Random Football PC

[CamaroDMD]

We all have collecting goals and themes. It might be a particular set, player, team, college...but something interests us when it comes to cards that we collect. Of course, as we collect and enjoy this hobby invariably we pick up random cards that peak our interest for a given reason. They don't really fit into our other projects or themes, but something about that card is special so we pick it up. Without really thinking about it, a "Random Card PC" is created as a catch all for those cards.

As I have been going through my collection and scanning cards to share...I am coming across more and more cards that would fit into this category. I thought I would post them as I go along and share them. Some are vintage, some are modern...but they all have a special meaning to me.

1960 Fleer #124 Jack Kemp RC

I picked up this card several years ago. It's certainly not in the best condition, but it has nice eye appeal. Jack Kemp was a very significant figure in the old AFL and because I like the history of the game, I thought this would be a great card for my collection. Although more famous for his role as the Bills QB, this card depicts him with his first team, the Chargers. What I think is also cool about this card is it has the Chargers in their first location...Los Angeles.

1969 Topps #26 Brian Piccolo RC

I think everyone knows the story of Brian Piccolo, so I don't need to go into that. This is the only mainstream card that he had. I added it to my collection because I liked it.

1998 Press Pass Autographs #2 Ryan Leaf

Ryan Leaf...I'm not really sure what to say about Leaf. But, believe it or not...Leaf has always been someone who interested me. He was a standout QB in the Pac-10 when I was growing up and I tend to gravitate towards Pac-10 QBs from the mid to late 1990s because I grew up in Oregon at that time. Pac-10 QBs from that era tend to be a reoccurring theme in this PC despite their many failures on and off the field.

2000 Fleer Traditions Autographics Silver #100 Cade McNown (135/250)

Cade McNown was another Pac-10 standout QB from the late 1990s who never materialized into an NFL QB and had some significant off the field issues. But, as a kid I liked him and despite playing for UCLA...he was from Oregon so he got quite a bit of press up here.

2009 Playoff Contenders #149 Brian Hoyer Auto/RC

The last card I will put up right now is his Brian Hoyer RC. This is the only Hoyer I have in my collection. I picked up this card because I like Hoyer and despite his later season struggles this season...I think he will be a good QB somewhere. I think he says the right thing off the field and I like his style of play.

I have plenty more to add which I will post down the road.

 

[ranbethscards]

Very nice assortment! Trust me... that Hoyer will be worth Thousands some day.. lol

 

[CamaroDMD]

Trust me... that Hoyer will be worth Thousands some day.. lol

Says the Michigan State man! I hope he really blossoms into a success. I picked up the card a few weeks ago as prices have dropped once he struggled and got benched in favor of Manziel. I think he really has potential and if he does really succeed the card would be out of my price range...so I picked up one. Either way...I like him so if he doesn't pan out and I "lose" when it comes to what I paid, it's not the end of the world.

 

[CamaroDMD]

Well, I'm at work right now and I had a patient not show up...so I have a few free minutes. So, I thought I would post a few more for this thread.

1955 Topps All-American #12 Otto Graham

I know the condition of this one is not the best, but I picked it up a while back on the cheap and I always wanted to add a card from this legendary set to my collection...who better than Otto Graham.

1964 Philadelphia #109 Fran Tarkenton

I have had this card since I bought it at a LCS when I was a kid back in the 1990s. At the time, it was one of the few vintage cards I had and I really liked it. Only the third year Tarkenton had cards issued...and this was the first year that Philadelphia had the exclusive rights to NFL cards. I have always really liked this one.

1984 Topps #123 Dan Marino RC

Here is another card I have had since I was a kid, my Marino RC. As a kid, Marino was one of the best QBs out there and I remember this card was a big deal at the time. Today it doesn't command the prices it once did...but I still like it. At some point, I would like to put together a 1984 Topps set, it's one of my favorites.

1985 McDonald's Blue Tab #80 Tim Wrightman

This might seem like an odd choice, but it makes sense to me. You see...Tim Wrightman holds a couple special places in history. First, he was the very first player to sign with the USFL instead of the NFL. I have always been fascinated by the USFL...in part because of the classic sets from Topps in the 1980s. After the league folded, he joined the Bears in 1985 and won the Super Bowl that season.

What makes this player special to me is...he is a relative of mine. Not a close relative...I have never even met him. He is my mother's cousin (I think makes him my first cousin once removed). But, it is cool to have a relative who played for the legendary 1985 Bears team.

This card is also cool because it comes from the 1985 McDonald's sets...not the more popular 1986 sets. In 1986, McDonald's did a set for every team in their home markets and an "All-Star" set for other markets...each with scratch off coupons on the bottom. But, prior to that...in 1985 they did a Bears only set in the Chicago area during the playoffs. The card had a colored detachable tab on the bottom...if the Bears won the game the coupon was for a free sandwich, if the Bears lost it was for a free Coke. There are 3 versions of the set, all with the same players. The Blue tab set is for the Divisional Playoffs, the Orange tab set is for the NFC Championship and the Yellow tab set is for Super Bowl XX. These cards are very over-sized. I have both the Blue and Yellow tabbed Wrightman cards.

1985 Topps USFL #65 Steve Young

Topps released sets for the USFL for both 1984 and 1985. They both came as 132 card factory sets, they were not issued in packs. This is the Steve Young from the 1985 set. I have a complete 1985 set in my collection and at some point I will pick up the more valuable 1984 set. For whatever reason, the USFL has always been very interesting to me.

1997 Press Pass Blue Torquers #48 Joe Paterno

I know that recent history has not been kind of Joe Paterno, but he was a great football coach. This card from the 1997 Press Pass set is very difficult to come by. The set was intended to consist of 50 base cards, but when you look in most price guides a complete set is listed as 49. The missing card is #48 Joe Paterno. I don't know the exact history, but apparently there was some kind of licensing issue and Press Pass had to pull the Paterno card very early in production. However, a small number still got into packs creating a very difficult SP. To make matters worse, there are 3 versions of the card. There is the base gold and then two parallels...one red and the other blue. Both parallels are about equally rare but they are far rarer than the base gold. This is the blue parallel...and one day I hope to track down the base gold and the red.

1998 Upper Deck Black Diamond Quadruple #83 Danny Wuerffel

As a kid, I was a big Florida Gators fan because of Steve Spurrier's air it out offense. The best player to ever run that offense was Danny Wuerffel. As a result, I was a huge Wuerffel fan. Even though that success didn't translate to the NFL...I still enjoy picking up a nice Wuerffel when one comes along. This is the 4 diamond parallel from the 1998 Black Diamond set. The 4 diamond set was an SP with a print run of 50. Sp, these are hard to come by.

2000 Score Rookie Preview Autographs Roll Call #SR42 Doug Johnson (30/50)

When Wuerffel left Florida, he was replaced by Doug Johnson. Although Johnson's stellar play was marred by injury and playing in the shadow of Wuerffel, he still had a very good career at Florida and I was a big fan of his. This Score issue is the only autographed card of Johnson in his Florida uniform. There is a regular unnumbered version and this rarer SP of 50 version.

2008 UD Exquisite Collection Legendary Signatures #EL-KA Ken Anderson (17/35)

One of my favorite historical football players is Ken Anderson. This legendary QB of the 1970s was the first true master of the Bill Walsh west coast offense when Walsh was the offensive coordinator in Cincinnati. I have always believed that Anderson belonged in the Hall of Fame. I really liked the design of this card, and it's an on-card autograph. It was a redemption card...but I picked it up on eBay and few years back and I'm really glad I did.

Well, that's all for now. I will put more up later.

 

[ranbethscards]

Danny Wuerffel... always liked him...

 

[CamaroDMD]

Danny Wuerffel... always liked him...

He sure was fun to watch in college...and from what I can tell he's a really good guy. Too bad his NFL career didn't pan out. My strongest memory of his NFL career was a rather viscous sack he took against my Panthers during his rookie season. The result certainly looked painful:

​

 

[CamaroDMD]

Here are a couple more. I have 3 vintage Johnny Unitas cards in my collection...nothing too fancy but I thought I would share them:

1968 Topps #100 Johnny Unitas

I picked this one up when I was a kid at my LCS. I have always loved the vivid colors of this card.

1973 Topps #455 Johnny Unitas

This is the first Unitas card I ever bought. I picked it up as a kid at the LCS. It is pretty faded (and you can see an area on his arm is not faded which makes me thing it sat somewhere partially covered for a long time). This is also a neat card as it is his last card when he was with the Colts.

1974 Topps #150 Johnny Unitas

I picked this one up not too long ago online for two reasons. First, it is his final "original" card. Secondly, I wanted to it because it has him in a Chargers uniform which I think looks really strange.

 

[CamaroDMD]

I picked up a couple more recently that I thought I would show off:

1988 Kenner Starting Lineup Cards #101 Joe Montana

Joe Montana is without question my favorite athlete of all time and I have quite the collection of his cards...many of which I picked up as a kid. When I was a kid and big into collecting...it was the height of the Kenner Starting Lineup figurines/action figures popularity. At that time, a 1988 Joe Montana in box was worth several hundred dollars and well beyond my affordability (1988 was the first year they were issued). So, I never got one. When the card bubble burst...the Kenner figurine bubbled burst far worse. Today they are quite affordable. I decided that I needed the card for my Joe Montana binder (fill that empty slot) and the figuring would look great on my bookshelf at my office at work. So, I found a nice set of card and figurine (opened) for less than $10 recently. Here is the card that came with the 1988 Kenner Starting Lineup Joe Montana figurine...the figurine is sitting on my bookshelf behind me.

1999 Sports Illustrated Autographs #8 Otto Graham

I have always wanted to add an Otto Graham autograph to my collection (I figured it would be the 1997 UD Legends auto)...but I have always had a special place in my heart for the 1999 Fleer SI cards. I thought it was a really neat set and I found a nice example of the Graham auto so I picked it up recently. For those who don't know much about him, Graham was the start QB of the great Browns teams of the 1950s...and is in the conversation of being the greatest player in team history (with Jim Brown of course. Otto Graham passed away in 2003.

 

[OfficialFishel]

Nice collection you have going so far. I like the Hoyer card the best. Big fan of autographs also so that is part of the reason.