Retro Blog Bat Around: Who Do You Think Of First? - NFL Edition

Was just perusing my old posts (as I did quite often...at work.  LOL) and realized that I had done the Bat Around for the MLB on which player comes to mind when each team is mentioned.  I said I would do the NFL version soon, but apparently never did.

Well, here goes.... 

Of course, most of the time, I think of the great quarterbacks and HOF'ers by default - unless I have a major player collection from the same team.  I'll try to go beyond the QB's for this (survey).  And even though I still watch NFL football (and UFL) and know the current players well, I think there's a good argument to add a vintage or all-time player too, though that may put the choices right back to the classic QB's, which are the boring answers.  I'm probably overthinking all of this.  I guess the number one thing to keep in mind is that this is not "who's the greatest player of that team", but just "Who do you think of first?"

Now, what order do I go in? 😜  Since I had to cut each one from the group shot above, they appear in alphabetic order, so let's go with that:

Arizona Cardinals
default answer: Kyler Murray or Jim Hart
all-time answer: Larry Fitzgerald
quirky answer: Dan Dierdorf

Atlanta Falcons
default answer: Bijan Robinson or Matt Ryan
all-time answer: Michael Vick
quirky answer: Tommy Nobis

 

Baltimore Ravens
default answer: Lamar Jackson or Joe Flacco
all-time answer: Ray Lewis
quirky answer: Obafemi (Femi) Ayanbadejo

Buffalo Bills
default answer: Josh Allen or Damar Hamlin
all-time answer: OJ Simpson or Jim Kelly
quirky answer: Marshawn Lynch

Carolina Panthers
default answer: Cam Newton
all-time answer: Steve Smith, Jr.
quirky answer: Stephen Davis

Chicago Bears
default answer: Caleb Williams
all-time answer: Walter Payton or Dick Butkus
quirky answer: Peanut Tillman

Cincinnati Bengals
default answer: Joe Burrow or Jamar Chase
all-time answer: Anthony Muñoz or Ken Anderson
quirky answer: Ickey Woods

Cleveland Browns
default answer: Shadeur Sanders or Deshaun Watson
all-time answer: Jim Brown
quirky answer: Ozzie Newsome

Dallas Cowboys
default answer: Dak Prescott or CeeDee Lamb
all-time answer: Roger Staubach or Troy Aikman
quirky answer: Ed "Too Tall" Jones

 

Denver Broncos
default answer: Bo Nix
all-time answer: Peyton Manning or Shannon Sharpe
quirky answer: Tom Jackson (from? Looivul)

Detroit Lions
default answer: Matthew Stafford or Calvin Johnson
all-time answer: Barry Sanders
quirky answer: Charlie Batch or Rodney Peete

Green Bay Packers
default answer: Aaron Rodgers
all-time answer: Brett Favre or Reggie White
quirky answer: Bubba Franks

Houston Texans
default answer: CJ Stroud
all-time answer: J.J. Watt
quirky answer: Demeco Ryans

Indianapolis Colts
default answer: Peyton Manning
all-time answer: Johnny Unitas
quirky answer: Bert Jones

Jacksonville Jaguars
default answer: Trevor Lawrence
all-time answer: Tony Boselli or Mark Brunell
quirky answer: David Garrard

Chiefs
default answer: Patrick Mahomes
all-time answer: Derrick Thomas or Tony Gonzalez
quirky answer: Priest Holmes or Emmitt Thomas

 

Chargers
default answer: Justin Herbert
all-time answer: Junior Seau or Dan Fouts
quirky answer: Charlie Joiner

Rams
default answer: Puka Nacua or Aaron Donald
all-time answer: Torry Holt or Isaac Bruce
quirky answer: James Harris

Raiders
default answer: Maxx Crosby
all-time answer: Ken Stabler or Jack Tatum
quirky answer: Lyle Alzado

Dolphins
default answer: Tua Tagovailoa
all-time answer: Larry Csonka or Dan Marino
quirky answer: Louis Oliver

Vikings
default answer: Justin Jefferson
all-time answer: Randy Moss or Fran Tarkenton
quirky answer: Tommy Kramer

Patriots
default answer: Drake Maye
all-time answer: Tom Brady
quirky answer: Sam "Bam" Cunningham

Saints
default answer: Alvin Kamara or Chris Olave
all-time answer: Archie Manning
quirky answer: Sam Mills

Giants
default answer: Cam Skattebo or Jaxson Dart
all-time answer: Lawrence Taylor or Eli Manning
quirky answer: Plaxico Burress or Amani Toomer

Jets
default answer: Garrett Wilson
all-time answer: Joe Namath or Curtis Martin
quirky answer: Richard Todd

Eagles
default answer: Jalen Hurts or Saquon Barkley
all-time answer: Donovan McNabb or Randall Cunningham
quirky answer: Wilbert Montgomery

Steelers
default answer: T.J. Watt or Aaron Rodgers
all-time answer: Terry Bradshaw or Ben Roethlisberger
quirky answer: Willie Parker

Seahawks
default answer: Jaxon Smith-Njigba
all-time answer: Steve Largent or Russell Wilson
quirky answer: Marshawn Lynch

 

49ers
default answer: Christian McCaffrey
all-time answer: Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, or Steve Young
quirky answer: Colin Kaepernick or Terrell Owens

Buccaneers
default answer: Mike Evans or Jameis Winston
all-time answer: Derrick Brooks or Tom Brady
quirky answer: Cadillac Williams

Titans
default answer: Cam Ward (and not many others)
all-time answer: Steve McNair or Eddie George
quirky answer: Jevon Kearse

Commanders
default answer: Jayden Daniels
all-time answer: John Riggins or Darrell Green
quirky answer: Billy Kilmer or Taylor Heinicke

That was pretty much right off the top of my head, so I'm not sure how much it made you think of players you haven't heard about in a long time.  Let me know in the comments if there were glaring omissions, or more ridiculous players to consider.
 

Cardboard OCD Special - Split It, Don't Rip It

I was fortunate enough to pull a Rip Card out of one box of 2021 Allen & Ginter last week.  I could never leave the inner contents unrevealed, but how to preserve the outer card and still get to the mini inside?  Watch and learn!

I've never believed in destroying cards if they are in presentable shape, even if they're 1990 Donruss or something.  And with Rip cards, I figure there has to be a way to get the mini out of the middle without tearing up the outside card.  These are thick enough that you should be able to slice the edges and keep the outer card whole, right?  But how to keep the blade aligned?

So I found that an old Donruss puzzle piece is about half the thickness of a Rip card.  This should make a good base.

• Lay both the Rip card and the puzzle card on a flat surface. 
• Place a razor blade on the puzzle card so the end only protrudes about half an inch or less.  You don't want to cut any farther into the Rip card than you have to.  
• Push the Rip card up against the puzzle card.  
• Hold down the blade firmly in one hand while guiding the Rip card along the edge - sorta like running a board through a table saw. 

• Repeat for the two short edges

This should split the Rip card enough to get to the mini inside.

 And your Rip card is still in presentable condition!

I got a metal Manny Machado in mine.  (Say that 3x fast).  There are apparently only three of each metal mini.  It's the Mini Exclusives Extended Metal #386. 

Here's a better look at the finish on the metal. 

Backs are white.

Anyway, hope that helps you preserve your Rip cards and not slice up your fingers!

A Whole Lotta Nothin'

Not sure why I'm so uninspired lately.

The influx of cardboard continues at a decent pace.  There have been a steady stream of trades every few days or so.  I just sent out four more PWEs, on top of two or three bubble mailers.  And I've taken in several packages of varying sizes in the last couple weeks.

I also got two halves of another major SportLots order in. 

But none of it is really remarkable enough to post about.  No disrespect to the traders - I love what I got - it's just mostly set hits from things I or many others have posted about already.  My big order was a start to the serial numbered base set from 2007 Sweet Spot Classic, and the back end of two huge rookie saturated football sets from the early 2000s. 

I just get tired of doing nothing but loot posts and trades.  They're fine, but there's got to be better ideas to sprinkle in now and then.  Look at how Night Owl can make profound statements, even out of the contents of a PWE...

Another strike against me is that I write posts in the same place that I do phone support for work.  I have my work phone, laptop and all the connecting equipment set up in the computer room hooked to the monitor that also serves my home PC.  I could go over to the card room and use the other monitor and keyboard I have over there, but then I'm contending with the piles of cards on the desk.  There's not quite adequate room for the mouse over there.  But either way, it's more "screen time" on top of a full 8-hour day.  I'm already half bleary eyed at 5 o'clock, so I'm not eager to sit there for another couple hours.

There's another obvious lack of inspiration since there are no live games to watch.  We're still waiting for all the leagues to negotiate salaries, schedules, locations, and COVID precautions to start or continue their seasons.  They're still weeks away.

Expected this

Found this

Since I've still continued to buy and trade cards online, I wasn't really motivated to check the retail aisles since the stores have opened up.  (I'm not sure the Targets & Wal-Marts ever closed).  But I had the chance this past weekend.  Needed a couple things, so I ventured out to Target first, since they generally have a good selection.  What I found was that I hadn't missed a thing.  I don't think the distributor had been there since February.  There were about six or seven factory sets, mostly baseball, and two empty single pack dispenser boxes - and not a single sports card otherwise.  Not in their whole display - which it seemed had been encroached upon another three feet by the Pokemon and Yu-gi-oh section.  I didn't bother to look in Wally World.  I didn't want to spend any more time in there than I had to.  Maybe it's that cards are "non-essentials"?

I've still got nine monster boxes of football to sort through.  While I'm on phone duty, I'll turn around and sort out some of my dupes, so I've put most of my extra stuff in order.  That makes it nice to pull trade bait, but doesn't lend itself to good posts.  I've got one more post's worth on the baseball hoard, and then I might put up some giveaways, because it seems that's the trendy thing to do.  And I've got a lot of offbeat stuff to give away.

But in the meantime, I'll just have to muddle through my work duties, the negative energy from the pandemic and social protests, and the waiting game for sports, shops, and shows to open up again.

So don't worry, I'm not going away. I just might be going to bed early tonight.

The Stars Aligned In Seattle

Saw a neat little article on MLB.com about the Mariners and their won-loss record.

From 1995 to 2019 as of today - September 11, the Mariners record is....

1,995 and 2,019.

 Thought that was kinda cosmic....

Thanks Mom

Happy Mother's Day Sunday to all the Moms out there, and to all the sons and daughters who will be taking time out from sorting cardboard to celebrate with theirs.  And especially to the couple of you blogger guys that have had tough times with your mothers recently.  Probably not the most joyful occasion this year.

I don't want to live with my Mom any more, (was there much longer than I expected, but it did a lot of good financially), but it's probably going to be devastating to not have her around when that time eventually comes.  She's always been really supportive in everything (except maybe cards, but she doesn't say much about my collection except "What would I do with all this if something happened to you?").   My Dad's been gone for twelve years now, but still having Mom across town is a blessing.  His passing affected me a good bit, so I don't even want to think about when they're both gone.

I get the double whammy this time of year in that it's also my mother's birthday on the 10th (today).  Just got back from a nice dinner with her for the birthday part.  We'll go plant shopping over the weekend to take care of the other bit.  It's become our tradition.  Mom is always outside in the spring and fall planting, weeding, mowing, or clearing every single stick out of her 3/4 acre yard.  She's had to learn to pace herself the last few years, but is still much more active out there than a lot of women her age.  (She just passed the same milestone that Topps did in 2013.)

The one significant card I remember getting from her was the Jim Palmer 1966 rookie (the real thing, not the reprint above).  It happened Christmas of 1982.  I know this because it's documented in my "journal" from that year that I've been highlighting the card-related entries in my Collector's Log posts. 

If we could make our own 2010 insert sets, mine would look like this

But more importantly, she taught me how to manage my money, (and basically the other parts of my life) so very well that I'm now in a position to be able to enjoy this hobby without having to stretch my finances or be restricted by other obligations.  Most of the rest of my life is secure enough that I have lots of time and resources to devote to these crazy little cardboard slabs, both for me and for others.  I really like knocking off those "most wanted" cards on other blogger's lists, or finding stuff they don't have of the players they collect, especially when they don't expect it.  I heard about the generosity of blogger traders for a good while before I became one of them, and now I like to support that concept as much as I can.   That's how I try to roll, and it's because of how I was raised.

Thanks Mom!  From all of us!

Rookie Saturation - One More

A little add-on to my last post, or encore, if you will.  Keeping it short so I can go root for Fuji's Sharks to close out the Avalanche and advance to round 3 against the Blues.  Going to be tough to decide who I like there...but I digress.

Here is the complete count graph of all Topps sets from 1955 to 2018.  It's a combination of Topps flagship and Topps Update/Rookie & Traded etc. sets.  The blue line is physical cards produced each year.  The orange line is total players depicted on those cards.  There are many years where these two are the same number.

You'll probably have to click on the chart to see it very well since it's so long.

But what you can tell is that while the number of rookie cards fluctuates between seasons, the trend isn't really an incline one way or the other.  Rather, it's just kinda up and down around the 100 count mark (highlighted in yellow).

If you shave the peaks and low valleys, you can see a general flat-ish trend.  The actual range is something like 60-100 cards, or 100-150 players, and only falls outside of that a couple times over the 63 year span.  When I started this little study, I expected the left end to start around a few dozen and the right side be way up off the chart, but that isn't what happened.

Anyway, other suggestions for different analysis of this data (or any other, really) is welcome in the comments.