Bruce Armstrong

• Sent: 6/16/10


• Received: 6/24/10


• Time: 8 days


• Autographed Items Received: 1991 Topps, 1991 Pacific, 1992 Pacific, 1992 Wild Card

Bruce Armstrong was an exceptionally good offensive tackle for the Patriots and played extremely solid ball for 14 seasons, retiring in 2000 after spending his entire career with New England. He was inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame in 2007 and should probably be getting more consideration for the NFL Hall of Fame, as you'd be hard-pressed to find a better Tackle during his career. In 1992, he suffered a tear of his MCL and it was thought that it could be a career-ender. He came back the next season and went on to make four more Pro Bowls. I played offensive tackle back in my pee-wee league days, so Armstrong was one of those guys whose career I followed when I could.

Who remembers the old Wild Card football cards? They were only produced for two years (1991 and 1992). In the packs, you could look for certain cards that had a numbered stripe in the lower left-hand corner. If you found one, you could send it in to the manufacturer and they would send you back whatever number of cards was on the stripe. Weird concept, and I never bought a pack. However, an older guy (a minister that came through our church a few times) was a big sports card collector. He found out I collected too, and gave me a box of about 300 "premium" cards that I wouldn't have normally bought. There were maybe 50 Wild Card cards in there. This Armstrong card was one of them.