Fantasy Football

Hey all you readers, this is a quick plea to have a few more of you sign up for our fantasy football league. To enter, all you need to do is leave a comment HERE and I will send the group info to your email address. We still have three spots open. I am shooting for a live draft this weekend so there is enough time to set rosters and pull players off of waivers for the big season kick off on September 10. If you’re interested, please let me know. This league is free to join and a “hit” or two will be going to the top finisher(s)!

HOF Spotlight: Ed Healey

Name: Ed Healey
Position: Tackle
Pro Career: 1920 – 1927
Team Affiliation(s): Rock Island Independents; Chicago Bears
College: Dartmouth
Induction Class: 1964

Brief Bio: The concept of trading and selling player contracts, a common theme in modern sports, had to start somewhere. That start, was Ed Healey. When Healey heard of a new professional football league forming, he immediately caught an overnight train to Rock Island and, after playing a game, was offered a permanent position with the Independents. Following a game in which Healey dominated the Bears, Chicago owner George Halas bought Healey for $100, giving him a raise to $100 per game and a clubhouse, a luxury not available in Rock Island. Halas would often call Healey the “most versatile tackle in history”. Healey was an all-league selection in five of his eight professional seasons and was perhaps the fastest tackle in league history.

Career Stats: 89 games played; 1 fumble recovery TD (defensive stats not kept in early NFL history)

Featured Card: 1975 Fleer Hall of Fame #55. The fans’ general lackluster appreciation of great defensive players, coupled with his career being complete before the release of major football card sets, Ed Healey does not have a true rookie card. For that reason, we once again look to a HOF focused set, this time with the 1975 product from Fleer. Trivial Beckett value for this card is $0.75. At the time of my research, only a few Ed Healey cards were listed for sale, with almost all of them carrying a $1 pricetag. Obviously if you find an autographed version like the one shown above, you can expect to pay quite a bit more.

NOTE: You can find all of my Hall Of Fame Spotlight Features by clicking the HOF Spotlight banner above.

When Players Switch Teams

The recent signings of Michael Vick and Brett Favre, and the subsequent card announcements from Upper Deck, Topps, and Panini have got me to thinking about the whole first-card-for-new-team scenario. It seems that card makers have several options when it comes to players switching teams. Obviously the very late signings of Vick and Favre created a whole new host of problems when it came to including them in sets, so I am talking mostly about a basic trade or free agent situation. Just like almost any football card related topic, I am going to fall back to my Emmitt Smith collection for examples.

 

Click each image for a full sized scan

1. The Old Jersey with New Logo Card This is probably the most typical trade/free agent card. For almost every product released, except high end cards released well after the season begins, companies use game action shots from the year before. When a player switches teams during the off-season, obviously there are no game photos to be used. Often a photo featuring the player in his old uniform will be used, but the card will show the new team’s name and logo. This is probably the cleanest way to take care of the new team issue, but it can get messy for team collectors. Do you obtain a card because the player is still in your favorite team’s jersey, or stay away because it has an enemy logo on the front?

2. The Press Conference Card This concept was used a lot for draft picks just a few years ago, especially in basketball for some reason. Personally, I hate these cards. I applaud the care companies trying to use the most recent photograph possibly, showing the player “happily” displaying his new jersey or team hat. However, these guys are paid to play the game. I do not care that Emmitt Smith can afford a fine Italian suit. I want to see him in pads and helmet about to cross the goal line or lay a devastating stiff arm. Forunately, these cards seem to be losing popularity amongst the card manufacturers.

3. The Practice Jersey Card This is another, better attempt at the companies trying to get the most recent photography possible to show the player as a part of his new team. Obviously for products released before the season begins, it is impossible to get a real game action shot, so a practice shot is the next best thing. Quarterback cards are probably the worst in this category because of the blinding red protection jerseys they often wear in practice, as seen in the recently released images of the new Vick and Favre Upper Deck cards. Some collectors seem to prefer these over other pre-season options, while others hate them.

4. The Air Brushed Card Now before I get too much criticism, I realize the Emmitt card above was probably not air brushed by a graphic design employee of Donruss. This just happens to be the only Emmitt card I have that shows him in a true Cardinals jersey before he actually played for the Cardinals. One recent example of a true air brushed card is the upcoming 2009 Topps Finest card of Brett Favre. Topps did not wait until Favre played a game (pre-season or real) to get this shot. They simply pulled an older photo and changed the jersey colors and logos. This was very common practice in vintage card sets when team jerseys and helmets were much simpler and card companies often used the same player photo year after year
(h/t Gellman and Nearmint).

What do you guys think? If it’s too early to get a true action shot of a player in his new jersey, which option would you rather see used?

Favre’s Official Return

On Friday, Upper Deck officially released an image of Brett Favre’s first Vikings card. Similar to the Michael Vick card, this Favre card will be numbered as part of the 2009 Upper Deck flagship set but will be inserted into packs of 2009 SPx. Also similar to the Vick card, this card will be short printed due to the rush to print and seed the card into the SPx product line. 2009 Upper Deck is set to go live on September 1 while SPx is due out two weeks later on September 15.

Click image for larger size

What do you guys think? Do you like this idea or should Upper Deck have waited and just added Vick and Favre to later releases rather than quick throw in these practice jersey cards?

Sorry for being late with this one. Stupid buying a house and moving…

HOF Spotlight: Jimmy Conzelman

Name: Jimmy Conzelman
Position: Quarterback, Coach, Owner
Pro Career: 1920 – 1930, 1940 – 1942, 1946 – 1948
Team Affiliation(s): Decatur Staleys, Rock Island Independents, Milwaukee Badgers, Detroit Panthers, Providence Steam Roller, Chicago Cardinals
College: Washington of St. Louis
Induction Class: 1964

Brief Bio: A multi-dimensional talent (both on and off the field), Jimmy Conzelman was the epitome of early professional football. A star halfback in college, Conzelman was recruited by fellow HOF member George Halas to play for the Decatur Staleys, where he played for just one year. He then went to the Rock Island Independents where he began his career as a player-coach, a common role for star athletes in the early NFL. In 1925, Conzelman was offered an NFL franchise in Detroit for a reported investment of $100. Although his team, for which he was owner/coach/quarterback, enjoyed moderate success on the field, he could never crack the Motor City’s fanbase. After a knee injury ended his playing career, Conzelman returned to football after successfully trying other careers. He led the Chicago Cardinals to an NFL title in 1947 and a second consecutive divisional title in 1948.

Career Stats: 102 games played; 10 passing TDs; 13 rushing TDs; 11 receiving TDs; 1 interception TD; 88-64-17 record as coach

Featured Card: 1990 Swell Greats #34. Although Conzelman was a very gifted and multi-talented threat on the field, he never seems to have gotten the critical acclaim (HOF membership aside) as other star athletes of the early 20th century. Conzelman does not have a rookie card, so I chose to feature one of those HOF focused sets of the junk wax era, which can be a nice way to pick up cards of HOF members without having to take out a second mortgage on your house or sell your first-born child. Trivial Beckett value of the pictured card is $0.10. Prices on eBay around about $1-$5 (mostly depending on shipping), but I feel that is more because very few cards are listed below $1 on eBay. It may be beneficial to contact a seller of this type of card if you are looking to purchase a bunch of cheap cards as they may be willing to cut you a deal with combined shipping or even a few free cards. I think most sellers would just be happy to unload some cardboard from that era, so it can’t hurt to ask!

NOTE: You can find all of my Hall Of Fame Spotlight Features by clicking the HOF Spotlight banner above.

(Ex-) Giant Idiot

After months of allegations, accusations, and legal proceedings, ex-New York Giant star receiver Plaxico Burress is heading off to prison. Burress has accepted a plea bargain that carries a 2-year prison sentence, which is less than the 3.5-year sentence he was facing if found guilty by trial. You can read more details in this Yahoo! Sports story.

The once great wide receiver for the Steelers and Giants was a star in Super Bowl XLII when he caught the game-winning touchdown to shock the heavily favored Patriots squad. Soon afterwards, he shot himself in the leg with an illegal handgun at a night club. Since then, Burress’ life has been in a seemingly downward spiral, now culminating with this weapons plea bargain. Burress will be sentenced on September 22 and is expecting to begin serving time immediately afterward. Should everything go by the current plan, Burress could be out and ready to make an NFL return in time for spring training in 2011.

A note to Eagles fans: You could be getting a new star wide receiver in two years!

No word yet from Upper Deck or Topps if they plan to include a Burress card featuring his soon-to-be new team colors: orange and black (and I don’t mean the Bengals).