But, as it seems like every year, there were players who many felt should have gotten in, but didn't.  Topping this years list for most people was wide receiver Cris Carter--who many felt was only made to wait so Monk could get in before him (despite Carter being better than Monk or Michael Irvin, who was somehow inducted last year in his first year of eligibility).

However, at the top of my Hall of Fame Snub List--for the second year in a row--was Viking guard Randall McDaniel.

McDaniel was a first round pick of the Vikings in 1988 out of Arizona State.  He stepped into the lineup almost immediately, starting 15 of 16 games his rookie season, and in his second season started a string of 12 consecutive Pro Bowl appearances.  His third season started a string of nine consecutive All-Pro selections (seven first team, according to Pro-Football-Reference.com), and the probably the only reason he wasn't on both the NFL 1980's All Decade Team and the 1990's All Decade Team (Zimmerman was the only player on both teams) was due to his being drafted so late in the 80's. 

McDaniel was also known for his strange stance, in which his left foot was dropped back with his ankle almost touching the ground, which he developed in the result of a knee injury in his second season, and for moving into the Vikings backfield in goal line situations (although from my memory, they only handed him the ball twice, and threw to him once--either an incompletion or it was called back--although he did finally score with the Buccaneers in 2000).

Also of note was that after missing two games in his second season, he did not miss a game in his career--from 1990 to 2001 he started 202 consecutive games.  Even more impressive, in that time frame, he didn't even miss a practive.  Hell, I remember reading at one point during his time in Minnesota that he went something like three seasons without missing a blocking assignment on a play.

And, to top it off, he wasn't an attention hungry star--he did his job, kept his mouth shut, and led the team by example, rather than through the media.

That he didn't make the Hall of Fame in 2007, his first year of eligibility, was shocking.  That he didn't even make the finalists list should have been the biggest sign to date that the selection process is SEVERELY flawed.  That he didn't make the cut again in 2008 is just further proof of that--although at least he made the finalists list in 2008.  If he doesn't make it in 2009, they might as well close the damn place.

The card of McDaniel selected for the week is his 2000 Bowman Reserve Pro Bowl Jerseys card.  It is #PBRM in the set, and has a "book value" of $15.  I got mine for considerably less on eBay, as he is one of the few football players that I do tend to collect.

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Card of the Week: Hall of Fame Snub

Getting back to the Football/Screen Stars themed Cards of the Week, this week featuring Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith.  The first overall pick in the 1967 draft, Smith was considered a huge athlete in his day, playing defensive end at 6 foot 6 inches, and 260 pounds (today, that would be a little taller than average, but about average for weight).

He played for the Baltimore Colts from 1967-71, including a win in Super Bowl V, before spending two seasons in Oakland with the Raiders and finishing his career with two years in Houston for the Oilers (three teams that all ended up moving, stragely enough).  In addition to the Super Bowl win, he was selected All-Pro once, and went to two Pro Bowls.

After retiring, Smith started an acting career with small movie and tv roles, before taking on the role for which he is most well known--that of the physically imposing but soft-hearted Moses Hightower in the Police Acadamy movies, a role he has repirsed in all but one of the sequels.  He also partnered with Pro Football Hall of Famer on a short lived series called Blue Thunder (I didn't even remember Butkus could be an option for this series), and was featured in Miller Lite commercials and two episodes of Married... with Children.

The card featured is Smith's 1971 Topps card, #53 in the set.  It was purchased recently on eBay, for a whopping $0.15 (ok, $3.15 after shipping).  It books for $8, but was likely available for less because the condition isn't the greatest, and because the seller didn't include the specific year for the card--maybe he thought people might confuse it for Smith's rookie, since it appears that the majority of his early cards use this same image.  With the purchase, I believe this becomes the oldest football card in my collection (I do have several 1959 Topps baseball cards--including one that isn't a buyback from Topps Heritage).

I think next week I'll get back to the random cards for a while on Card of the Week, as we get ready for the beginning of training camp--less than one month until the first preseason games! 

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Card of the Week: Football & Screen Stars, Bubba Smith

Matuszak, aka Tooz, was a giant compared to many contemporary players when he was drafted first overall by the Houston Oilers in 1973, standing 6 foot 8 and weighing 280 pounds.  He was the star of the football program at the University of Tampa, which cut it's football program after 1974.

In addition to the Oilers, Matuszak also attempted to play for the World Football League's Houston Texans--until a restraining order was filed, preventing him from playing in two leagues.  Displeased with his efforts to play for a rival league, the Oilers shipped Matuszak to Kansas City, where he played two seasons with the Chiefs.

He moved on to the Oakland Raiders for the 1976 season, helping them win Super Bowls XI and XV, before retiring after the 1981 season. 

Matuszak's playing career often seemed overshadowed by his partying and drug use, chronicled in his autobiography Cruisin' with the Tooz, which included many painkillers, narcotics, and possibly anobolic steroids. 

Matuszak's first major acting role came before his retirement, in 1979's North Dallas Forty.  He became a fairly succesful actor in the 80's, with appearences on shows like Perfect Strangers, M*A*S*H, The Dukes of Hazzard, Hunter (with Fred Dryer), The A-Team, First and Ten and Miami Vice.

Perhaps his most famous role, though, was that of Lotney Fratelli, aka "Sloth" in 1985's The Goonies.

Sadly, Matuszak passed away of heart failure in 1989, at the age of 38.  His death is often blamed on his hard partying lifestyle and drug use, but Matuszak's sister also passed away at an early age due to heart failure, so it is possible that a genetic disorder may have also caused the death.

As for the card, you pretty much know all about it already--it's his 1979 Topps card, which I pullled out of a cello pack recently purchased on eBay just last week.  It's one of only 11 cards Matuszak had during his career, and it books for $0.50.

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Card of the Week: Football & Screen Stars, John Matuszak

This week's Card of the Week honoring a football player who forged a career in acting is the man who started the trend of retiring early to do so--Jim Brown.

Widely considered the best running back ever to play the game, Brown was actually a two sport star at Syracuse in college, and was considered by many to be the greatest Lacrosse player ever as well. (Factoid I learned in writing this--he was born on St. Simons Island, Georgia, where my grandparents used to vacation in the winter.  I wonder if I saw signs when I visited them).

Alas, they didn't have pro lacrosse back in the day--at least, not big leagues--so Brown was drafted by the Cleveland...Browns, in the frist round in 1957. 

Brown played for just 9 seasons in the NFL, but managed to set several records before he retired--including single season rushing record (1,863), career rushing yardage (12.312), career rushing touchdowns (106), career touchdowns (126), all-purpose yardage (15,549).  He was the first player to surpass the 100 career touchdown mark, and was still the fastest to reach it until LaDanian Tomlinson came along.

He did all that, in just nine season.  Four of which only had a 12 game schedule, the other five having 14 games.  He also played in nine pro bowls.

Brown firs started acting in the film Rio Conchos in 1964, and was filming a role in the World War II movie The Dirty Dozen in 1966, when Browns owner Art Modell insisted he report to training camp.  On July 14,1966, at the age of 30, Brown announced his retirement.

He went on to star in several more movies and TV shows, including several with another actor who may just make it into the Card of the Week files, if eBay will cooperate.  Sadly, the role I know him best for is his role in Mars Attacks!

The card shown above is a 2007 Donruss Threads Gridiron King Green Framed Parallel Insert, serial #'d 14/25.  I pulled the card last summer, when I finally found a local card shop that carried decent hobby boxes, and I sunk further into into the hobby, much to my wife's dismay.  If I remember right, the card books for about $15.  I'm pretty sure I have some more Brown cards laying around somewhere, but none of his vintage cards, unfortunately. 
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Card of the Week: Football & Screen Stars, Jim Brown

Dryer was a star at San Diego State University (a teammate of Rocky's Carl Weathers) before being drafted in the first round by the New York Giants in 1969.  He had (unofficially) 29 sacks in three years in New York, before being traded to New England in February 1972, and on to the Los Angeles Rams a short time later during the same year's draft.

Dryer split time at the left defensive end spot with Jack Youngblood in 1972, before starting all 14 games on the right side in 1973, a season in which he became the only player in NFL history to record two safties in a single game. 

Dryer was a two time Pro Bowler (1970 and 1975), played against the Steelers in Super Bowl XIV, and finished his career with 104 unofficial sacks (sacks becomeing an official statistic in 1982, the year after Dryer retired).

Dryer's acting career actually started in 1976, with an uncredited role in the classic Gus (you know, the one with Barney Fife and the kicking mule?).  He had a few one episode appearences on shows like Laverne & Shirley, Lou Grant and CHiPs, and in the movie Cannonball Run 2, before appearing as Detective Sergant Rick Hunter in the series aptly named Hunter, for which he would become most known.

Hunter was on the air for seven seasons, and has had a couple of come back movies as well.  Dryer also had some short runs on shows like Cheers, and Diagnosis Murder, and has his own production company.

The card featured is Dryer's 1977 Topps issue, #513 in the set, which books for $1.00.  Or would, if it wasn't fairly beat up.  Dryer has a total of 22 cards, the most valuable of which is the Mexican version of the same card, which books for $200.  I have no idea how the card ended up in my collection, but it's actually the card that inspired me to post this series of cards. 

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Card of the Week: Football & TV Stars, Fred Dryer

Football players crossing over into acting isn't really new--several former players have gone on to careers on the small and big screen, some with some fairly decent success.  Of course, to my knowledge, they were already retired when they made the move.  So, over the next few weeks, we'll look at a few of those players who made the crossover.

These won't be guys who rode the pine for a season or two in the NFL, and moved on to acting when no team wanted them any more--obviously, they had to be known enough to actually have cards.  Nor will it be guys who tried to gain some attention on a reality show (looking at you, Jesse Palmer and Ryan Hoag), nor big name stars who tried to expand their horizons on Dancing With the Stars.

Of course, if you're reading this, you most likely read the title, which means that you already know that the first player we're going to look at is Gary Hogeboom--who was a reality TV star.  So why him, and not the others? 

Well, for one, he was retired long enough, and wasn't so much a star, that many people were probably finding out about Hogeboom for the first time when he appeared.  For another, he wasn't trying to make a bigger name for himself--in fact, he tried to hide his name from his opponents, so they didn't think he was a rich former football player trying to make a bigger name for himself.  Third, Survivor is about the only realtiy show that I can stomach on occasion, for some reason.  And fourth, while I have a list of 8-9 guys to feature, right now I only actually have cards of two of them that I've found--so I'm firing up eBay, and starting with Hogeboom.

Hogeboom played qurterback for the Dallas Cowboys from 1980-1985, the Indianapolis Colts from 86-88, and the Phoenix Cardinals in 1989, before finishing his career on the Washington Redskins roster (but not appearing in any games) for the 1990 season.

As a backup to Danny White, many teammates and fans wanted the Cowboys to switch to Hogeboom by 1983, after White failed to get the team past the NFC Championship game three consecutive years.  It didn't hurt that Hogeboom was bigger, stronger armed, and more personable than White--who also had stood up for the owners during the 1982 players strike.

In 1984, Hogeboom was named the starter at the beginning of the season, but was benched in favor of White during the season.  He started 10 games that season, and two more in 1985, before moving on to Indianapolis in 1986, where he would start 12 games in 3 seasons, including, interestingly, playing with replacement players during the 1987 work stoppage.

He last played in Phoenix in 1989, where he started 13 games and threw for career highs in yardage (2,591), touchdowns (14) and interceptions.  

Of course, these days, he is most known for his appearance on Survivor: Guatemala in 2005, where he was the 12th player (of 18) voted out, lasting 30 days out of 39.

The card featured for Hogeboom is his 1987 Topps card, which was his second Topps regular issue card (after his 1985 rookie card).  The card is a common, booking for $0.10, and I have no idea where I got it--although, based on the condition, it likely came in the box I snagged on eBay a couple years ago in a moment of nostalgia.

I actually like the photo on the card, as it appears he actually took the time to go into the upper deck at the RCA Dome (or whatever it was called then), in full pads, just to take a picture for a card.  Gary really is a team player, apparently--I'm guessing most guys today would tell the photographer in no uncertain terms where they could take their camera.

Check back next week to see which football-turned-Hollywood star is featured.  A hint?  Well, he certainly isn't wetter than anyone who reads the blog.
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Card of the Week: 1987 Topps Gary Hogeboom

Decided to go with a 2008 card for card of the week this week, a card that I referred to in my post about breaking some of the new 2008 product, as I think it would make Dinged Corners proud.

The card is the 2008 Press Pass Fred Davis, and shows one of the best pictures I've seen on a 2008 card yet, as Davis is at least a couple feet off the ground as what appears to be an Oregon State Beaver whiffs on a tackle.

As I was looking through some of my 2007 cards a few weeks ago, I noticed that most sets have designs that fade out the background, or cut the player out completely against a white background--while they are often sharp looking cards, I miss photographs like the one above appearing on cards.

And, to top it off, Fred Davis made some headlines at this past weekend's Washington Redskins minicamp--unfortunately, not for good reasons.  Turns out Davis, a second round pick in the 2008 draft, missed the final day of practice.  On the positive side, it wasn't like he had been arrested or anything (like a handful of veterans were over the weekend)--he had just overslept.

Still, not a real good way to endear yourself to the coaching staff in your first weekend with the team. 

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Card of the Week: 2008 Press Pass

As mentioned last week, I miscounted when I started doing the Countdown to the Draft series--so, like all of the retail boxes I seem to love, you're getting a bonus that really isn't much of a bonus this week.

I counted find any Mr. Irrelevant cards--a little surprising, Mr. Irrelevant 2003 is an alumnus of Gustavus Adolphus College, where my wife went to school, and you would think I might try to find a card of him since he's the only player from her school to sniff the NFL that I'm aware of.

So, with no Mr. Irrelevant cards to speak of, I went one extra step--the undrafted free agent. Despite there being probably hundreds of examples of solid pros who went undrafted, when I think undrafted free agents, for some reason I always think John Randle--of course, I had a Viking last week, and I don't want to show too much favoritism around here, so representing the undrafted free agents will be Philadelphia Eagles WR Hank Baskett.

Of course, Baskett actually did start his career with the Vikings--as an undrafted free agent out of Nex Mexico in 2006, and a certain blogger in the Twin Cities thought it was a good signing. The Vikings, apparently preferring an known over an unknown, chose during training camp to trade him to the Eagles (head coach Brad Childress's former team) for WR Billy McMullen.

Or, as he became known around this household, 'Billy #$%^&* McMullen.'

Baskett caught 22 passes for 464 yards his rookie season (21.1 yards per catch), including games of 112 yards and a TD against the Cowboys, and 177 yards and a TD against the Falcons, with both TDs being over 80 yards. He added 16 catches for 25 yards in his second season.

Billy McMullen caught 23 passes for 307 yards and 2 TDs for the Vikings in 2006, and was cut before the 2007 season.

The card of Baskett is his 2006 Topps Draft Picks & Prospects Chrome Refractor card. It's #129 in the set, and books for $6. I'm sure I pulled it out of a retail pack or something back in 2006, as Topps Draft Picks & Prospects has been one of my preferred sets over the last few years (more on that a bit later).

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Card of the Week: Countdown to the Draft, Bonus Week

The bad news: I miscounted, and there is still one more week before the draft--and I don't have a Week 5 in mind yet.  I initially thought maybe I would do Mr. Irrelevant, but I'm not sure that I have any cards of a Mr. Irrelevant. But I'll deal with that later.

This week's pick: The Draft Stud.  He was a stud in college, had a great workout, went early in the draft, and did exactly what he was supposed to do, by playing well right out of the gate, making an impact right away.

There are a lot of examples of this type of player, but I'm going with a guy from my backyard for this week, and pulling a card from the picture in the header above for card of the week: Adrian Peterson

A star as a freshman at the University of Oklahoma, setting the freshman rushing record, earning first team All-American and was the runner-up in the Heisman voting, Peterson suffered through injuries to his ankle in his Sophomore season, and a broken collar bone in his junior season, which limited him to just 2,320 yards over those two years.  With 4,045 yards rushing in three years, just 74 yards short of Billy Sims school record, Peterson announced he was leaving to go pro.

Despite being considered by many to be the best athlete in the draft, concerns about his shoulder possibly needing surgery caused some early teams to shy away from Peterson early in the draft.

Picking at #7, and with Chester Taylor coming off of a career high 1,216 yards, the Minnesota Vikings selected Peterson, and announced a few weeks later that he would not have surgery on his shoulder.

Starting the season as the back-up, Peterson rushed for 103 yards on 19 carries in his first game against the Atlanta Falcons, and added a 60-yard touchdown reception on a screen pass for his first professional touchdown.  He set a team record with 431 yards from scrimmage in his first three games, earning offensive rookie of the month for September. 

His breakout performance came against the Chicago Bears on October 14, 2007, when he rushed for a then franchise record 224 yards on 20 carries, with 3 touchdowns.  He set team rookie records for most 100-yard games and longest touchdown run as well during the game, and his 361 all-purpose yards set an NFL rookie record, and he also ended up winning offensive rookie of the month for October as well.

Three weeks later, on November 4, against the San Diego Chargers, Peterson set the NFL record for most rushing yardage in a game when he ran for 296 yards on 30 carries, with 3 touchdowns.  He became the first rookie to run for over 200 yards in two games in a season, and his 1,036 yards rushing through 8 games is the best eight-game performance by a rookie in NFL history.

Despite missing some time with a knee injury and facing 8-man fronts later in the season, he finished his rookies season with 1,341 yards rushing and 12 rushing TDs, was named the starting running back for the NFC in the Pro Bowl (where he also won the MVP), and was named the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.

The card selected for Peterson is his 2007 Donruss Threads Gridiron King Prime Materials, which features a dual jersey patch from a game used (I think) Oklahoma jersey.  The patch on the right features two colors, including stiching from the side of the number.  The card is serial numbered #20/25.

Unfortunately, I can't say that I pulled this card myself--it came from an eBay auction.  I can say, fortunately, that I bought it before he blew up--I paid only $32 for the card, which now books for about $150.  Chalk one up for the good guys!

As mentioned before, the card is also in the header above--the second card from the header to be featured as Card of the Week.  Eventually all of the cards will likely be featured (if I can find a couple of them again)--that, or I might even make a contest out of the header at some point.

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Card of the Week: Countdown to the Draft, Week 4

This week is the Draft Day Steal, aka Steal of the Draft or SoD (thanks to the self proclaimed SoD from 2003, Onterrio "Don't Call Me 'The Original Whizzanator'" Smith).

There are at least two kinds of draft day steals. The first are guys who slip to a pick lower than some expected, whether due to injury, poor combine or workout results, or occasionally some late breaking news about "character issues," causing the Mel Kiper's of the world to proclaim that the team who grabbed him "Got a Steal." Sometimes these guys pan out, sometimes they show why they slipped as far as they did.

The more interesting draft day steals in my eyes are the guys who usually can't be labeled as steals the day of the draft--guys taken in the late rounds, who come in and turn heads in training camp. (Or develop into All-Pros after a couple years).

Probably the best recent example of the latter type of steal is the player who's card was selected for the week:

New Orleans Saints WR Marques Colston

Colston was a 6'4" 231 pound WR at Division I-AA Hofstra, finishing his career in 2005 by making the All-Atlantic 10 first team with 70 receptions for 976 yards and five TDs.

He attended the NFL Combine in 2006, and posted a 4.50 40-yard dash ad 37" vertical, but due to his size and catching ability, many projected him as a TE in the pros, and many predicted he would go undrafted.

The Saints took Colston in the 7th round, with the 252nd pick overall--out of 255 selections (taken after him were DE Dave Tollefson, S Vickiel Vaughn, and WR Kevin McMahan). Five WR were taken in the 7th round before Colston, including two of the three picks immediately before he was taken.

Colston came into training camp, won a starting job when the Saints traded Donte Stallworth, was offensive rookie of the month in his second month, finished the season with 70 receptions for 1,038 yards after missing a few games with an ankle injury, and finished 3rd in Offensive Rookie of the Year. He also avoided a Sophomore slump, with a team record 98 catches in 2007, along with a team record tying 11 TDs. He holds the NFL record for most receptions in a players first two seasons.

The card selected for the week is a 2007 Leaf Rookies & Stars Longetivity Meterials Sapphire, with a gold jersey patch, serial numbered #026/100. The card books for $12.

I got the card from a retail box, one of two retail boxes of Leaf Rookies & Stars I picked up out of curiosity about the price--$49.99. I would have probably gotten more, as they're pretty nice looking cards, but frankly, those boxes weren't worth the price.

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Card of the Week: Countdown to the Draft, Week 3