Product Review: 2010 Panini Adrenalyn XL

Not to be outdone by their football counterpart, Panini has released their answer to Topps Attax, in the form of Adrenalyn XL. Just like Attax, Adrenalyn has another sport predecessor as Panini originally created this game concept using its NBA license.

The Box – Click for Detail

Hobby booster boxes come with 50 6-card packs for a total of 300 cards. I purchased this box from Blowout Cards for $39.99 (As usual, I added some supplies to get free shipping), which translates into a $0.13/card ratio. With a per card price identical to Topps Attax, this is another card game where the price point is just right. You once again get a fair amount of cards for not a lot of cash. In yet another parallel to Attax, you can buy a starter box that comes with 4 packs of cards, a game board with rules, a collector’s album, and 10 free virtual cards.

50 of these per booster box!

The Breakdown:
Base Cards: 261 (56.3% of 448-card set)
   Doubles: 9
   Rookies: 15
Inserts
   Special: 25 (of 64)
   Extra: 6 (of 32)
   Extra Signatures: 6 (of 32)
   Ultimate: 2 (of 32)

Click images for full-sized scans

FIRST AND GOAL’S FOUR DOWNS:
1st Down, Design: The first word that comes to mind when I saw this set design was “colorful.” Each card is drenched in the player’s team color which adds a lot of attractive appeal to the set. Unforunately, my second thought was “haven’t I seen this design before?” Oh, that’s right, I have. You have too. I reviewed it here. The team colors are a huge improvement upon the drab base design, and that is exactly what I was referring to when I reviewed Prestige. Unfortunately, some of the other issues with the base design stayed intact. The angled text is awkward, especially on the offensive cards. The cards are numbered, which was my biggest complain with Attax, but it is still a pain to collate a stack because the offensive and defensive cards have the identification elements on opposite sides of the cards. I do like that the card backs have different colors for offense/defense, but otherwise they are very busy. Overall, I suppose it’s not a terrible base design, but it would be nice to see Panini not just copy and paste a design for once.

2nd Down, Inserts: These were actually a pleasant surprise from this product. The various booster cards are quite attractive and really eye-catching, in a good way. They are super shiney and certainly have that “special feel” you would expect from a higher powered game card. I’m not sure what the need is for an Extra/Extra Signatures difference though. Also, the Ultimate cards, other than the faux autographs, don’t look much different than the Special cards, even though they are the rarest and most valuable. The Extra cards look the nicest with their almost Xfractor look. Maybe I am just missing something. My only real problem with the inserts is that, as you can faintly tell from the scan, they have all curled just a bit in the week or so since I’ve opened the packs. I just have the cards lined up in the original box and my central air at home has been on the fritz (although it luckily has not been terribly hot or humid since it went down), so maybe I am to blame, but none of the base cards have curled. Just an observation.

3rd Down, Collation: There really isn’t anything to complain about here. I did pull 9 duplicates without completing the entire 608-card set (I cannot figure out how Panini came up with the “560″ statistic on the front of the packs), which is usually a huge detriment in my opinion. However, there are 300 cards in a box, so that is only a 3% duplicate rate. That would be the equivilent to pulling 1 dupe in a hobby box from just about any other low-to-mid shelf product. It’s not ideal, but I can live with it. I feel like I got a good mix of offensive/defensive cards, I pulled an adequate amount of inserts, and I am happy with the number of rookies that I pulled (although I doubt much of the hobby world will consider them actual rookie cards). I don’t feel terribly confident that I could compile the entire 448-card base set from just two boxes, although the stats would say I could.

4th Down, Overall Value: I’m going to have to practically copy and paste this portion from my Topps Attax review (although I guess not being original on a review of a Panini product is appropriate). If you are looking for a bargain product or are interested in the game aspect, the price is just right. At $0.13 per card, you do not have to spend very much to get a lot of cards with which to play the game. But once again, if you are a hardcore collector who crinkles his/her nose at “cheap” sets or cards that don’t feature jersey swatches or autographs, there is no way this product is for you, but at the same time, you’re not going to bother buying any packs or singles anyway. There are certainly no surprises with these card-based game sets, and that is, to an extent, a breath of fresh air.

RED ZONE RESULTS: FIELD GOAL Just like Topps Attax, Panini Adrenalyn XL is exactly what it is supposed to be. It looks like a fun card game aimed directly at kids. I cannot vouche for the ease of play though because Panini did not include any rule cards in the booster box. One big perk is that each card has an online activation code that allows you to build your teams online and play against people from around the world. In a day when card collectors are becoming harder and harder to find, having that online element is a nice touch. The cards in this set are attractive and would not look out of place in your team or player collections, despite being part of a game. However, the game aspect simply doesn’t appeal to me, so I don’t feel that a touchdown is appropriate for this review. Perhaps by next year if a new version comes out I will have enough time to sit down and learn the game and will appreciate the set more, but for right now, it has to sit where it is now: a cheap entry-level product that will eventually go into team lots.

NEXT UP: 2010 Panini Rookies & Stars

Honus Wagner Gem Discovered

Talk about finding paydirt. You may or may not believe what you are about to read, but I promise it is the truth.

I own a T206 Honus Wagner card and it is practically in gem mint condition.

The holy grail of all card collecting.

No joke.

Need proof? How about a scan. And bear in mind, this is NOT a “borrowed” image from another website. This is purely and honestly directly from my cheapo CanoScan Lide Scanner at home:

T206 Honus Wagner

See. I wouldn’t lie to you.

Alright, now before my inbox gets flooded with requests to see, touch, smell, and lick this historic goodness, and before my identity protection is compromised and I have petty thieves breaking into my house every night, I should probably qualify that bolded statement above. But before I do, let’s start with a story.

When I was about 7, I was really starting to take an interest in collecting cards. So much so, that it didn’t matter what was on the card. Baseball, football, basketball, Batman (the 1989 movie), Home Alone actors, or my local police force (who apparently thought handing out their own baseball cards to little boys was far less creepy than handing out candy from unmarked vans): it didn’t matter. If it was cardboard, measured 2¹/₂” by 3¹/₂” and featured something I had even a hint of recognizing, I wanted it. I even had a random card of a horse. No, not Secretariat or Affirmed, just a normal brown and white horse. My best friend at the time was also really into cards and we would often compare collections and trade.

One time we were looking through a magazine (probably an old Beckett) and saw an article about the T206 Honus Wagner and the fact that it was ridiculously valuable. I looked at my friend and said, “I have that card!” Naturally he did not believe me, and because I didn’t want to feel obligated to share any of my possible wealth, we changed subjects and continue with our childhood activities of the day. Not long afterwards, I pulled out my blue Baseball Card Dugout and sure enough, there it was. I couldn’t help but think, Oh man! I’m gonna be rich! To make things even sweeter, I realized that I had a duplicate! DOUBLE BONUS! All I had to do was figure out who could help me sell it and I would be able to buy all of the candy, baseball cards, and toys I could dream of. I could even keep one of the copies just to prove to all my friends that I had one AND still have tons of disposable income.

There was, as I’m sure you have figured out by now, a catch to this whole grand scheme. It wasn’t until I turned the card over that I realized the sad truth:

Awww Hell…

To my well informed readers, you can spot the obvious problem with this situation. I must admit though, that my 7-year-old mind was so convinced I had hit the card collecting jackpot that my first reaction was, Why would they just describe the card on back and how did they know it would be worth $25,000 someday? And besides, I thought it was worth over a MILLION dollars! Then it dawned on me.

This wasn’t a real T206 Wagner.

So what started as a special discovery of unimaginable wealth prospects quickly turned into the realization that all I had was two worthless reprints. Awesome. I hate to admit it, but the aforementioned bolded statement needed to be qualified as such: I own a T206 Honus Wagner replica/reprint card and it is practically in gem mint condition.

To this day, I still have to laugh anytime I see, hear or read a reference to the Holy Grail as I think to myself, I have that card! I have no idea how I came about obtaining these replicas. I have a few other tobacco style reprints and a 1935 Knute Rockne National Chicle football card. I just remember always being annoyed with them (except for that short time when I thought they were actually valuable) because they were not standard sized cards and would always fall out of stacks and dig into my hands as I was collating my collection.

Stupid reprints.

Product Review: 2010 Topps Attax

2010 NFL cards are no longer a one-man show. Admittedly late to the party due to a rather last minute decision by the NFL to renew their football license afterall, Topps has finally released its premier 2010 football product. Paralleling the popular baseball version, Attax brings an “exciting” fantasy football world to the table in the form of a card-based game.

The Box – Click for Detail

Hobby booster boxes come with 36 6-card packs for a total of 216 cards. I purchased this box from Blowout Cards for $28 (As usual, I added some supplies to get free shipping), which translates into a $0.13/card ratio. As a card game directly marketed to kids, this price point is just right. You can get a fair amount of cards for not a lot of cash. You can also purchase starter packs that essentially contain a full game deck, a few foil cards, a game board, and instructions.

Featuring a 3-pack variety

The Breakdown:
Base Cards
   Quarterbacks: 18
   Running Backs: 18
   Wide Receivers: 46
   Tight Ends: 8
   Defensive Ends: 12
   Nose Tackles: 1
   Defensive Tackles: 3
   Linebackers: 42
   Cornerbacks: 19
   Safeties: 13
Inserts
   Superstars Foil: 6
   Red Zone Foil: 12
   Code Cards: 18
Other
   Rule/Instruction Cards: 9 (not counted as 1 of 6 cards per pack)

Click images for full-sized scans

FIRST AND GOAL’S FOUR DOWNS:
1st Down, Design: For a card game, this is a pretty solid design. The cards are simple yet attractive; functional for the game, yet nice enough to collect. I like that the players are not simply cut and pasted on top of a generic background, yet it was a nice touch to fade the rest of the photograph used with the player’s team color. The name and team are easy to read and do not feel awkward. The game features are also easy to understand and add a punch of color variety (especially in the cases where the team color used in the background is the same as the jersey being worn by the player). I really only have two complaints about the base design: 1) There is no card number. Anywhere. I realize this is a card game and not a normal collector’s set, but it would still be nice to offer some ordering possibilities and for easier recognition of the cards you don’t have. 2) The back of the cards are ultra neutral…except for the team logo. It would be better to have an offense/defense designation (color scheme) more than the block print word. And isn’t the ultra neutral card back to prevent your game foe from knowing your players before selecting theirs (see the rules in full size here)? Then why put the team logo? Obviously I will be much more worried about a Patriots or Vikings offensive player than a Bills or Rams offensive player. That part just doesn’t make sense to me.

2nd Down, Inserts: As a card game, there aren’t a lot of inserts of which to speak. There are some nifty code cards that feature different player photographs and offer a chance to unlock Topps Town stuff. I have never done anything with Topps Town, but I believe it is directed towards kids, so that is a good connection for this product. There are also really shiney foil cards designated as Superstars and Red Zone. I’m not sure if there is much of a difference between the two, but all foil cards do have superior play ratings compared to their base brethren. It certainly adds a level of collectibility and value AND adds a layer of mystery to the game. I never played Magic or Yu-gi-oh, but I understand there are special rare and foil cards in these games that boost powers, so this is the sports card game version of that. Also, there are four Legends cards (including Emmitt!) that have absurdly high play ratings, and these are only available in the foil variants (and I believe these were only seeded into starter packs, not booster boxes, much to my chagrin).

3rd Down, Collation: I can’t complain here. I definitely got a few code cards of the same players, but obviously the codes were different. There may have also been a few duplicate base player cards, but I honestly couldn’t tell you at this point. See? That no card numbering aspect is rather irksome. I feel like I pulled a good split of offense/defense and even a good split between the positions, although there seemed to be an awful lot of wide receivers and linebackers. Perhaps that is the case with the entire set though, and not just my individual box.

4th Down, Overall Value: This one is pretty easy. If you are looking for a bargain product or are interested in the game aspect, the price is just right. At $0.13 per card, you do not have to spend very much to get a lot of cards with which to play the game. If you are a hardcore collector who crinkles his/her nose at “cheap” sets or cards that don’t feature jersey swatches or autographs, there is no way this product is for you. Basically, it is like Score, but in a game concept.

RED ZONE RESULTS: FIELD GOAL Topps Attax delivers exactly what it was designed to be: a fun product for kids to enjoy and possibly introduce them to card collecting. The cards are (mostly) well designed and functional. The game sounds incredibly easy to play, even if you opt not to buy the starter pack for the “collective binder” and game board (you could play on any flat surface with ample space and lighting). The inserts are attractive. It’s everything it is supposed to be. So then why not give it a touchdown and maybe even the elusive PAT? It simply isn’t that exciting or valuable to your normal card collector. Sure, I’d like to have the Emmitt Smith Legends foil card in my collection, but I’m not exactly losing sleep over the fact that I don’t. If I were still 7, I would probably LOVE this product, if only for the price point. Now that I’m in my mid-20s, it lacks appeal to me. And honestly, that’s fine. Not every product needs to be intended for every market segment. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s impossible unless you have an absurdly narrow market that segmentation is essentially useless. But this is my blog and my opinion vehicle, so get over it. A field goal is still pretty good. And when you are a fan of Big Ten college ‘ball, sometimes the best thing you can do is connect on a 37-yarder. Games are won and lost by the field goal. And Topps Attax certainly deserves a field goal.

NEXT UP: 2010 Panini Adrenalyn XL

HOF Spotlight: Bobby Layne

Name: Bobby Layne
Position: Quarterback
Pro Career: 1948 – 1962
Team Affiliation(s): Chicago Bears, New York Bulldogs, Detroit Lions, Pittsburgh Steelers
College: Texas
Induction Class: 1967

Brief Bio: A dynamic individual both on and off the playing field, Bobby Layne has gone down as one of the greatest players in Detroit Lion history. Layne was an All-NFL player twice in his illustrious 15-year professional career and won 4 divisional and 3 NFL titles in the 1950s. Beyond his statistical accomplishments, of which there are many, Layne is also remembered for his intangibles: leadership, determination, competitiveness, and guts. He may have liked to party hard, but come game time, no one competed more fiercely than Layne and that determination allowed him to become one of the most prolific pigskin tossers of his era.

Career Stats: 175 games played; 1,814 completions; 26,768 passing yards; 196 passing TDs; 2,451 rushing yards; 25 rushing TDs; 34/50 FGs; 120/124 PATs

Featured Card: 1948 Leaf #6. As a high profile quarterback for one of the most successful teams in his era, there is little doubt the rookie card of Bobby Layne is highly prized. Trivia Beckett value of this gem is $400. Current eBay prices for this card range from $75 to $349, although there is an obvious premium for highly graded copies. Most listings fell between $125 and $250. One note that this card brings to my attention is that it may be worth your while to search with alternate spellings. I accidentally typed “Bobby Lane” for my first search and only caught it because I thought it odd that no 1948 Leafs showed up, although a lot of others did pop up with that incorrect spelling. Also, although Layne’s first name often appears as “Bobby”, you may want to check “Bob” or “Bobbie” (as it is spelled on this card). Often times sellers may not understand why their card is not selling and will lower the price without realizing they are using an incorrect name. On the flip side, uninformed sellers or potential fraudsters may be more likely to make these mistakes, so as always, shop with caution.

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

Some Thoughts on the National

Okay, okay, so it’s been almost a week since I attended one day of the National Sports Collectors Convention. What can I say? I’m a procrastinator. I think the biggest reason I’ve waited so long to post anything about the National is either that A) I was told to take lots of great pictures to share and I realized part way through the day that I suck at taking pictures of anything other than landscapes or, B) I had mixed feelings about the National and had no idea how I wanted to construct my post.

To be honest, I still don’t know how I will construct this post. We’ll just let it flow and then edit as necessary.

INITIAL THOUGHTS

1. The Facility – This year, the National was in Baltimore and was held in the cleverly named Baltimore Convention Center. The building is absolutely gorgeous (in a building sort of way, not in a Waxaholic’s famed Ice Girl or Cheerleader of the Week way). There was ample floor space, nothing felt crowded, and it is surprisingly easy to get to. I also had to use the facility’s facilities part way through the day, which were clean and functional — always a nice touch. One point of interest: the changing table in the restroom had been vandalized by someone scratching off the “c” in “Changing” so that it read “Baby hanging Station”…which I sadly found amusing.

2. Vintage – I was under the impression that if you wanted it, it would be at the National. Apparently that should be adapted to read “If it’s vintage and you wanted it, it would be at the National.” I was blown away by the first booth I visited of the day with the large array of pre-WWII cards. Then I found another. And another. And another. And another. And…you get the idea. There were probably more vintage dealers at the show than anything else. Don’t get me wrong, it was ridiculously cool seeing all of those old sets in person that I’ve only read about before, but it was almost overkill. I did get to see the Holy Grail of cards, the T206 Honus Wagner, in person. It was in its own display case with a dedicated spotlight and piece of carpet. Even though it was graded a PSA 2, it was probably still worth more than all of my collection…my cars…and my house…combined.

3. Corporate Booths – This was probably the biggest disappointment of all. The corporate booths looked nice, what with their fancy convention signs and tables, but overall didn’t really add much content to the show. Sure there were wrapper redemptions (of which I participated in none) and some newer cards on display, but nothing to get all hot and bothered by.

4. Tristar Autographs – I wasn’t particularly interested in autographs because they charge extra and you had to wait in line, but the guy I went with wanted to meet Frank Howard and get a Dodgers picture signed. Frank turned out to be a ridiculously nice guy and although his line moved obnoxiously slow, it was because he was telling stories and taking his time to make sure he got the inscriptions, pen color, and auto placement the fan wanted. That is great. Mike Rozier’s line seemed to be moving awfully fast, so obviously not everyone is like Frank. I’m not a huge autograph hound, so the extra money wouldn’t be worth it to me, but my friend enjoyed that he not only got the auto he wanted, but got to share a little moment with a baseball legend. If that’s your thing, it’s definitely worth the wait.

5. Meet & Greet (a.k.a. build collecting community) – This was basically non-existent for me. Maybe I’m just socially awkward or I don’t know people well enough. I only recognized Tracy Hackler from Beckett and I think I saw Andrew from Sports Card Info while he was getting Mike Rozier’s auto (I have linked directly to Andrew’s picture post from the National since he got some great shots of all of the corporate booths). Other than that, I had no idea who was who and I guess I was just a little frazzled by the size of the event to try to ask around and meet people. That was definitely my fault.

MY DAY

1. Arrival – We left around 7:15am and rolled into BMore around 9:30am. The Convention Center was just a few blocks from the end of I-93, so it was very easy to access. We were not VIPs, so we had to wait to get into the show. There seemed to be a little electricity in the air. Maybe it was just everyone dreaming of their Strasburg Heritage National exclusive.

2. Browsing – After trying to walk around and take in the entire show before diving in and looking through card bins, my day was half shot. There is just so much to do and see at the National, it’s a little overwhelming, especially for a guy who’s never been there before. I definitely made mental notes of certain stands I wanted to return to, but it seemed every time I turned around, there was a new booth I hadn’t seen before. Actually, I’m not going to lie, it was a little intimidating.

3. Lunch – I took a bagged lunch on the advice from readers. The food lines didn’t look long and cumbersome, but I can only imagine what they were charging for a Coke and a cheeseburger. My bologna and cheese sandwich was just fine. While eating, I was joined by two guys in need of a breather. The one guy had a rip card from 2010 Allen and Ginter. He was trying to use his buddy’s LED flashlight to see if he could figure out what the mini was inside. He couldn’t. He decided it was worth the risk and ripped into it. If I remember correctly, he pulled an A-Rod. He was a little too concerned about book value for my liking, but I was very amused by the process.

4. Purchases – I went to the National armed with about $400 cash and fully expected to blow all of it pretty quickly. Unfortunately for my collection (but fortunately for my wallet), I actually came home with over $300 cash, and that included stopping on the way home for dinner. I was really looking to fill in my 2008 Masterpieces parallel sets binder, but couldn’t really find any dealers with those for sale. Apparently if you wanted anything other than vintage or high end (possibly faked?) singles or brand new products (or random other memorabilia), you couldn’t find it. Granted, I didn’t look through every single box from every single vendor, mainly because I draw the line at leafing through 30,000 cards with hope of finding 4 cards I need. There were a lot of guys who only had their cards organized by sport or by price (this entire table is $0.10 each). I simply didn’t feel like wasting my time with that. I found a few stands who at least had stars pulled out separately and managed to find a few with decent prices that had lots of Emmitts I did not have. I couldn’t find any of the sweet late 90s inserts I really hoped I would find, but I did come home with probably 50-75 common Emmitts, a few lower end inserts, and 2 jersey cards. Someday I’ll scan them. But that day hasn’t come yet.

WHAT TO DO DIFFERENT NEXT TIME

1. Adapted Expectations – I went to the National thinking I would come home with tons of cards I had specifically targeted as wants for my collection. I came home with none of them. I suppose it shouldn’t be a huge surprise that vintage and high end singles dominated card stands, but it definitely didn’t help me. I’m not going to get on a soapbox and argue either way whether or not the National should be so slanted for some segments, but it is what it is. If I get the chance to go again, I will definitely change my focus and maybe not even bother trying to find specific cards and just generally look for cool stuff in main display cases rather than looking through any bulk boxes.

2. Meet People – It would have been great to meet more collectors, corporate folk, and obviously fellow bloggers. I don’t know if that would take the form of me following through with my original plan to make and wear a First and Goal logo t-shirt or just me being more proactive to talk to people running the stands. There is also the possibility of organizing a meet up through the blog channels before even arriving at the show. It would be great to take a more relaxed approach to the National next time around: forget about finding singles I can get online and just go for the social face-to-face aspect.

3. Participate in Promotions – As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t go after any of the wrapper redemptions, contests, or even take advantage of reduced wax prices. This all involves buying new products, none of which are honestly appealing to me for one reason or another right now. However, it would add an element of fun to the day and could definitely help to achieve #2 above, meeting new people.

4. Take Autographs More Seriously – I’m still not a big autograph guy, nor do I expect to be any time soon. But it is still pretty cool to be able to say you have so-and-so’s autograph and got an opportunity to meet him and get your picture taken with him. At the very least, I could focus on a few athletes that others may appreciate more than I do. I get the chance to meet a great legend and can then send off an autographed card or photo to a fellow blogger. That would be pretty cool. It would definitely depend on prices though. I would probably just go after the older guys who do not charge an arm and a leg just to scribble a pen across a photograph.

OVERALL THOUGHTS

The National was a great experience and is certainly something I will remember for a long time to come. The vast quantity of cards and merchandise was overwhelming, but with a better thought out plan, the day could have been much more productive and enjoyable. Also, depending on schedule and finances, it would be great to go a few days and not just one. We left the show about two hours before it closed down for the evening and we felt wiped out. But if I had taken the more casual, social approach I talked about above, I probably would have been rearing to go back the next day.

WOULD I GO AGAIN?

YES!

Maybe in a few days I’ll get around to organizing and posting the few photos I did take throughout the day. No promises will be made, but just know I’m at least considering it.

Culmination

Dreams. Goals. Aspirations.

We are all familiar with these three ideas. From early childhood through the winter of our lives, we all strive to achieve certain personal conquests. Be it a humble accomplishment that only you could recognize or be it worldwide acknowledgement for an incredible feat, we all have something for which we are reaching. The carrot on a stick. The holy grail. The fire inside. Something always keeps us going.

For one undersized football player growing up in the 70s and 80s in northern Florida, all of those dreams, goals, and aspirations have come to fruition. The dream of playing professional football? Check. The goal of playing for the Dallas Cowboys? Check. The aspiration of being the greatest running back of all time? Check. And now that all of that has been accomplished, there was one last professional feat to be achieved: immortal enshrinement into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Check.

That undersized football player who had to wait seemingly forever to have his name called in the 1990 NFL Draft and then went on to rewrite the record books has achieved all of these dreams. He has accomplished all of these goals. He has taken ownership of all of these aspirations. And now his entire career has culminated to the one moment so many dream of yet so few achieve.

Emmitt Smith has been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

From a card collector’s perspective, Emmitt’s career has culminated in his enshrinement in more ways than one. Not only has my lifelong favorite football player been recognized for all of his amazing feats, but now a small part of my Emmitt Smith card collection has been proven correct. I have a handfull of Hall of Fame-themed cards in my Emmitt collection, my favorite of which is shown below.

2000 Upper Deck Legends Canton Calling

Canton no longer needs to call.

I was fortunate to, more accidentally than anything, watch Emmitt’s induction on Saturday evening. I know these things are announced far ahead of time, but I did not realize it was this past weekend already. Luckily for me, my wife and I were channel surfing and nothing else was terribly appealing. For anyone not able to catch Emmitt’s acceptance speech, it can be viewed in its entirety here.

And for the record, I do not mean any disrespect to Russ Grimm, Rickey Jackson, Dick LeBeau, Floyd Little, John Randle, or Jerry Rice. But when your favorite athlete of all time gets inducted into the Hall of Fame, it’s a pretty cool thing.

Congrats, Emmitt.