The Brahmas for some odd reason didn’t resign Delontae for the 2025 campaign.
He’d sign a game or two into the season with the Birmingham Stallions.
NOTES:
I’ve been deriding the Upper Deck Epack system for sometime, but my largest and almost singular complaint is the cost- especially considering the cost of an Epack is more than a physical card pack and has less or the same amount of cards. Then there’s the added cost of ordering the physical cards… and the wait.
That being said I found something totally fun about it: Trading. I just wish that the community was more active. I’ve been actively after putting together a set to upgrade it to a parallel autograph, slowly whittling it down to the final 10 or so. As I’ve done so, I’ve discovered so many zombie accounts. I’ll put out a fair trade and just sit there and wait… and wait… and wait… and get no response.
I got a few horse trades down with another collector, and so he just threw this one out there for 10 cards. Knowing I am a Brahmas fan and the fact I hadn’t pulled this one yet intrigued me. All of the cards were digital and none really impacted my bottom line, so I went for the deal and scratched Delontae off the list without even going to a game.
Later I figured out I could redeem a set of white cards for an actual printing plate. Silly me, I could’ve done it twice over but I kept ordering the physical cards out. Anyway, lesson learned. With my second redemption pull I was able to get a magenta printer’s plate of Delontae. I was ecstatic.
CARD: Upper Deck USFL 2023, Upper Deck UFL 2024 Dual Signatures ACQUIRED: IP, 2024 Birmingham Stallions v the San Antonio Brahmas. 2025, Epack
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
J’mar Smith played QB at Louisiana Tech from 2016-’19.
He completed 759 of 1280 passes for 9,523 yards and 51 TDs over his college career.
In 2019 he’d be named Conference USA’s Offensive Player of the Year.
Undrafted, he spent camp with the Patriots in 2020, and had a tryout with the Packers.
Signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in ’21 but was released.
Joined the USFL in 2022 and led the team to a win the USFL Championship Game in 2022.
On the season he completed 131 passes for 1573 yards and 10 TDs, while rushing for 191 on 37 carries scoring 2 TDs.
Placed on IR for the 2023 season.
Returned to Birmingham for the 2024 campaign, but saw little action.
Signed a letter alongside other quarterbacks and refused to report to the opening of camp until concessions were made by the league.
Cut by Birmingham but returned a few scant weeks later.
ACCOLADES:
USFL Player of the Week 2023 (Week 1)
Birmingham Stallions Best Hair Award
NOTES:
J’Mar was wandering off the field after their loss to the Brahmas during the 2024 season. He and Marlon Williams ambled up and signed their cards for me. It was a good double hit.
I had been having a lot of success with the Upper Deck UFL set. I pulled this dual autograph from a group of 8 packs I opened. I was pretty satisfied with this hit- although I am unsure if J’mar and Amari have ever been on the field at the same time.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
