Trif-ECK-ta

Thursday was a good day.  It brought an end to the third quarter of my school year.  It brought me to within one week of the return of Community.  And it brought all three pieces of a Dennis Eckersley trifecta into my life.  Two of the pieces were eBay purchases and one was included in the trade package* I received from the Wicked One The Cardboard Don. 

*The trade package was jam packed with Royals and Rockies goodness.  I'll probably be able to get a bakers dozen posts out of that one trade alone, which I'm sure my wife will love.  :)

In one fell swoop, I knocked off my number one collecting goal for 2012.  I guess I can now focus one a few of the goals that I've yet to address this year (I'm looking at you Goal #2 -- Denver Bronco Super Bowl Rookie Cards).

Without further ado, I present my first Hall of Famer Trifecta.

THE RELIC

 Nothing fancy about the piece of fabric, but I love the photograph that UD choose.  Classic.

THE ROOKIE

Sure he's sans-mustache, but the awkward face and pose and the fantastic jersey font and wind-breaker under-shirt make this card a definite icon.  It was never important to me to have the rookie be graded, but when I saw this one bundled with two other graded 1970s-era cards of star players and it was in my price range, I wasn't going to let it slip through my fingers.

And, the piece de resistance.

THE AUTOGRAPH

On-card.  Great photo.  Dual autographed.  On-card.  By two Cy Young Winners.  Both mustachioed.  Serial numbered.  Epic and stylish signatures.  ON CARD!!!!  Fifteen bucks shipped.  

This card is 100% in my top three favorite autograph cards that I own. 

Thus completes my trif-ECK-ta.  I love these cards and I am excited to continue to build up my Eckersley collection.  I think I may need to pick up one of those 1000-card lots that I occasionally see listed.  Or maybe someone wants to trade a huge pile of them to me?

Birthday Giftcard Autograph: Hochevar (Part 1)

This is the first of what will be (at least) a four part series.  I'm hedging my wager because I still have some change left on my last eBay gift card and I may be able to track down at least one more auto for my collection with it. 

The first of many purchases I recently made on eBay with gift cards from my birthday arrived today.  It's a 2007 Donruss Elite Extra Edition Aspirations autograph, numbered 20/25.

I dare you to find anything wrong with this die-cut, college-uniformed, low-numbered beauty.  (Ok, yes, the autograph is a sticker, but still.)

This one is the eighth Hochevar Donruss EEE card that I have in my collection, and is the first autographed version I've tracked down.  I really like the cut of these cards' jib.

_________________________________________________________________________

On a related note, I also used a Barnes&Noble gift card from my brother to buy a copy of the movie Bridesmaids and a copy of Drew Magary's new novel, The Postmortal, both of which arrived today.  I've heard only good things about Bridesmaids, so I figured why not add it to our comedy dvd collection.

Similarly, I've been enjoying Drew Magary's weekly writings on Deadspin for years and figured I'd see how he does as a post-apocalyptic novelist.  I'll probably give it a quick review after I've finished reading it (which, if past experience is any indicator, will hopefully be sometime before the apocalypse).

Am I a Super Collector?

I consider myself a Luke Hochevar super collector.  But, my question is would anyone else? 

As of my last count, I have over 160 unique Hochevar cards and 200+ if I am counting doubles.  But, according to Beckett, there are 648 unique Hochevar cards that have been released.  Which puts me at about 20% of the way to my goal of having one of every Hochevar card released. 

I have nearly all of his base cards and am fairly far along in the inserts.  Most of the gaps in my collection are low numbered (and multi-numbered, i.e. /25, /50, /100, etc.) autographs, 1/1 cards (including printing plates), and short printed inserts.

I know that 100% is an unattainable goal, but I don't think 50% is unreasonable (especially now that I have to wait until Series 2 and/or Update for his current releases).

I've seen people mention on twitter that they have hundreds and even thousands of cards of a specific player (which is mind blowing to me, considering I probably don't have more than a thousand cards in my entire card collection).

And, at one point in the mid-90s, I would have considered myself a John Stockton super collector (at least for a kid).  But I've fallen so far behind in his cards that I don't even want to look up how many of his cards there are now.

So my question is when can a person consider themselves a super collector?  Can I continue tracking down missing unique cards or should I start stockpiling duplicates?

What's a Player Collector To Do...

...when they HATE their player's picture on a card?

Take, for instance, this 2010 Topps Series 2 Luke Hochevar card.  I do not like the photograph used on this card. 

Everything about this card is awkward and annoying to me. 

So, what is a player collector to do?  That's right, collect the whole set.

I tracked down the black boarder parallel (#'d /59), the black SuperStoreSpecial variation, and the Topps Umbrella logo cards.

I bought multiple silk cards (#'d 12/50 and 34/50, respectively).

I picked up an eBay 1/1 Bronze parallel (#'d 001/399) just last week. 

Incidentally, up until about two weeks ago I did not know that these bronze parallels existed.  Then, while I was researching the Series 2 parallels on BaseballCardpedia, I saw that there was a bronze parallel.  I'm sure I had encountered them previously, but mistook them for the gold variety.  I did a search on eBay and found one listed in a BIN auction, threw the seller an offer, and a few days later this card was on my scanner.

And I can't forget about the 1/1 Platinum parallel that my mom bought for me for my birthday, can I?

I even chased down a pile of the 2010 Topps Chrome cards whose motto could be, "The same lame picture, but now with 100% more card-bending chrome".

And who wouldn't want the printing plates?  It wouldn't be much of a collection without the printing plates.

These printing plates are my own version of the 2011 Topps "Spot the Error" cards.

A quick search of the BaseballCardpedia shows that I need a Gold parallel (#'d /2010), a Red parallel (#'d /299), and three more printing plates to complete the Series 2 set.

It also appears I need a refractor, a Superfractor, and the three remaining printing plates to finish off my Chrome rainbow.  

It's bad enough that I have to wait until Series 2 to get my favorite player's cards, but do they have to rub it in by using such a horrible picture?  Here's hoping that the 2011 presentation is a bit more palatable.

Also, I added a fourth wall-hanging card display to my basement wall today, which allowed me to do some rearranging and I discovered that I'm up to 162 unique Hochevar cards in my collection.  Not too shabby for a years worth of collecting.  Maybe someday I'll make a list of the ones I still need.  But I doubt it.

A Platinum Opening Day

As everyone knows, today kicks off the 2011 MLB season.

I'll be headed south on I-29 today to watch the Royals take on the Angels this afternoon.  I'm pumped because Luke Hochevar will be the starting pitcher for the Royals.  It's my first MLB Opening Day game and it's Luke's first Opening Day start.

I thought I'd commemorate Luke's start by talking about one of the best cards in my collection, a 2010 Topps Series 2 Platinum parallel that is serial numbered 1/1.  This card has an interesting (to me) story behind it.

And the back of the card.

When I got back into the collecting game last summer, I began tracking down Hochevar cards on eBay and COMC.  I was only interested in his cards.  It wasn't until I had over 100 of them that I began to branch out into collecting other players and sets.  And when the above card popped up on eBay, I knew I had to have it.

I've mentioned before how much I love 1/1 cards.  Before this card, printing plates and blank-backed cards were the only 1/1s I'd been able to afford.  The few 1/1 parallel cards that I'd encountered were all out of my price range.  (Incidentally, there has been a 2007 Bowman Chrome Superfractor in my eBay watch list for months now but the seller is unwilling to budge from his $250 BIN.  Sucks for him and for me, because it would be a great addition to my collection.)

This Platinum card was all I could talk about for a week.  My wife knew how much I wanted the card, so when I reached the ceiling of how much I wanted to bid on it (somewhere above $50, I believe) she knew I was bummed.

We were visiting my parents the weekend the auction was ending.  I would later find out that my wife had told my mom how much I wanted this card.  As the auction was ending, my family was sitting around the kitchen table and I was watching the auction, bummed that I wouldn't win this card.  My mom and my wife both tried to get me to raise my bid on the card, but I told them I couldn't do it.

After the auction ended, I just stared at my computer screen dejected.  Then my mom told me to look at her computer.  It took me a few moments to understand why.  She had eBay pulled up in her browser and the screen congratulated her on being the highest bidder on a baseball card.  It still didn't sink in what had happened.  I looked up for clarification and they were both smiling from ear to ear.

Turns out my mom had put in a max bid of $200 (it went for about half of that) and said she was going to go higher if she would have needed to.  She wanted me to have this card.  She said it was an early birthday present.  I was blown away.

As hard as it was watching the seconds tick away as the auction was ending, it was even tougher waiting for the card to arrive in my mailbox.  

I am so lucky to have such a supportive wife and family.  They know how much enjoyment I get from collecting cards and they do everything they can to enjoy them with me.

I'd like to thank my mom (and her ornery accomplice) for her generosity for the umpteenth time.  I love this card and am proud to have it in my collection.

As Hamilton 'Ham' Porter would say, "PLAY BALL!!!!"

The Story of My 1/1 Strausburg

This is the story about when I pulled a Stephen Strausburg 1/1 printing plate from a box of 2010 Topps T206 in August 2010.  It is the best card I've pulled from a pack since returning to the hobby and I initially wrote about it on my old blog HERE.  Enjoy.

One of the best part about being a kid who collects trading cards was cracking open a new pack of cards.  It was basically the lottery for children.  You throw down a couple of bucks (back then) and roll the dice.  Occasionally, the pack would yield a bunch of junk cards.  But more often then not, the pack would give you enough cards off a want/need list to keep you coming back for more.  There is nothing better then ripping open a pack of cards and finding your favorite player or a rare insert card.  Today, my wife and I recreated a little piece of my youth by ripping open a box of 2010 Topps T206 cards.

When I started noticing a bevy of T206 Hochevar cards popping up on eBay, I decided to forgo the easy route of buying up the cards that other people had pulled and instead try and pull my own Hochevar cards.  And I was very pleased with the results.

The box contained 20 packs of cards, with 9 cards in each pack.  My wife and I each opened 10 packs.  At about pack 5 for me, I pulled the one of the cards I was hoping to get, my first Hochevar pull.  While it was a base card, after finding it, I considered the box a success.

Each box also contains one autograph card and one relic card.  As luck would have it, my wife ended up finding both of these cards.  It should be noted that she found both of these cards before I pulled the Hochevar card.  I'm not going to lie, I was a little bummed that she was the one to find the "hits" of the box.  She ended up finding a Grady Sizemore Game Used Bat relic card and a Gregor Blanco Autograph card.  Both cards are quite nice, but neither would be considered huge "hits".

We ended up getting about 120 base cards, which have whetted my appetite to attempt completing the base card set.  Along with the Hochevar base card, my wife ended up finding a Stephen Strasburg rookie card.

We also got 6 "short print" cards, which are different from the regular base cards because the players are wearing baseball caps (the base cards are unique due to all the players being hat-less) and the backs only contain the player's name (where as the base cards have a little blurb about the player). 

The box also contained 20 or so mini cards.  The fun thing about the minis in this set is that there are five different styles of backs.  I ended up getting at least one of each back style.

At around our 18th pack, and the ninth pack that I opened, I was under the impression that we'd found all of the "hits" that the box would contain, with which I was content, and I was just hoping to score a Hochevar mini card with the remaining packs.  Imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this gem.

As the back of the card explains, it's a Stephen Strasburg 1:1 Magenta Mini Printing Plate card.  When I saw this card, I was pumped.  This has to be one of the best cards that can be pulled from a pack of T206.  One might think that a Strasburg autograph card would be a bigger pull, but they didn't put any of his autographed cards in the packs.  Instead, a person would find a "redemption" card in the pack, which you then have to mail off to be redeemed by the company, and then they mail you the actual card, which I hear can be a big hastle.  So, in actuality, I ended up pulling one of the rarest cards of one of the biggest names in baseball card collecting today.

I hate to imagine how much this card would fetch on eBay if Stephen was not hurt at this time (and his future in question).  With that said, I'm still going to try to flip it for as much money as I can get to help fund my future card purchases.

As much as it probably scares my wife, because of this box of cards, I may have been bitten by the pack-ripping bug.  What a fun box to open and what a nice set of cards Topps has put out.  If my Strasburg card brings enough money, I'll definitely be opening another box of the T206 cards and I'll be chasing more Hochevar cards for my personal collection.

I ended up selling the card for $200 via Buy It Now.  I may have been able to get more for it, but I decided to take the money and run, which was probably a wise decision in the long run.  I ended up buying a bunch of Hochevar and Fowler cards with the money I made from the sale of this card and I couldn't be happier with my decision to sell it.

2008 Spectrum Rookie Signature and Printing Plate

A quick post to show off my 2008 Upper Deck Spectrum Rookie Signature card and one of the printing plates used to make the card.

The printing plate is of the magenta variety and the autograph card is not serial numbered.

Trade Report: A Trip in the Way Back Machine

Before I started this blog, I spent lots of time trolling through the card blogosphere.  One blog that caught my eye was Hey, That's Mine! 

I was intrigued by the custom cards that Big D made and sent him an email asking if he'd be so kind as to create a card for me using a picture I took at an Omaha Royals game the previous summer.  He said he would, so I sent him a selection of shots I took of Luke Hochevar and I couldn't be happier with how the card turned out.

The scan doesn't do this card justice.  The picture on the card is crisp and clean and the colors are very vibrant.  I love the design of the card.  It is simple, yet tells the person looking at it everything they need to know.  I'm also very glad that this was the picture he decided to feature.  And I can now add "baseball card photographer" to my resume, right?

The back of the card is great too.

And an autograph that isn't on a sticker!  Awesome! 

I also had Big D make a second card for me using a picture that I took of my cousin Brian, his wife Kirsten, and Luke at a KC Royals game last summer.  I had it made because Kirsten was pregnant at the time with little Easton and I wanted Easton to have a reminder of his first major league baseball game.  And with a name like Easton, I'm certain he'll be my baseball collecting buddy as soon as he outgrows the drooling stage (which, if he's anything like his dad, will be his 26th birthday).

Thanks again Big D for creating this card for me.  It truly is one of the key cards in my collections.

The Bloom of a Springtime Contest

 Derek of Tomahawk Chopping is having a CONTEST to celebrate the beginning of spring.  Should you choose to participate and win, Derek will

"snoop around on your blog, check out your want list, see what your favorite team is and do some shopping for you, without your help. So by the time opening day arrives you will receive a package full of recently purchased cards (plus what ever I have of your team). The amount of the card shopping spree depends on how many entries, and right now I'm not classifying that with a number. It will be at least $10 worth of cards."

Not a bad way to start kick off the new year, if you ask me.

And, since pictures are fun to look at, here are some Troy Tulowitzki cards that I have in my Rockies binder.

Bowman Chrome Goodness

I sometimes wonder if chrome cards ever do get scratches like my blog name suggests.  I've never encountered them.  I'm sure that the practice of immediately sliding pack-fresh cards into their protective plastic homes has helped curb any scratching that may occur to a pile of loosely stored chrome cards.  I may have to do some testing to answer this age old riddle once and for all. 

Anyway, enough about me and my thoughts, I'm sure you came here for less words and more pictures.  Well, I'm nothing if not a people pleaser, so I present another of my many Luke Hochevar "rainbows" that is chock full of parallels.  This one is an assortment of 2008 Bowman and Bowman Chrome cards from Luke's rookie season.

As an aside, I really need to get a bigger scanner because not being able to fit nine cards and their toploaders onto my current scanner is really starting to chap my hide.

This assortment of cards is complete with colored parallels, refractors, Xfractors, and a prerequisite printing plate. 

I hope that Luke has a breakout year for the Royals this season so that Topps will once again fill their product with countless Hochevar cards.  I'm tired of waiting until Series 2 (as I did last season and will once again do this year) is released to get my fill of his latest batch of cards.

Karl and the Kidd

Wouldn't that be a great name for a television show?  It's very versatile.  It could be a humorous buddy-cop show.  It could be a sit-com.  It could be a puppet show on PBS.  The possibilities are endless.  But I digress.

When I was a young collector, the first player that I collected cards of from their rookie season on was Jason Kidd.  When he first entered the league, he quickly became my second favorite guard, behind John Stockton.  And like Stockton, he's been a very proficient player, but an NBA Championship has eluded him.

Here are some of the cards of Kidd that I have from my early days of collecting.

The middle card is one of my favorites because if a person didn't know better, they might think Kidd was a 7-foot-tall center the way he towers over Muggsy Bogues.  

Kidd was one of the first players whose rookie cards I was able to get from ripping open packs.  I spent most of my the money I earned mowing lawns in the summer searching for Kidd's rookie cards (all 6-trillion of them.  Damn junk wax.).  Because I left the hobby a couple of years after his rookie season, I have very few (if any) of his later cards still in my collection.

I also have many Karl Malone early-90s inserts in my personal collection. 

So remember, two years from now, when you see a show on the Discovery Channel in which Jason Kidd and Karl Malone travel across the USofA in Karl's 18-wheeler searching for the nation's best pick-up basketball games, and it's called "Karl and the Kidd", remember you saw the name here first.

2010 A&G Hochevars

I have a collection of 2010 Allen&Ginter Luke Hochevar cards.

 
And their backs.

I'm a fan of mini cards.  I'd be an even bigger fan of them if there was a better protective container to store them in rather than a giant top loader. 

I've come to realize that the best looking printing plates are the cyan and magenta ones, while the yellow and black plates seem to be a bit more bland and boring.  But I am a huge fan of the colorful boarder material that A&G used for their special mini cards.  Very visually appealing.  And putting the 1/1 stamp on the front of the card is always appreciated.

Yes, I do own multiple "blank back" cards.  I know that the ToppsVault is just pandering to player collectors like me with these "1/1" cards, but I don't care.  The one complaint that I have with the ToppsVault eBay store is their shipping and handling costs are much higher than they need to be.

I am missing the base card and a few more printing plates from my collection now, but I know that one day I'll have collected the whole set.

KAZAAM!!!

You want a page of ShaqFu cards?!?!

Then nine ShaqDiesel cards you shall get!

 
KAZAAM!!!!

Cause Two Outta Three Ain't Bad

I have three 2010 Topps T-206 cards of Luke Hochevar.

One is the base card.  The other two are 1/1 cards.

The base card is on the left.  The middle card is a mini magenta printing plate.  The card on the right is a 1/1 Blank Back card that I bought from the ToppsVault on eBay.  Which means that this set has my highest percentage of 1/1 cards in my personal collection.

Here are the backs of the cards.

The base card is self-explanatory.  The printing plate has an informative sticker on the back of it which points out that the card is a one-of-a-kind collectable, which happen to be my favorite kind.

Also, you can clearly see why the last card is called a "blank back" card.  It does have a Topps hologram sticker and a hand-written 1/1 serial number.  I also like that the card is in a protective case that has been sealed with a Topps sticker.

Surprisingly, my favorite card of the three is probably the base card because it was the first Hochevar card I pulled from a pack after I started collecting his cards this past summer.  (And, technically, my wife opened the pack with the Hochevar, but that's another story for another time).  Up until that point, every Hochevar card I owned was purchased as a single. 

I'd love to finish out my Hochevar 2010 T-206 rainbow, as well as the base T-206 set (check HERE for the cards I still need to complete the set), so if anyone wants to trade them to me, let me know.

(Thanks to Meatloaf for inspiring my blog title.)

Tulo

Troy Tulowitzki is my favorite current Colorado Rockies player.  Now you might be saying to yourself, "But Eric, I thought Dexter Fowler was your favorite Rockie."  And you'd be right to think that, but Dexter is my favorite Rockie to collect, Troy is my favorite Rockie to watch.  The guy is an animal on the diamond.

But, because Troy is one of the top-notch players in the league, his cards are usually a bit more pricey than I can pay at the moment.  I currently only have a couple of binder pages of his base and insert cards which I was able to get for a few bucks on eBay.  The best way I've found is to search out the lots that are a mixture of Rockies players and to stay away from the Tulowitzki specific lots because those gather the most attention, and the higher bids. 

Here are some of those cards.

With the cards I currently have for Troy, I prefer the ones with action shots because the ones that are posed make him look like a high schooler.

I hope that someday soon I'll be able to add a game-used or autograph card of Troy to my collection.  Until that day comes, I'll continue to track down these "common" cards of my favorite baby-faced shortstop .

The Admiral

I've been working on putting my personal collection of cards into pages in a binder.  It is much easier and more fun to look at them this way, rather than having them in a box. 

Here is one of those pages featuring David "The Admiral" Robinson.

Dude had some ripped arms. 

Also, of note, I don't remember what year it was, but Denver was hosting the NBA All Star Game and I saw David walking around Denver's 16th Street Mall.  My cousin and I followed him into the NikeTown store.  He was the first seven foot tall person I'd ever meet and it was an amazing experience. 

Some fun cards of a great guy.

Triple-Graph

Today's card is one of my favorites from my personal collection. 

It's a 2007 Just Minors Triple Signatures autograph card featuring Alex Gordon, Luke Hochevar, and Billy Butler. 

And here is the back of the card.

The back shows a serial number of 2/3. 

Sadly, I don't have a picture of my dog wearing a batting helmet and swinging a bat, nor do I have one of him with puffed out cheeks.  Therefore, Brodie won't be making an appearance on the blog today.  Which is unfortunate, because he was a big hit the last time I featured a picture of him.  Maybe tomorrow.

Just Stars Autos

A couple of Dexter Fowler Just Stars Autograph cards to whet your whistle.

The black card is serial numbered 23/25 and the red card is numbered 78/100.  While these are the dreaded sticker autographs, I don't mind.  An autograph is an autograph in my book.

I like the simple background and the clean lines of these cards.  Their simplicity makes the subject of the cards, Dexter Fowler and his autograph, really stand out. 

These cards always remind me of this picture I took of my dog Brodie. 

I think it would be a great picture for a trading card.  Problem is, Brodie likes to keep the value of his autographs artificially inflated, so he only signs one autograph a year (or 7 autographs in dog years).  Greedy dog.

Bowman Chrome, Plates, and Patches

The following cards are my Luke Hochevar 2007 Bowman and Bowman Chrome Draft Future's Game Prospect cards.

The numbers used for these cards reminds me of an AM radio stations call numbers.  I can just imagine some jocky saying, "Good, good morning Topeka!  Its a fine Tuesday morning here at BDPP75, your smooth jazz station.  We're coming up on ten after the hour." 

Below are (from left to right, top to bottom) a Bowman Base, a Gold, a Blue (175/399), an All-Star Future's Game Used Jersey, a Bowman Chrome Base, a Refractor, and an XFractor (37/299).

Also, I'm the proud owner of a Bowman Draft Future's Game Prospect Game Worn Patch (34/99), a Bowman Chrome Yellow Printing Plate (1/1), and a Bowman Chrome Black Printing Plate (1/1).

I absolutely love these three cards.  I love that the Patch on the patch card is where the K and the C meet up in the logo.  I also love how the card appears to be made of "refractor" technology, but says nothing about being "refractor" related.

I love printing plates.  Someday I hope to own at least one printing plate set of a card.  I'm halfway there with the Bowman Chrome cards.

For me, 1/1 cards are similar to a hole-in-one in golf.  They are rare but attainable.  While I've never had a hole-in-one, but I've been really close a few times.  I've even had a few near-misses on par-4s.  Some collectors have piles of 1/1 cards and some have none.  Some golfers have dozens of holes-in-one while some will play golf their entire life and never enjoy an ace.  But everyone continues to try to get them, round after round, pack after pack.  It's all about the thrill of the hunt.

Ed McCaffrey

When I was growing up in the 80s and 90s, I only rooted for one local (i.e. in my state) professional sports team, the Denver Broncos. 

Colorado is Broncos country and I was raised on the Orange Crush from an early age.   When I played football in my yard with the neighbor kids, I would pretend to be John Elway passing to the Three Amigos on offense and I was always Karl Mecklenburg when it was my turn to play defense.

By the time I got to high school, the Broncos had ditched their Orange Crush uniforms and had finally surrounded Elway with the talent he needed to win his first Super Bowl.  While Terrel Davis, Bill Romanowski, Rod Smith, Steve Atwater, Shannon Sharpe, and Elway were the popular players of this time, Ed McCaffrey was the player I looked up to and attempted to emulate.

Eddy was everything I wanted to be on the football field.  He was tough, gritty, scrappy, and fast.  I was skinny, slow, and did not enjoy being tackled or hit, which was not the ideal skill set for football.  But, I did the best I could and I contend I looked just as cool wearing 87 on my jersey as Ed.

To make matters worse (or maybe better, depending on how you look at it) our football team was a rushing team.  During my high school career, my classmate Wade Sumpter rushed for 6441 yards (5th all-time in the state) on 723 attempts (7th all-time) and scored 110 touchdowns (3rd all-time) for 676 points (3rd all-time).  You don't reach those numbers by passing often.

I spent my freshman, sophomore, and junior years playing on the JV team.  I just wasn't big enough, fast enough, or tough enough to play at the varsity level.  But during my senior year, after a few players ahead of me on the depth chart got injured, I became a starter on the varsity team.  I ended up being a decent tight end (I was too slow to play flanker, so they hid me on the line) and made the All-Conference team.

Ed McCaffrey was a team player and did what was necessary for his team to win.  He wasn't the star of the team, but without him, the Broncos may not have won back-to-back Super Bowls.

Unfortunately I wasn't collecting cards while Ed was an active player in the League, so here are some cards I picked up at my LCS a while back.

BONUS VIDEO of one of the greatest crack-back blocks in NFL history. Ed lays-out a Green Bay defender and completes it with a finger-point (and please excuse the accompanying music).