Mike Curtis played college ball at Duke from 1962-’64.
He’d go on to establish himself as one of the greatest athletes in Duke history, playing both LB and FB.
#1 pick of the Baltimore Colts in 1965 who planned to use him exclusively at FB.
Was also selected in the 3rd round of the 1965 AFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.
Made the transition to MLB in 1966 and the rest became history.
Played alongside ‘The Mad Stork’ Ted Hendricks, as the team lost Super Bowl III and won Super Bowl V.
Played for Colts from 1965-’75.
Joined the expansion Seahawks for ’76, eventually finishing career after the ’77 and ’78 seasons with the Redskins.
Started 125 of 166 contests over career.
ACCOLADES:
Duke Hall of Fame
All-Pro 1968, ’69
Pro Bowl 1968, 1970-’71, ’74
Colts MVP 1974
AFC Defensive Player of the Year 1970
NOTES:
Mike Curtis was one of these sweeping cheap Ebay pickups I did at the beginning of 2020. As a not really big name, I waited this one out- and then promptly forgot to scan the card in when I got it, so it waited in limbo for a while before I tracked it down.
I could make an argument for Mike Curtis to be in the HoF, but I doubt he will ever get in, as defensive statistics weren’t well tracked or considered spectacular at the time. He was an absolute terror patrolling the middle of the field and was extremely effective covering the pass for a LB.
EPITAPH:
4/20/20- Mike Curtis passed away from CTE in St. Petersburg, FL at the age of 77.
Randy did some signings around Dallas in the early 20-teens but I missed out on them because they were on such short notice. I got really close a few times to going, but couldn’t bring myself up to calling in sick to go. His cards were grossly overpriced at the beginning of the pandemic even before the prices started shooting up. I knew all I had to do was wait, and I got this one at a bargain for under 10 bucks when the smoke cleared.
Randy was one of the last of the old guard from Tom Landry‘s days. He retired due to injury shortly after Tom was ingloriously fired by new owner Jerry Jones, and Jimmy Johnson was hired.
Randy makes an appearance on the ‘Dallas Wings’ franchise (Tecmo Bowl) on the NES.
Earl Morrall is considered probably the best clutch backup QB of his generation -if not of all time. He played an undeniably long career in the league lasting some.. what 22 years? Although not considered for the HoF conversation, Morrall has been inducted into the ‘Hall of Very Good’. An excellent athlete, Morrall had also caught the eye of MLB playing SS in the College World Series for the Spartans, but opted to play football instead.
I had been eyeballing his autograph during the pandemic but thought it was too pricey. Once it hit about 10 bucks I pounced. It later got lost in the shuffle of incoming autographs and I had forgotten to scan it in.
ATT
CPD
YDS
PCT
TD
INT
RAT
LG
2689
1379
20809
51.3
161
148
74.1
98t
EPITAPH:
April 14th, 2014- Earl Morrall passed away at the age of 79 due to complications from Parkinson’s disease. It was later discovered he suffered from Grade 4 CTE.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
