Sterling Sharpe

Sent: 5/3/13
Received: 5/16/13
Time: 13 days
Autographed Items Received: 1991 Fleer Ultra, 1993 Topps, 1993 Topps Team Leaders

Sterling Sharpe was, quite possibly, on his way to becoming a legendary wide receiver in the same conversation as a Jerry Rice. He was the Packers 1st round pick in 1988 and led the league in receptions by his second season. He made the Pro Bowl for five seasons, was a 5x All Pro, and is in the Packers Hall of Fame. In 1992, Brett Favre came to the Packers and Sterling would finally have a top-flight QB to throw to him. Sadly, in 1994, a neck injury ended Sterling's career. With another 5-6 seasons of Favre throwing to him, it's probably safe to say he would have been a first ballot Hall of Famer. Sterling's little brother, Shannon, followed his footsteps to the NFL and became a Hall of Fame tight end. In his induction speech, Shannon admitted that he wasn't even the best football player in his own family. Sterling went into broadcasting as soon as his playing career was over and is currently a studio analyst for NFL Network, which is where I sent this request.

I actually had gotten Sterling 1/1 c/o ESPN about 10 years ago. I noticed he was signing a lot on Sportscollectors.net lately. I had these 3 (and several more) and I wanted to take the opportunity to knock a few more out of my unsigned collection. They look great signed, even though it seems he got rushed and signed the 1993 Topps on the back!

Steve Nelson

Sent: 5/9/13
Received: 5/16/13
Time: 7 days
Autographed Items Received: 1980 Topps, 1985 Topps

Steve Nelson was a New England mainstay for 14 NFL seasons, all with the Patriots.  He came into the league as a 2nd round pick out of tiny North Dakota State. A burly, working-class kind of linebacker, Steve became a symbol of the New England teams and put together some brilliant seasons, culminating in the Patriots AFC Championship winning season in 1985. Steve made the Pro Bowl 3 times and, after retirement, had his #57 retired by the NFL. Following his playing career, Steve got into coaching and served as the Head Coach and Athletic Director for Curry College from 1998-2006. While there, one of his assistant coaches was the late Mosi Tatupu, a former teammate of Steve's with the Patriots.

Both of these cards came from big lots I got. My friend gave me the 1980 Topps back around 1999-ish and I bought the 1985 Topps off eBay around 2008. Neither was a complete set, I just wanted some older cards for sending out.

Kanavis McGhee

Sent: 4/20/13
Received: 5/16/13
Time: 26 Days
Autographed Items Received: 1991 Star Pics, 1993 Topps

Kanavis McGhee was a 2nd round pick of the New York Giants in 1991 after a stellar college career with Colorado. Kanavis played defensive end and on special teams for three seasons for Giants again. He played one season with the Bengals and his final NFL season with his hometown Houston Oilers before retiring after 1996. Following his playing career, he went almost immediately into coaching, serving as a high school coach in Houston and a NFL Europe defensive assistant. He also worked as a high school teacher. In 2010, Kanavis returned to his alma mater of Colorado as an assistant coach. He is currently their defensive line coach.

I took these cards to Houston Oilers training camp in 1996 in San Antonio for his one season there but was unable to get him to sign the one day I went that year. It was very good to get these signed and in the collection by writing to him via the University of Colorado. I plan on doing a mass mailing of NFL and college football coaches this year. I did it once before in 2008, and it was very successful. I guess Kanavis is my first start on that road.

Wayne Haddix

Sent: 4/27/13
Received: 5/10/13
Time: 13 days
Autographed Items Received: 1991 Score, 1992 Pacific

Wayne Haddix is a very interesting story. He attended Liberty University, a small fundamental Baptist university from the Jerry Falwell church. Undrafted out of college, Wayne managed to catch on with the New York Giants in 1987 and played cornerback three seasons in the Big Apple. In 1990, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers signed him and, almost out of nowhere, he exploded into prominence, recording the only 7 interceptions he had his entire career. Wayne even made the Pro Bowl that year and gained notoriety for being a beast in Tecmo Super Bowl for the Super Nintendo. Wayne's level of play inexplicably dropped off the very next season and the Bucs cut him after 1991. He spent the 1992 season with the Bengals and then was out of football.

Both these cards turned out very nice signed. I'm very happy to have them in the binders now.

Chuck Howley

Sent: 5/6/13
Received: 5/13/13
Time: 7 days
Autographed Items Received: 1990 Pro Set Super Bowl MVP

It's funny how a player can be a huge part of your childhood even though they were already long-retired before you were born. I grew up watching and being obsessed with the Cowboys based on my grandpa's love of them. I used to listen with complete attention when he would tell me stories of the early days of the team and the players he had liked. Chuck Howley was one of those players. A Chicago Bears 1st round pick way back in 1958, Chuck played two seasons with them before suffering what he thought was a career ending knee injury in 1959. After a couple of years being retired, he decided his knee was strong enough for a comeback and the Bears traded him to the Cowboys. Chuck was known for his speed and quickly became a huge part of the Dallas Doomsday Defense. Chuck went on to turn in a terrific performance in Super Bowl V and, to this day, remains the only player from a losing team to win the MVP. The Cowboys made it back to the big game against the Dolphins and this time Chuck got his Super Bowl ring. All in all, Chuck played 13 seasons for the Cowboys after his "career ending" injury. After retirement, he owned a successful uniform company down here in Texas. I vividly remember knowing that when I was a kid and thinking that every uniform truck I saw was driven by Chuck Howley.

As for the card, I generally don't like cards issued after a player's career. I don't know why, I just don't. But I do like getting all my cards that I've had for over 20 years signed. I've had this card that long and I felt I really needed to get Chuck's autograph into my collection.

Blaine Bishop

Sent: 4/25/13
Received: 5/10/13
Time: 15 days
Autographed Items Received: 1997 Topps

Blaine Bishop was one of my favorites. I was a big time Oilers fan until their sad defection to Tennessee. Blaine was one of the big stars at the time they moved to Nashville. A hard-hitting safety who was an 8th round steal out of Ball State in the 1993 draft, Blaine went on to make 4 pro bowls and played for the Houston Oilers, Tennessee Oilers, and the Tennessee Titans. Blaine spent his final season in 2002 with the Philadelphia Eagles. After retirement, Blaine got into broadcasting and now hosts a sports radio talk show on Nashville and coaches defense at an area private high school.

1997 represented the last year I really tried to collect football cards. I bought a few packs of Topps, one of which produced this card. After that, I really changed my focus to strictly autographed cards and rarely bought new packs of cards.

Vinnie Clark

Sent: 4/30/13
Received: 5/9/13
Time: 9 days
Autographed Items Received: 1991 Wild Card, 1992 Pro Set, 1992 Pacific, 1994 Topps

Vinnie Clark was a solid cornerback in the early part of the 1990's and was one of those guys who had a common card in every set from around 1991-1994. Vinnie came into the league in 1991 as a Packers first round pick out of The Ohio State University. Vinnie never fully lived up to that draft status but did put in two good seasons with the Packers and two more with the Falcons. Injuries started adding up, and Vinnie had a season with the Saints and then a season and a half with the Jaguars before retiring after the 1996 season. Since retirement, he dabbled in coaching as an assistant to his old college teammate, Chris Spielman, with the now-defunct AFL team the Columbus Destroyers. Vinnie currently resides in Cincinnati.

This is a nice continuing trend of guys who weren't really on the TTM radar turning into good signers. Great to get these 4 cards out of my commons box.