busy in racing and high speed motor events.