Tag Archives: upper deck college legends 2011

NFL, University of Texas

Metcalf, Eric (3)

Cards: Upper Deck 1991 Browns Checklist, GameDay 1993, University of Texas Upper Deck 2011 All-Time Alumni, ProSet 1992, SkyBox Premium 1993-1994, Upper Deck College Legends 2011
Acquired: TTM 2020, C/o Home
Sent: 1/6 Received: 1/14 (8 days)
See Also: Eric Metcalf, Eric Metcalf (2)

Eric Metcalf is one of my favorite players during the heyday of my childhood, so I was happy to make him my first success of 2020. With so many cards signed by him at this point, you’d think that I’d written him more than once (successfully) previously- but no- the last time he signed for me was way back in 2014. How time flies!

Eric had some stellar cards over the years, and with me still needing him on his All-Time Alumni card, and his College Legends card, I figured I could shoot out a stack to him and take a shot.

Eric is one of the few pros that actually follows me on Twitter- which is very humbling. I’ve always felt that YFS guys do not get the love from the HoF that they should, and although he has been nominated on a few occasions, Eric has not gotten in.

Eric’s cards from this lot no doubt are again, epic looking. They always seem to catch him slashing out of the backfield into the open field. I loved his Upper Deck Legends entry from 2011. In fact I am surprised that they didn’t use this as his main shot on his UT cards.

The Skybox Premium came out at a time when dropping a color across a background was novel. Unfortunately these cards commanded too high a sticker price for me as I was exiting the market. I have slowly picked up one or two here or there over the years.

ProSet was done in my mind after a few packs at Cowboys training camp in ’92. I did not like how they changed the card design midway through the set and found it confusing and disorganized. I liked this version of the set and how they moved the ProSet logo down by the player name, allowing the canvas to be more free to showcase the player.

Upper Deck was a late entry into the football card market. I didn’t really think too much of their initial NFL set, however I loved their artistic subsets- especially their checklists which focused on team MVPs. The design of this card is just superb, and in a sense very timeless. I love the circle behind Eric. What possessed this artist to put that back there? It blends nicely into his helmet, and then the horizontal lines across it lower on the canvas- It’s just so delicate and well thought out.

NFL

Newton, Cam

Card: Upper Deck College Legends 2011
Acquired: Box Breaker, 2019

I bought a box of Upper Deck College Legends at the beginning of 2019 with the Christmas money I had gotten. Inside was this gem of a pull. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought I’d get Cam’s autograph so this came as quite a happy surprise and a shot in the arm to start off the year.

After seeing little playing time at Florida, Cam Newton transferred to Blinn Junior College for a year where he won the equivalent of the JC National Championship in 2009. The following year in 2010, he joined the Auburn Tigers and led them to a National Championship. He also won the Heisman Trophy as a dual threat quarterback, passing for 2854 yards on 185 of 280 throws, along with 30 touchdowns to 7 interceptions. On the ground, Cam rushed for 1473 yards and 20 touchdowns on 264 carries.

He’d cap off his monumental year by being selected #1 overall by the Carolina Panthers in the 2011 NFL Draft- who immediately turned over the reins of the franchise to their new starting quarterback. Critics were quickly silenced when he threw for over 400 yards in his first game, and shattered rookie quarterback records, en route to Offensive Rookie of the Year Honors.

Arguably his best season came in 2015 when he won the NFL Offensive MVP award, and led the Panthers to Super Bowl 50. During the regular season he threw for 3837 yards and 35 touchdowns and a career low 10 interceptions, while rushing for 637 yards and 10 TDs.

Since that point, Cam’s career has gone sideways as inconsistency and injuries have forcibly taken their toll over his career. In 2019 he started a career low 2 games, and although he is still considered one of the most underrated offensive threats in the league, Cam has faced withering criticism from fans who feel that his wardrobe is more important than his game. He was allowed to enter free agency in 2020, and after a longer than usual wait, Cam signed with the New England Patriots where he currently is their starting quarterback.

NFL, The Spring League, ufl

Devine, Noel

Card: Upper Deck College Legends 2011
Acquired: 2019, Box Breaker

Shifty and speedy, Noel Devine posted solid numbers while he played college ball at West Virginia. He finished his college career with 4317 yards on 729 carries, scoring 29 TDs. Noel also had 98 receptions for 710 yards for 2 TDs. His personal best was in 2009 when he posted 241 carries for 1465 yards and 13 TDs on the ground. Due to his size (5’7, 160), an ankle injury, and a poor combine showing- Noel was not drafted during the 2011 draft.

He was signed by the Philadelphia Eagles, but after 4 days he left the team for undisclosed reasons. Unable to find an NFL squad, Noel joined the UFL Omaha Nighthawks (2011) for a season rushing 5 times for 14 yards and a TD, while catching 2 passes for 20 yards. The following year he’d join the Montreal Alouettes of the CFL playing there for two seasons (2012-2013). After a short off-season with the Edmonton Eskimos, he returned to WVU to finish his law degree in 2015.

During 2017 he resurrected his football career joining The Spring League, and in early 2019 signed with the Wheeling Roughriders of the American Arena League. He was among the players available for the XFL 2020 pool, but was not selected.

I pulled this autograph from a box of Upper Deck College Legends I bought in 2019. It’s rarer and rarer to see on card autographs, but overall I was pretty impressed with the look of this shot.

UFL RUSHYDSAVGTDLGRECYDSAVGTDLG
5142.811022010.0011
CFL RUSHYDSAVGTDLGRECYDSAVGTDLG
22904.10211313110.1310