Walter Abercrombie

• Sent: 6/28/10
• Received: 7/3/10
• Time: 5 days
• Autographed Items Received: 1985 Topps

Walter Abercrombie was an early-80's Pittsburgh Steelers mainstay in the backfield. He also had great hands and usually caught a fair number of passes out of the backfield in the old Mark Malone days. He finished off his career in 1988, moving across the state to play 5 games with the Philadelphia Eagles. Prior to his NFL career, he was a standout at Baylor University. Today, he is back at Baylor serving in an admin role in the alumni department.

Way back in 1988, during his stint with the Eagles, a little 7 year old me wrote one of my very first "fan letters" to Mr. Abercrombie. With no idea of the etiquette of autograph seeking or anything of that ilk, I just straight-up wrote him a letter and my mom mailed it off. A couple of weeks later, there was an envelope in my mailbox with an Eagles letterhead. Opened it up and inside was a full-page letter. Mr. Abercrombie simply wrote me back. It was a great letter, not talking down to me at all (i was pretty smart for a 7 year old, lol). One of the classiest moves ever and I STILL have that letter and cherish it. I really wanted to get a signed card of him to add to that collection since he became one of my football heroes. Glad to get this one back and in only 5 days, too.

Jim Morrissey

• Sent: 6/24/10
• Received: 7/1/10
• Time: 7 days
• Autographed Items Received: 1991 Score, 1992 Topps

Jim Morrissey was a solid starting inside linebacker for the Chicago Bears for 9 seasons. He finished up his career with a few games in Green Bay. When Morrissey first entered the league, he got to spend his rookie season with that awesome Bears team that dominated the entire season and easily won Super Bowl XX. In fact, he was part of the "Shuffling Crew" in the wildly popular Super Bowl Shuffle video. I was 4 years old that year, and that's the first Super Bowl I have a memory of watching. I even remember the hoopla that accompanied the Bears. They were brash, they were arrogant, and they backed it up. I really feel the need to find that video and watch it again. The 80's were awesome.

As for the cards, the 1991 Score cards was the first "box" of cards I ever got. 36 packs. My mom bought them for me for my birthday. I spent hours opening and savoring all those packs. Then, I tried putting together a complete set but never quite made it. I sent a lot of my doubles off for TTM autographs back in the 1992-1994 time frame during my first round of TTM collecting. I would never send out a non-double though because I always thought I was going to finish the set. Well, I never did and now I'm sending 'em all out. Glad to have the Morrissey card in my collection.

Derrick Walker

• Sent: 6/23/10
• Received: 6/30/10
• Time: 7 Days
• Autographed Items Received: 1992 Ultra, 1992 Wild Card, 1993 Topps

Derrick Walker was a tight end who had a great college career at Michigan, playin on the very last team ever coached by the great Coach Bo Schembechler and parlayed that into a decent 9 year career in the NFL. He spent 4 seasons with the Chargers, 4 with the Chiefs, and then finished out his career with 1 season in Oakland. I guess he really enjoyed the AFC West. He was used primarily as a blocker and never caught a whole lot of passes.

I hate the fact that 2 of these 3 cards smudged. I guess Mr. Walker signed and then immediately stuck them all together to put back in the envelope. The back of the 1993 Topps (the only one that came out great) has a big smear of the signature from one of the other ones. Oh well. They're still better than the not-signed versions that I had 8 days ago! Glad to have these go from the common box to the autograph binders.

Gerald Williams

• Sent: 6/16/10
• Received: 6/26/10
• Time: 10 days
• Autographed Items Received: 1991 Pro Set, 1992 Pacific

I returned home just now from my weekend at the Coast, and found this return waiting for me. Gerald Williams was an interior defensive lineman for 12 seasons in the NFL. The bulk of that time was spent with the Pittsburgh Steelers where he played in Super Bowl XXX. At the end of his career, he spent two and a half seasons with the Panthers and finished up 1997 with the Packers. After his retirement, he returned to the Carolina Panthers organization, serving as a scout for many years. At different times, he was a pro scout and a college scout. In 2009, Williams joined the coaching staff of the Division II Catawba Indians, serving as their Tight Ends coach. He is still in that position today.

I truly appreciate every single autograph that I receive. These guys don't owe me anything, so anything they do for me is a bonus. Gotta admit, though...it sucks when these guys use Sharpies that are probably a hundred sigs past their prime. Oh well, I still appreciate the gesture.

Kent Hull

• Sent: 6/11/1o
• Received: 6/25/10
• Time: 14 days
• Autographed Items Received: 1991 Pacific, 1991 Score 1992 Pacific, 1993 Topps, 1994 Topps

As a center, Kent Hull anchored the very good Bills offensive line of the 80s and 90s. Hull spent 11 seasons in Buffalo, where he was instrumental in the success of future Hall of Famers Thurman Thomas and Jim Kelly. He also played in 4 consecutive Super Bowls (unfortunately, losing them all). Prior to his NFL career, Hull was one of many future NFL starts to spend three years with the upstart USFL. His time with the New Jersey Generals was made notable by opening holes that allowed Herschel Walker to rush for 2400+ yards in one USFL season.

Nothing real special about these cards. Straight out of the commons box, but not common anymore! On another note, I sure am racking up the 1992 Pacifics. Maybe I should start thinking set collecting.

Naaahhhhhhh.

And with that, I'm off to Corpus Christi for a weekend of fun in the sun (and swimming in the oil slicks!).

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.

Alfred Anderson

• Sent: 6/15/10
• Received: 6/23/10
• Time: 8 days
• Autographed Items Received: 1991 Score, 1992 Pacific

Alfred Anderson was a bruising runningback who spent his entire 8-year career with the Minnesota Vikings. He served as fullback, but also got his fair share of carries. I remember him splitting time with Darrin Nelson, Rick Fenney, and some of the other Vikings RBs of the day. He played his college ball up the road from me at Baylor University (just like his longtime teammate Ray Berry) where he was a superstar.

Grabbed these straight from the ol' common box. They turned out really nice with Mr. Anderson's blue sharpie signature.