Cards: Pro Set 1991 WC, Classic 1991
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent: 8/25/11 Received: 2/21/12 (180 days) Previous Post: Darryll Lewis
Darryl Lewis was a player on the Oilers I liked to watch a lot, as he outperformed expectations despite his size. A consensus All-American and Jim Thorpe Recipient in 1991, great hands, productivity, deceptive speed, and leaping allowed Lewis to keep pace with many of the best wide receivers in the game and well into his career as a professional. A member of the Houston Oilers Young Guns secondary, Lewis played for the Oilers/Titans, Chargers, and Broncos over an 11 season career. I got his autograph via the team back in 1993 on my birthday, and always wanted to circle back around and get his again on these two cards I had. He did some coaching at Oregon State with Mike Riley but unfortunately Lewis has had legal issues and had been detained for a few years. Recently he has been granted his release.
Since I had always wanted to get his autograph on this Pro Set card, I went ahead and took a shot at the former Oiler/ Charger DB where he lives near San Diego. This Classic 1991 card I had is probably among the ugliest ever produced outside of the Fleer 1991 entry. These cards are both considered error cards as they misspell Darryll’s name as “Darryl”.
Card: Absolute Memorabilia 2011
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o The Green Bay Packers
Sent: 12/22/11 Received: 1/17/12 (26 days)
Very quietly since being taken in 2006, Greg Jennings has established himself as the best receiver and arguably the best offensive player in that draft. Greg’s college career was solid and his statistics showed it, with 3 seasons tallying over 1,000 yards receiving playing for the Western Michigan University Broncos squad. The Packers would nab him with the 52nd pick of the second round, of a draft that included names such as: Mario Williams, Vince Young, Matt Leinart, Reggie Bush, Santonio Holmes, Jay Cutler, and Vernon Davis.
With his rookie season out of the way, starting in 11 games, Jennings caught 45 balls for 632 yards and 3 TDs, from gunslinger Brett Favre. In 2007, Jennings tallied an even stronger Sophomore campaign, lodging 920 yards on 53 receptions. Even more impressive was his redzone number of 12 touchdown catches.
As Favre left Green Bay for greener pastures with the Jets in 2008, Greg would establish immediate rapport with quarterback Aaron Rodgers and not miss a beat, hauling in a career high 80 catches, for 1292 yards and 9 touchdowns that season. In 2009, Greg had another 1000+ yard season, before his 2010 watershed season with 76 receptions, 1265 yards and another 12 tds. While 2011 proved to be a slightly off season with the emergence of Jordy Nelson, Jennings still managed to help take his team to the playoffs with a 15-1 record.
Among his accomplishments are being named to the rookie AP team in 2006, the ProBowl for 2010 and 2011, and winning SuperBowl XLV in 2010 making 2 td grabs in the contest. At 5′ 11″, 198, Jennings has velcro like hands and has developed into one of the most dangerous and complete receivers to emerge over the last 5 seasons. He’d also be a member my fantasy football team, the Pasadena Riders, (that had a good component of receivers from the NFC North) as my team qualified for the playoffs in 2010.
I typically do not send for very many current players, but make some exceptions- Jennings among them. “Do not wait until the iron is hot, but make it hot by striking,”* is the strategy I use for some players, as I’d rather get their autograph while they are signing now, than wait until they are no longer doing so, or are receiving too much fan mail to consider doing so. At this time Jennings is assaulting the Packers’ record books and will easily pass by Sterling Sharpe in the near future on the team career receiving carts.
I must say though, I really liked Absolute’s approach in 2011. Wonderful tint job, and nice gold lining to the simple design, however I am not keen on the fade, which seems all the rage with the card designers at the moment. The back of the card is standard enough, but there’s the boring strategy of repeating the photo again from the front, however I do like the more personal bio lines. Overall Panini’s 2011 Absolute Memorabilia is a strong card that absorbs autographs well.
Cards: Proset WLAF 1991, ProSet WLAF 1991 HC
Acquired: TTM 2012, C/o home
Sent: 1/10 Received: 2/5 (27 days)
Mike Cadore was a fleet footed wide receiver/ returner from the University of Eastern Kentucky, who’d be drafted in the 12th round of the super deep 1989 draft by the New Orleans Saints. At Eastern Kentucky Cadore would set university marks surpassing the 1,000 yard mark in kick off returns, and his average was a gaudy 30 yards per pop, earning Mike Division I-AA honors. Playing behind Eric Martin, Lonzell Hill, Brett Perriman, and Floyd Turner, didn’t provide Cadore many reps, in the NO receiving corps, and at 5-8, 169, Mike was one of the smallest receivers in the league. He would not make the squad due to injury.
In 1991 the Montreal Machine of the WLAF drafted Cadore in the 2nd round of the WLAF draft. Breathtakingly fast, he’d claim the team’s primary return duties, returning 14 kickoffs for 327 yards and make 7 receptions for 89 yards. During the team’s premiere against the Birmingham Fire on USA Network in 1991, Jet returned a kickoff 56 yards to help key the Machine’s 23-10 victory. His 23.7 YPR on kickoffs ranked second in the WLAF. He would not return to the Machine for the 1992 season.
After football Michael was blessed to land on his feet. Utlizing his degree in Criminal Sciences from Eastern Kentucky, he completed his Masters in Management and Leadership from Webster University. He’s been a pillar of the Brevard County community, working in Law Enforcement, in a variety of areas from corrections, probation, patrol and media relations, to youth mentoring and crime prevention. Mike has raised a wonderful family with 3 children and a great wife. He also enjoys coaching little league football and mentoring young children. He and his wife are the founders of Magnus Solutions- A company that provides quality solutions to needs such as: Keynote speaking, policy management review, security services, and leadership/mentoring assistance.
Mike lives his life by the motto: “If you don’t serve your community now don’t expect to serve your community later”. Many of the young adults who have participated in his”GOT SKILLZ” football clinic have ironically gone on to play for Jacksonville University, where former WLAF alum Kerwin Bell is now head coach at.
With such a unique name, Mike proved to be an easy player to locate for me utilizing Google. Digging only a page or two down in searching, I was able to email him where he graciously offered to sign a few cards for me. A member of the Montreal Machine- (one of the 3 international clubs I’ve had difficulty contacting members of,) I was glad to add Mike’s autograph to the hall, especially on this really nice player card of his. Recently he sent me a kind and touching note thanking me for the site and the good job I am doing. – It is the little things like Mike’s note that make my week. You may visit his company at: www.magnussolutions.com.
Cards: Pro Set 1991 WC, Classic 1991
Since I had always wanted to get his autograph on this Pro Set card, I went ahead and took a shot at the former Oiler/ Charger DB where he lives near San Diego. This Classic 1991 card I had is probably among the ugliest ever produced outside of the Fleer 1991 entry. These cards are both considered error cards as they misspell Darryll’s name as “Darryl”.
