Heisman Highlight: Archie Griffin

Name: Archie Griffin
Position: Running Back
College: Ohio State Buckeyes
Class: Junior
Winning Year: 1974 – 40th Award
Official Heisman Profile: Click Here
 
 
 

Interesting Notes: Griffin was named to every All-American team as a junior and destroyed the all-time rushing yards record in the Big Ten…was labeled “the greatest football player I’ve ever coached” by legendary Buckeyes coach Woody Hayes…amassed 31 consecutive 100+ yard games and 5,176 career rushing yards by the time he graduated early…was and is still the only player to ever win two Heisman Trophies…remained modest and an epitome of hard work and dedication on and off the field despite all of his personal accolades…played professional football for the Cincinnati Bengals…was elected to the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame in 1986.

Featured Card: 1977 Topps #269. Despite his absolute dominance of the college game, Archie Griffin never really found his footing in the NFL, playing just 7 seasons with mediocre results. He will always be remembered, however, as the only two-time Heisman winner, a feat that has been challenged but never again repeated in the past 35 years. His rookie card remains fairly popular in terms of activity, but generally carries a sticker price of less than $5.

NOTE: You can find all of my Heisman Highlight Features by clicking the post banner above.

Do The Evolution

If you were to take a look into my office/man cave in my home, you would probably notice three things (in no particular order):

   1) I like sports cards

   2) I like music

   3) I like beer

What you may not know is that I also enjoy combining those interests whenever possible. Sometimes I drink beer while organzing cards. Sometimes I listen to music while scanning cards. Sometimes I drink beer while listening to music. And when I’m feeling particularly spry, I’ll drink beer AND listen to music AND sort cards. Holy cow! Okay, so that sort of multi-tasking isn’t exactly wife-esque, but it still counts.

No, really.

It does.

It’s in that vein that I thought I’d try something new. Actually, to be completely honest, I have to give props to mariner1 of Emerald City Diamond Gems fame for this idea. What if I took cards and music and paired them up in blog form?!? Can you imagine the possibilities? Great Scott! So that is what I will try to do over the next however-long-it-takes-me-to-run-out-of-ideas-or-get-bored-with-the-idea months. Technically I did this a few times before (Setting Forth, Here I Go Again, and Get Off My [Card]), but I like mariner1′s idea of trying to stick with Pearl Jam songs. Some of the connections may get fuzzy, but we’ll do what we can.

To kick things off, we’re going with the first card/song pair that came to mind:

Title: Do the Evolution
Album: Yield
Correlation: This one should be pretty obvious. “Do the Evolution”…Emmitt Smith early and later. Got it? If you want more correlation, consider that Emmitt Smith also wears pants, makes plans, and those ignorant Indians (Washington Redskins?) got nothing on him.

And now for your viewing pleasure (or confusion), I present the music video for “Do the Evolution”:

Now, if only I were allowed to drink while at work…

HOF Spotlight: Ernie Stautner

Name: Ernie Stautner
Position: Defensive Tackle
Pro Career: 1950 – 1963
Team Affiliation(s): Pittsburgh Steelers
College: Boston College
Induction Class: 1969
HOF Profile: Click Here
 
 

Brief Bio: Mildly undersized for an NFL lineman, Ernie Stautner had the will and determination of a giant and went down in history as one of the finest, toughest, and fiercest competitors in league history. Despite a plethora of bodily injuries, Stautner missed just six games in his entire professional career and was named to nine first- or second-team All-NFL squads and played in nine Pro Bowls. An anchor of the greatly feared Pittsburgh D, Stautner found his way into the NFL record books, a rare feat for a defensive lineman. His three career safeties were a then-best and his 23 recovered fumbles was third best at the time. After his retirement, the Steelers officially retired Stautner’s #70 jersey, an honor given to a very select view.

Career Stats: 173 games played; 23 fumble recoveries; 3 safeties; 2 INTs

Featured Card: 1950 Topps Felt Backs #79. Ernie Stautner may have been a small and unproven player in 1950, but in hindsight, Topps (and the Steelers) can be proud of picking him up right out of college. The Topps Felt Backs are an interesting and fairly rare set to find. There are currently no copies of this card available on eBay. Stautner does, however, have several other vintage football cards as well as junk wax era HOF cards and more recent cut autographs – something for every collection style.

 

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