Hello, and welcome to the Football Card Podcast, the fastest growing podcast in the world that's based on football cards and, more importantly, football cards.

I'm your host, John, aka Pat Nicholson. With me, as always, is Brett, mister stacking slabs himself. Brett, how you doing? I'm so excited to talk about football cards.

Was just talking to you about the agenda and how there's a lot to talk about. And although this is not on the agenda, I'm consuming so much football content right now because I just need it, and I'm getting excited.

And wanna thank the listeners for consuming our football and football card content. But I have a question for you just out of the gates. And I thought this was just such an interesting topic, and I don't know. I just love your opinion.

And it's about the quarterbacks in the NFL. And, like, we, during this period period or content people love to just do these rankings of quarterbacks and, like, tiers and all this stuff, and every outlet does it.

And, you know, sometimes you're like, are they just trying to get clicks, or is this real?

Like, what are we doing? So I actually, like, got really excited because I was listening to, one of my favorite, podcasts is the athletic football podcast.

And instead of going through the exercise, which they do every year, tearing out all the quarterbacks and ranking them, they just decided this year to say, alright. Here are the top five quarterbacks.

We already know this, and let's move on and say who's the six best. And before I clicked into the episode, I was like, who are the they've already solidified the five. And then I, like, was driving, and in my brain, I was like, okay.

Yeah. Mahomes is definitely there. Yeah. Joe Burrow's definitely there. Josh Allen's definitely there. Lamar Jackson's definitely there. I'm like, those are the four best, but, like, to act like there's a the fifth is solidified.

I was like, I'm I'm completely uncertain. So I guess I wanna turn this to you and say, who would you first agree? Those are the like, whatever order you wanna put them, those are the four best quarterbacks that I just listed off?

Or would we have I would I would have them top yeah. Top four alternating orders maybe. But yes. Yes. Okay. And then who would be your fifth? See, I feel like alright. I know the list is probably probably puts Jaden Daniels up there.

I feel like he's getting a lot of preseason love, which to me is interesting because people forget the CJ Stroud of it all where one rookie year is great, but I don't know if you're top five anointed to that position yet.

And I could be completely wrong, if he was five on their list.

But, who is your fifth? The to me, it's hard like, I would have Matthew Stafford up there. I would have an Aaron Rodgers up there. I would have one of the those, like, vet guys who's done it before.

But This is this is you're you're making my point, which is so exciting to, like, feel like we're aligned on this, where, the fifth player was someone you didn't even mention.

And this is the biggest problem is because media outlets have already anointed this individual, one of the best players, top quarterbacks in the league.

However, this player, although has a lot of, is impressive, maybe, you know, passes the eye test.

And trust me, I would love for this guy to be the quarterback of the Colts, but they already just the and their argument for why he's gonna be here and moving on is because, well, you know what?

Like, I don't really care what you have to say.

This is, like, the way we see things, and so we're gonna move on. And that person was Justin Herbert, which I was like, I I mean, just to say Justin Herbert's in the top five, to me, I don't know, man.

I I had a problem with it because I I'm with you while there's Jaden Daniels, CJ Stroud, Jordan Love, all these players. Like, to me, number five is Matthew Stafford.

And and I don't even say there's I I don't even have an argue like, there's no argument to me. It's like, for my fifth, it's Stafford because he's proven. He's got the tenure. And I don't know, man.

Anytime I watch Stafford, whether it's in person, when he comes into town, because he's been in town a lot recently, or just in the playoffs on TV, I'm always just like, this guy's one of the greatest quarterbacks of this era and likely never get will ever get the credit that I think he deserves.

Yeah. And even look. I don't like Aaron Rodgers at all, but he had a good year last year. Like, the Jets did not, but he was, like, 28 touchdowns, 11 picks.

I don't know. He's still Aaron Rodgers. I think everyone gets so obsessed with the like, everything has to go up into the right trajectory where Jaden Daniels' amazing rookie year wins a playoff game.

That means next this season, he has to go to the Super Bowl or else it's a letdown. And that's unfair for him. That's just unfair expectations to place on someone.

I mean, two years ago, CJ Stroud was getting the exact same hype as Jaden Daniels, and I feel like he's not nonexistent, but he's not anywhere in those conversations, it seems, anymore, compared to where he was two years ago.

So I don't know. I'd for that reason, I find it harder to put a young guy over someone like Stafford or Rogers even.

Though Rogers is old and washed, but Stafford I I have Stafford up there. Yeah. Who do you like more? And take your personal biases out of this.

Who do you like more? CJ Stroud or Jordan Love? As a quarterback? Yes. As you you have it, you need a guy in there tomorrow to win you a game to go to the playoffs. Which one are you taking? CJ Stroud.

And and and what's your reason by that? I don't like Jordan Love, and I don't have a nonbiased answer for that. I don't know. I guess Jordan Love is pretty good. I feel like he throws a lot of picks. I could be making that up.

And I He CJ Stroud could have just as many. But I think I think Jordan Love maybe risks it a a little more. You know, maybe a definitely more athletic than CJ Stroud. CJ Stroud, you know, he's got the, the accuracy going for him.

But, yeah, I don't know. I just felt like it'd be good to just open up this conversation because we've been avoiding it because we've been in the dog days of the summer, but I'm like, yeah.

We can start talking a little bit about quarterbacks, rankings, that sort of a a thing.

Yeah. We we can start peeling back the layers. I was thinking about whose idea was it to start a football card podcast in the absolute worst time of football season? Just I think it was yours. You cosigned it.

But the I will say, we have football this month. There is a football preseason game, July 31. Who, who's it's the hall of fame game. I'm assuming that's correct. And, I this is I don't even know the participants this year.

Who is it? Chargers Lions. Chargers Lions. Okay. So, we didn't mention Jared Goff. We don't feel like Jared Goff should be, sniffing that sixth spot. Oh, yeah. I'm just yeah. His team his team is great.

He's he's really good, but I just I don't know. I think he's really good, and I was actually went down a rabbit hole of Jared Goff stats the other day because he's put together good numbers for the start of a quarterback career.

Like, good pace for, you know, yards, touchdowns, that type of thing. But, yeah, there's just those like, same thing with Jalen Hertz.

It's hard to, like, put these guys at the top when everything else around them seems so good. And then it's hard to say if they're not the reason that those things are good or not, but that's the fun of debating this all, I guess.

How how about this? We can move on because I'm totally sidetracking us. But we'll move this into cards and, like, hashtag invest. No one's hashtagging investing in Matthew Stafford or Jared Goff.

You still might get a little hashtag invest in Jalen Hurts. There's definitely hashtag invest in Jaden Daniels, and maybe the, shine on the hashtag invest in CJ Stroud is wearing a little bit.

But isn't it interesting when you, like, start to have this conversation about the best in rankings, and then then you put in the layer in the hobby lens on everything, and it's not always, exact science, which I always find interesting?

Yeah. I mean, I yeah. I think part of it is just are you the undisputed reason the team is succeeding is, like, what people want from like, those are the players that get the invest, tag thrown their way.

You know? The, like, Shea is it's invest in Che, not invest in Chet Holmgren.

Like, I I think people go for whoever the main superstar on a team is, versus, like, a piece that is helping the team as a whole. I would I might have I might be having deja vu here, and maybe we talked about it last week.

But who or who is if you're thinking about Jaden Daniels and CJ Stroud in the same period of time, like, we are in this pre national Jaden Daniels, era of hype machine. And then last year, you know, it was CJ Stroud.

Who who do you think has been gassed up more during this period? And by gassed up, I'm talking about their their cards. Like, was there more is there more hype behind Daniels, or was there more hype behind Stroud?

I think Daniels feels more intense. I think also just coinciding with the market, I feel like cards are in a different spot now than they were two years ago even.

And Daniels looks really good. Like, I know Stroud did his rookie year as well, but I think Daniels having I mean, Stroud won a playoff game too, I guess.

Daniel's won two, though, last year. Right? And they they went to the NFC championship. Yeah. I think I think that Daniel's hype is very high.

It's warranted, but Yep. Yeah. I would I would say Daniels. Yeah. I I I'm sure I can't wait to get to the national and see, all those showcases and just be I just be overwhelmed by how many Jaden Daniels cards there there are.

I this is that period of time where dealers are trying to get rid of their stuff before these guys step on the field, so it'll be fun to see. But I just completely sidetracked us out of the gates. Keep us on track, Pac.

Get us back to where we need to be. Alright. So the topic of today, lanes of collecting. So I was thinking of collecting more in broad strokes where I don't wanna just get up here and name, like, specific sets or players.

I just think I'm just gonna name the ones that I like, and I don't necessarily want to say those are things people need to collect or that I just wanna, like, open it up into more broad strokes so that people can maybe think about things, that way and come up with maybe a new idea of a lane to collect in, something like that.

So I was thinking about it and broke it down into, like, the three main collecting lanes of player collecting, set collecting, team collecting, and wanted to just maybe break down each one, talk about our experiences within each of those categories.

So maybe we'll go, kinda section by section, and I can go and you can go and we'll get through them.

So player collecting, to kick it off, I was thinking, you know, is a great entry into learning an era, into finding what sets stand out from each year, kinda experimenting with rookie cards, and then later, cards that are significant.

But I think player collecting honing in on a player that has had some sort of impact on you is kind of a natural first step for collecting. And, I mean, it it was for me and kinda curious your thoughts on player collecting.

Yeah. I think, if you were to pull the audience, I would bet that a majority of the audience would identify as a player collector, above everything else.

It it it is the place where I started. I feel like it's the the easiest place to start where it's like, who do you collect?

And you say, oh, I collect Peyton Manning. So then you just go down that rabbit hole of exploring all of the sets, the cards, the parallels. You're you have a connection with the specific player.

And then also too, I think the fun part about player collecting would which this can happen in any of the lanes, but probably the easiest is just the the it's the easiest to find community in the player collecting space where, naturally, when you see other people posting cards of players that you like, you connect with them, and then that connection typically is like this big web where that collector who collects what you like has another collector friend who collects the player you like, and then that can spawn off into, a group chat.

I'll give my Peyton Manning group chat a shout out. I don't even know how long it's been. Five years we've been in a group chat together, talking about Peyton and Peyton Manning cards and other nonsense. But it's fun.

It's fun to just be in a, a lane where people appreciate the same player you do, and I feel like it's a it's a really good way to not only learn about what types of cards you like, but then also see where, you know, cards are and whose collections they're in.

It's a good source of information. It is. And the networking part is a great aspect. I do think something though then with player collecting, there's a ceiling on it where and it and it always depends on what type of collector you are.

Like, there's always more cards of your player to buy. Like, if you want to go that route of surely getting as many every card of that person, you you could knock yourself out doing that.

But I, like, I I feel Priest Holmes, that's a player I've collected. I've reached the point where there's a handful of cards of him that I want that aren't popping up anytime soon.

And or I just know it's those. I may pick up some random ones here and there that catch my eye, but for the most part, I haven't tapped out of it. I'm just, like, waiting for one of five cards to show up.

So, like, with player collecting, I do think, eventually, you can kinda reach a ceiling. I'm gonna say something that's, like, been on my mind, a lot when it comes to player collecting.

And I've never said it until, like, you are talking through this and it brings it out. But I what I really like about player collecting is that, you know, it helps guide you through these different eras of your collecting.

Like, there was a time where I opened up my case of cards, and I had 40 different Peyton Manning cards.

But then what happens is, you know, you I personally start wanting to chase rare and scarcer stuff, and those gold runs fall victim of consolidation.

And, you know, it was a hard part for me at first because I was like, this is my favorite player. Should I be really getting rid of his cards?

But I think, ultimately, it helped me evolve, and player collecting helped me really identify, like, those attributes and the aesthetics and those, like, core ingredients to a card that, makes me understand, like, what a card needs to have in order for that card to, like, stay in my collection for the long haul.

And so, yeah, I think, you know, player collecting is diverse. Like, people do it a million different ways. And I used to think, like, amassing as many cool cards of a player as possible was the way to go.

But as time has passed, I've realized, like, that's not the approach that I wanna take. I wanna use player collecting to help shine a light on key sets, products, and parallels that I really love. Yep.

And I think that player collecting, naturally, if you are a fan, leads you into team collecting, where all of a sudden you've discovered a cool set that your player is in, and then maybe want to get his teammates involved and and go for that.

So when team collecting comes into play, I kind of was thinking, you know, it's dependent on a team's history.

We talked on the other episode about how the Colts vintage cards, for example, Baltimore Colts doesn't appeal to you, which makes a ton of sense.

But, like, it offered team collecting offers so much flexibility where you can go through all these different eras.

You can become a big vintage guy like myself Or, but it also does come especially if you're collecting current guys, comes with more risk, but at the same time, also higher reward.

Like, I think of, you know, the Nuggets collectors who were buying Jokic rookie cards because they're Nuggets collectors, and they're just buying all the rookies for their team.

Like, those are the guys who end up down the road winning because they were buying these cards when no one else was. And I feel like that's something I've experienced with these recent releases of Prism and the Bears.

Like, I'm just buying all the rookies, and, of course, no one has, like, panned out and become a superstar because that's that's how the Bears do things around here.

But, like, there is some sort of, like, hey. If Roma Duenze takes off, like, I got his rookie card be just because I was a team collector trying to get the rookies when they came out.

So how how about you and team collecting? Yeah. I I to me, it's about shrinking the sea. Like, I love the Colts, but it it's way it's too overwhelming to just say, like, I'm a Colts team collector.

And I've found it's like this blend of team and set collecting where it's like, I wanna represent my team, the team that I'm a season ticket holder in my collection.

And in order to do that, it's this blending of, like, team collecting with set collecting or the products that I really like in whether it's, you know, going on these crazy prism runs or doing these mini projects with set builds.

Yeah. That's what those blending of those two, is kind of what I found the most satisfying.

Yep. And then into the set collecting of it all, I feel like set collecting is hard to it's, like, hard to get over the hurdle to say, like, I am set collecting.

Like, that that is something that took me a while to admit, which and I wish I had done that sooner.

So I would just always recommend to anyone, like, get if you want a long term project and understand it will take years, like, key in on the right set or parallel, you know, in the right era that you're fond of.

It can be such a fun thing to do. Like, every new addition starts to feel like a monumental pickup even if it's not, like, the biggest name player just because they're they're hard to come by.

If, like, again, it all depends on the set or parallel that you're going after, and that's where I would encourage.

Like, don't do something that you can go finish in two months if you want to, like, where everything's out there and it's just a matter of spending the money.

Like, you know, do the research and try and find what is a set where these are popping up, but maybe at a frequency that's, you know, not every single day.

I think that's, can can be so fun and has been one of, like I feel like that extended my lease on the hobby.

Not that it was, like, gonna ever end soon or anything, but just, like, once I said, like, alright. I'm gonna go try and get every every card in this set in some capacity.

Like, it it really just opened up, my collecting. The the the most excited I think I've ever been for a card at auction is when the 2012 Donald Brown gold prism came up on eBay.

I literally I I felt something I've never felt inside. I was like, it was an element of, oh my god. Here's an opportunity to add another twenty twelve to my Colts 2012 set gold set build. I've never seen this card.

Oh, man. I remember being so jacked up when we drafted Donald Brown. All of these feelings came. And I looked at that card, and I said, there is absolutely zero chance anybody in this universe is going to outbid me for this card.

I don't even I can't even recall what I put in as my, my max bid, but it was outrageous. And it it was and it's I you think about that, and it's like, what does Donald Brown mean to anybody else?

I don't know. But Donald Brown in that moment where you've got the player, the set, the parallel, also, like, this hiatus I had had from finding any of these other cards, and, like, it felt like Christmas when this card popped up.

And so, of course, I wanted. I wasn't gonna let it go. But when that card came and I had it and added it to that set and added it to that collection, it was absolutely magical.

And I think, like, we get into this phase in the hobby where people are, like, collecting in their own way, and it's like, we'll just take nineties for instance.

They're like, alright. Well, the there's the PMGs, and then there's the rubies, and then there's the 24 karat gold.

And, like, this is the way you collect, and this is the ones you want. And it's like, man, those cards are great. Like, don't get me wrong. They're phenomenal cards, and, of course, I'd love them.

But then I look at, like, the cost, and then I'm like, the cost plus the actual cards themselves and then, like, my own personal meaning. And it's like, man, I just can't justify, like, spending thousands of dollars to do team sets.

And I've gone down that road and then pivoted to do these team sets on these cards that, you know, don't mean as much to me as some of these other stuff. And that's not me discounting 90 stuff.

Like, there will be a time where I focus in and pick up and build out sets in nineties, but, you know, when I'm matching that stuff together with, like, other sets like the 2012 prism and the gold that I really love or the black finite even that I love even more, it's like I just the the the values don't don't, add up to me.

Yeah. That I'd have that same thought about those 90 sets.

Like, I'd appreciate them and understand, you know, why they are desired the way they are desired. But for me, my team there's no good Bears players during that era, so there's, like, no reason for me to dabble in there.

I would only be paying for the set, which, to me, it was like, let me find a set that I'm more excited about and yeah.

But I was thinking when it also comes to team collecting, team collecting does allow access to some of those top tier sets, like, through maybe lower level players on the team.

For example, I could go out there and get a PMG green of a Bears player.

Like, yes, it will be costly, but it is in the realm of possibility. You know, like, me saying, alright. I'm gonna collect Barry Sanders, and then you try and get a Barry Sanders PMG green like that may never happen.

But say you you like PMG greens and you're interested in them and you would love to own one, a good way to maybe get to that point is to if you're collecting a team, just getting anyone, you know, anyone on the checklist from your team that you can.

And now all of a sudden, you have a PMG green. And, yeah, maybe it's Eric Kramer, but, you know, maybe, it it means something to you and you find that you love it and you wanna continue down that path.

But it can, yeah, it can lead to an entry point for some of those really cool sets.

Or it or it could push you further back. And I remember going and doing that same mentality on PMG Greens. There was like a Quentin Koryat, a Ken Delgar.

And, dude, the bids were happening, and they were going on. I'm like, like, the this is, like, I am I I want these cards, but I don't want these cards like that. Like, I'm just gonna stay away for a while.

So that's yeah. I the the way we all analyze and look at these sets and what we wanna buy, it's all deeply personal. And there's so many variables where it's money, like interest, players, sets, team, product, all this stuff.

And that's why everybody collects so different, and I think it's good to just open up the discussion like this to just let let everyone in on the inside of, like, this is just two collectors sharing some thoughts.

But your thoughts out there could be very different, and I think that diversity of opinions is what makes the hobby so much fun.

For sure. And some other potential collecting lanes that I was looking at and that I overlap in, you know, alumni collecting.

Like, did you go to college? Is there any or from your hometown, you know, are there any athletes that have, some sort of personal connection with you, how you grew up?

And that that's a lane to go down and consider collecting their cars. I I've Bonzi Wells, Ball State, chirp chirp, baby.

Like, I've since I got back in, I've been picking up Bonzi Wells cards, but I've I've never landed one of those big, like, 24 carats or rubies because they never pop up because that's just a whole different, level of competition too in that era.

But collecting has always been a fun part of collecting for me. Position collecting, I love collecting running backs. There are great wide receiver collectors out there, quarterbacks, tight ends, d ends.

Like, I don't know. I'd feel like just focusing on a position can be such a fun way to collect and tie different cards, different players together, and then accolade collecting.

Our guy, Danny, modest, card collection doing, like, the MVP run was always such a cool idea to me.

Or I feel like first team all pros has become kind of a collecting benchmark for a lot of people as well, myself included, of, like, oh, three first team all pros? That's, like, three personal Super Bowl rings to me.

Like, that's someone that I wanna go collect. Like, that's their, you know, the highest personal achievement you can get in football besides offensive player of the year, MVP, all those things.

But, yeah, offensive players of the year, defensive players of the year. Just, you know, finding some sort of accolade and then, going off of that can also be a a super fun way to collect. No doubt about it. Yeah. Those are fun avenues.

I think about that a lot and always appreciate when people are not only posting those rare, unique collections, but then, like, are actually narrating why they're doing it or how they're doing it through their posts.

Yeah. And now I have a I have a question for you. Yeah. So say a card pops up that is in the middle of the Venn diagram of player collector, set collector, team collector.

Who deserves that card? Oh, this is a good question. I will say, who deserves a card? This is fun. This is this is this is the best way to alienate, the audience.

It's the best way to alienate 66% of your Yeah. Listeners. Yeah. 100%. There is there's certainly an entitlement with player collectors, and I hear it and see it all the time.

And, I I I'm player collectors to me seem like I'm gonna take it and put that on the side, and I'm gonna prioritize team and or set collectors.

And I think those that's where the conversation starts. Right? Because these are are like, I view these as, like, a puzzle pieces in a way, especially on the set side.

But you could say, like, well, the set collector darn as passionate about this player. I don't know. But the I see a lot of entitlement with player collectors, and I don't like it.

So I'm just I'm I'm moving player collectors to the side, and I'm gonna offend everybody because everybody's a player collector and including myself. But just because you're a player collector doesn't mean you deserve a card.

That's that's all I'm saying. It just pisses me off. The entitlement pisses me off. So I don't have an answer to you, but I'm just saying not the player collector.

I love that. Yeah. I've been on all sides of it where, like, I've wanted a card from a set at because I collect the player or the team, but the person doesn't wanna give it up.

And I'm like, no. You don't understand how much of a fan I am of this player. Like, this means more to me than it means to you.

But on the flip side, I have cards of players and teams that I don't collect, but I have it for the set. And I've been approached by people asking for those cards, and I look at their page, and it's like, damn.

This is the card that they need. Like, this would fit in so well with their collection, but I'm like, no. You don't understand how much this set means to me.

So we're all we're all self centered and entitled when it comes to collecting. And that's how we should be, though. Like, you're we should be doing it for ourselves, at the end of the day.

But, you know, what's the best part about this is, like, there's this jealousy factor that comes in, and there's, like, this psychoanalyzing that comes in where you're competing with someone for a card, and you're just like, what makes this person think that they're this bigger of a fan of this player than me?

Like, did you know I saw this player in my city their entire career and went to the game, and it's all this stuff.

And it's just craziness that goes on in our brains. But, yeah, this is a this is a a a fun thread to pull on, and I'm sure hopefully, this this resonates with, many of you crazy, player set or team collectors out there.

Yeah. I I was real I was mulling on this idea of thinking how people collected before social media and the Internet. And because those are factors that I've fully into how I collect this day.

It's just hard to ignore when you're scrolling a feed of ideas and other people sharing, and then you wanna you know, sometimes sparks a new idea. But I was thinking this is a take that, consolidating is not a form of collecting.

Like, a true like, did people consolidate before the Internet? Like, was that ever a thing? Because I feel like a collector, a true collector was accumulating things.

That was the point of collecting. Like, I collect cards. I'm just buying them. Was someone were people in the eighties and nineties, like, selling their entire collections to get one grail?

And I'm sure it happened, but I feel like this more, like, fluid way of collecting that we are experiencing today of, like, making moves and getting pieces and consolidating is a more modern kind of twist on card collecting.

Do you you remember when Josh Luber was on the scene and he was like the like, he was he was like, I've got the biggest Peyton Manning collection out there.

Do you remember that at all? Didn't he, like, try and sell it to Peyton? Or Peyton was involved somehow.

Yeah. There was this cold gimmick and Yeah. Stage, and there was a sale. And I, like, I thought I thought about that. And and I don't know, Josh, and I I don't have any, like, ill will towards him, but I I thought about this.

I'm like, does just because this guy has a a extreme volume of Peyton Manning cards and maybe he's never sold them up until the point where he tried to sell them to Peyton Manning himself, does that make him a true collector?

And he's been super successful and had these businesses and has this financial means to, like, keep buying and keep accumulating to and doesn't need to worry about selling a card.

And I think when it comes down to, like, the questioning of consolidation, it really comes down to, like, all of our own personal financial situations, and they're so different.

Like, we have to make these decisions in order to keep moving. So I say all that to say, I can't stand it when people say this is a true collector because they keep the cards. Like, to me, that's nonsense because, hey.

If I could, I'd keep everything. But that's not the reality of my situation, and I would imagine not the reality of many of your situations out there. I do think there's something about that, like, volume collector that I love though.

That is maybe the closest, most purest form of it. I love when I find those Instagram accounts that have, like, I'm collecting every card of this player, and it's, like, then a tally of the current it's, like, 9,482 out of 13,005.

I'm like, yes. This is the collector right here. This is the guy. Though okay. What what are they having for dinner while they're buying every car? What are they are they eating ramen noodles?

Like, if if you get a the camera on them and they're just, like, eating ramen noodles and bologna because they're sacrificing everything for those cards, then, hey. Let's get you on the podcast and talk to you. You know? Yep. Yes.

But I also think they're all their pickups could maybe aren't that expensive because of the way that they're collecting where they're getting ten $2 cards in this week, and they're pumped about those because they just checked 10 more off of the 13,000 checklist.

But, I don't know. I just just thinking. Just thinking. Just rolling. Oh, yes. You're if you come and listen to the football card podcast, you're getting a key to the inside of the way we think about this stuff.

And I've never really talked about a lot of this, so, good job building this agenda. Josh, this this is good. Let's, move on into collecting updates, shall we?

Yes, sir. Alright. So and I can share that card, but to to me, I don't kinda wanna, like, focus more on the player. But I did pick up a 2,002 finest gold refractor of Santana Moss that I'm very excited about.

I have the x fracture already, so to put that pairing together for the old o two finest collection was cool. But, mainly, I just wanted to talk about Santana Moss because what a badass.

Fourteen seasons, 10,000 yards. Best season was 02/2005. He was the second team all pro, 1,483 yards and nine touchdowns. So, you know, solid NFL career, but, yes, the U. It just got me thinking that 2001 Miami football team.

He wasn't on it. He was on the team in February, graduated. I mean, they were awesome in February, though, and he was opposite Reggie Wayne on that team, which what a great pair of receivers.

But the I guess Miami during that era, Frank Gore, Clinton Portis, Willis McGaughey in the same running back room. That's insane. That's insane. That, like and how good Willis McGahee was.

Just He Willis McGahee was it. He was it. That injury in the championship was devastating. He was so good. Like, he Frank Gore and Clinton Portis were on the bench. That's how good Willis McGahee was.

And then Ed Reed, Andre Johnson, Reggie Wayne, Jeremy Shockey, Kellen Winslow. Like We're bringing up Kellen Winslow on that. Winslow, a a soldier. Kellen Winslow was a soldier. Oh, boy. Talk about the notorious Kellen Winslow.

That's for sure. But, I mean, that o one team. So I actually remember Facebook way back in the day. There was a era when Facebook groups became a thing where people were making Facebook groups for all sorts of things.

And I did I created this was probably in, like, 02/2006, 02/2007. I created, like, just a page. It's like the a tribute to the 2001 Miami football team because I was just like, this team was badass, and no one's talking about it.

And it I ended up getting, like, thousands of members, like, all, like, Miami alum, and it's just some random kid from Indiana made this page.

But there was a moment in time I was pretty pretty proud to be the admin of, 2001 Miami's hurricanes football page.

That yes. Yes. I love it. Yeah. They were unstoppable. That roster of players is, insane. Larry Coker. Right? That was the head coach? Yeah. And who was? Yeah. But then I feel like someone else came in, kinda in the middle of that era.

Let's see. He was no. Yeah. He was he was 2000 to '2 2001 to 02/2006, but I'll I'm guess I'm probably thinking of Jimmy Johnson who was before that, because they won yeah.

They were just awesome. I loved just college football during that era, having the college football games. Like, Andre Johnson was so good at Miami. Did you have a did you have a, did you have a favorite college football video game?

I had NCAA Football two thousand three, the one with Joey Harrington on the cover. I that's the one that's burned into my brain. The mascot that was the first mascot's game, I feel like, where they really brought the mascots to life.

That sounds you could play, like, mascot games. Like, you could do yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I, dude, I had this game on PlayStation one called game day, and, like, the pseudo Eddie George looking player was on the front.

But you it was, like, you know, unlike you couldn't, like, highlight the players, but I just remember, like, dude, I would sit in my basement and I would play, like, 10 games of that, like, in a row, and then I'd get, like, I'd be like, alright.

I need you to do something different, and then I'd, like, play twisted metal for, like, several hours and then hop back.

It'd be, like, 04:00 in the morning, and I'd be, like, eating junk food. I was like, alright. I guess it's time to go to bed. And I just, like, go over to my couch in the basement and fall asleep and wake up and do it all over again.

Those those were the days. That I I love it. Playing, like, summers. Just playing just gaming. Just gaming all day. Creating creating dynasties. I wish I could look back at some of my stats from from back in the day.

I know I was cooking them. Yeah. Yeah. So it was the time. Then another pickup that was fun, a Shawn Alexander, 2003 finest, gold refractor. I feel like 2,003 finest doesn't always get the love, but, these things shine very well.

It's a very cool looking card, for $41 at auction. I couldn't pass this up. And this was a jersey number, 37 out of 50, that wasn't noted in the listing.

So that always feels fun to find a jersey numbered card that, goes unnoticed. Wow. Curious how you feel about jersey number cards. Do you value them more than others?

What any thoughts? I I love it. I think it's great. I think it's a I I'm I'm all for it. I'm all for the jersey number. But, you know, sometimes it comes down to, like, the premium, it just seems too high on sometimes.

I love this, like, identifying one that and 37 is such that's so out, Sean Alexander, that, like, that's an easy identifiable number to, jersey number on a card where we and I've talked about this in content in the past.

Like, some players, like, have numbers that don't really resonate.

But, like, if you got a Brady and you get a a 12 or a Manning and an 18, like, that really makes sense. So I love it, but, you know, I'm probably not gonna pay, you know, a thousand or $2,000 more just for the jersey number.

Alright. A gold prism comes up for sale. A jersey number of a Colts player. Or would you rather have a PSA nine jersey numbered version or a PSA 10 pop one?

PSA 10 pop one all day every day. Okay. What about you? Yeah. I think I'd have the PSA 10. Dude, PSA 10, which I'm gonna in my pickups, I'm gonna talk about a PSA 10 pop one.

PSA PSA 10 pop one is just I don't know. As I mature as a collector, I just think it's it is a way for me to, like, continue on this, like, one of ones of this era and move over to other eras.

And while there might not be an equivalent one of one, it's a way it's almost the same to me as a one of one to to be on that island with a card maybe in the nineties that is a pop one and a PSA 10.

You're just like, there's no way that anyone's ever gonna jam one of these again, and I think that's a cool feeling.

That is for sure. And then one four more thing on 2,003 finest. Great set, but then just what was Topps doing with the numbering back then?

So in o three finest football, there's the base cards, and then you have refractors that are numbered to one ninety nine, gold x fractors numbered to one seventy five, and then the gold's numbered to 50, and then with all sorts of, like, MEM only versions, memorabilia only versions in the mix.

And it's just was Topps just spinning a wheel, and that's how they'd figure out what to number their cards out of each year? Like, every year is new during this era, and, I don't know.

I wish I wish like like, 02/2003, you're coming off of a set that you have cards out of 20, cards out of 25. And instead of sticking to that, you open it up to one ninety nine and one seventy five.

I I just I just imagine whoever's the key decision maker on that who signs it off is just, like, in their office listening to fish and, like, has something recreationally going and just, like, oh, yeah.

Like, these cool 2,003 finest, x fractures. These things are so sick. I think more people should probably get them this year, so we'll make them one seventy five.

And it's just like, you know, decades later, it's like, why weren't these cards made out of 10? Like, they're so cool, but the fact that they're out of one seventy five, like, makes them way less desirable.

Even if you are to get a PSA 10, it's just like, there's too many. So, yeah, it's nonsense. And I think that hurts the lineage and legacy of a lot of these sets because there's these gap years.

There's the parallels are off from year to year, and it's just there's a reason why we only focus on, like, specific years when we get into, like, the finest in the chrome of it all in this era.

And so, yeah, I blame it on the the the guy who was listening to too much fish and probably was taking something he shouldn't have while he was at work.

I hope someone else who's in those meetings is listening. They're probably a loyal listener of the FCP, and they're like, I I knew it.

I said that we should stick to the the low numbering. But it's just weird that they were it was flipping back and forth. It's not like they were doing these high numbers, and it slowly shrank down in kind of the way you'd expect.

They they were doing they had years where the numbering where they nailed the numbering, and then the next year, they'd turn around and open the floodgates.

So I don't know. I'd love to if you worked at TOPS and on the finest products or any of the any Topps products Come on down. Early two thousands, please reach out, to the Football Card podcast. We'd love to talk.

Yeah. We'll we'll we'll put you right right on right away, and we'll get all the we're we're dying for the answers, and so are so is our audience. Yep. So what what about you, though, collecting updates? Any any pickups?

Anything interesting going on? Yeah. There is actually, you know, something interesting, and I feel like I am. It just takes one. And I talked about the Edron James o five x Fractor and how much fun it was to get that card.

And, you know, just one's never enough, and it's like, what should I do here? Should I focus in on, the set trying to get out other players, or should I just, like, search for another awesome Edron James card?

And so, like, I feel like I'm pivoting into this player collecting category of edge who, I mean, let me just we'll run these off real quick.

11 season, 3,028 carries, 12,246 yards, 433 catches, 91 touchdowns, offensive rookie of the year, hall of fame. I mean, he's just so good. I remember, just his rookie his rookie season. He had 1,500 yards, 13 touchdowns.

I was like, this guy is incredible. And I'm gonna talk about the pickup, but in this exercise, I texted you this. I just wanna, like this is why, like, us quotes fans are so miserable now because we we've, like, lived in the glory days.

Let me just run through this for for all you listeners. Here's a draft, Bill Pulliam style. Let me just go through the list.

Ten years, this decade of draft, where you had the first player that the Colts took off the board. '96 Marvin Harrison, '97, Tarka Glenn, who's Manning's blindside for, you know, the entirety of his run-in Indianapolis.

98, Peyton Manning. 99, Edgerrin James. 2,000, Rob Morris. Yeah. Maybe a whiff overdraft, but he was on the starting defense of the Super Bowl team. 2,001, Reggie Wayne. 2,002, Dwight Franey. O three, Dallas Clark.

O four, Bob Sanders. O five, Marlon Jackson, who had the most iconic moment of in Colts history picking off Brady in the AFC championship. In o six, Joseph Adai, who was the lead runner on the Super Bowl team in his rookie year.

That is a a decade of drafting, and it's like I mean, very few misses. Just absolutely incredible. But, you know, we have as collectors, we collect, you know, based on errors and teams and such.

But it's as I think back, and I'm so intoxicated by this prism run, I'm like, alright. I need to make sure I go back to my glory days collecting.

And so I think that's really what I'm doing with Edron James. And so I don't have the card in hand, but I'm gonna share it because I just love this purchase. And we'll pull it pull it up on the screen.

So I bought this card, on eBay, and there's a lesson here for everybody. Make sure that when a card is listed without a a best offer, make sure you follow it because you might just get an offer.

And when you get an offer or a discount, it opens the door for the counter offer. So this card was listed. I hit follow, waited a few hours and got a discount.

And I was like, oh, that's not a bad discount, but not quite in the range that I wanna pay yet. So I literally I think my counter was $800 off the list price, and my offer immediately got accepted.

And I was, like, blown away and so surprised and felt like I got a deal. But the card is the 1999 playoff contenders, Edron James, Finesse Gold, autograph, PSA 10, Pop one.

So this is this card is the only PSA 10 in existence, and it it really follows the kind of the lineage and legacy of that, like, 98 contenders, rookie ticket, Manning, and then the follow-up is the 99.

And then you look at this card, and it's just like, gosh.

It's a young edge in a practice uniform with shiny gold background with etching on the back. These cards, if any of you have had these cards in this set, it they are so condition sensitive. The surface areas get scuffed up so quickly.

It's just the the product of how these cards were made in the nineties. And so, to me, this thing has, like, all of the elements together, and I don't know that when I when unexpectedly landed this card, I got really excited.

They're out of 25. So there's not a ton of them. And then the final point, and we'll plug card ladder for this, where I was doing my analysis when I was, like, going back and being like, what should I offer this and that?

And I saw, like, the high sale of this set was the Kurt Warner, the gold PSA 10, which the Warner's in a pop too.

And I think it it had sold for $9, and I was like, the the Warner's selling for $9, and I can get an edge for, like, you know, an eighth or an eighth of that price. This is a no brainer.

So I'm pumped to get that card. I'm pumped to be getting some Edron James back in my life. Hashtag don't collect running backs. Yeah. This card is awesome. Edge was so sick. I mean, the I I'm a big I love scrimmage yards.

Like, I I mean, I love rushing yards, obviously, but I'm always looking at, you know, how many yards did they put up in a season. And his rookie year, 21, 39, and 17 touchdowns. First team all pro as a rookie, led the league in rushing.

And then his second year, 2,000, he had 23 2,303 yards, 18 touchdowns. Like, unreal first two years out of the gate. Another, the u alum. That's right. I was gonna I was making I was making sure that was announced.

This is the u pod right here. The u pod. But and that, 2303 yards is the eleventh most scrimmage yards ever in a season. Do you know number one? Say say say repeat that one more time. Most scrimmage yards in a season.

Yards from scrimmage by a player in a season. So rushing plus receiving. What what number was Edge? Edge with 2,303 yards was number 11. Number one, I'm gonna Ladany and Tomlinson? Nope. It is do you want the answer?

Yeah. Give it to me. Chris Johnson, CJ two k year. He had 2,509 yards from scrimmage. That is the most in NFL history. Number two, Faulk with 2,429 in '99. And then Christian McCaffrey in 2019, 02/1992. So that's the most recent entry.

Saquon, this most recent year is at 13. He did 2,283. But that's a that's a number that I love checking. Yeah. I love that. Man, you know, think about the just those swing passes that, Manning used to, pass out to him in the flat.

And just like the big shoulder pads, and it's like, you got a linebacker running out to the flat to try to stop edge, and it's just like, good luck, pal.

I mean, it's just it would there was this period of time where it really felt like there was just this huge mismatch when you had, like, one of these player fast running backs who could catch the ball.

And, like, the defense has hadn't quite caught up to, like, that profile of, like, linebacker that we see today. And it was just, like, if you had one of those guys, it was just such a competitive advantage.

I I feel like I don't see the stretch run anymore. Like, the stretch hand off. The way like, man I'm not too fast, dude. Yeah. That's I guess that's it. Like, because there's no more Rob Morris's in the league.

Yeah. Exactly. Lightning quick d n type dudes. But, yeah, I just I can just vividly see Manning, like, stretching as far as he can, the whole line, like, shifting to hand it off the edge to get an easy seven yards.

Dude, it's it was there there was a period of time where you had edge, that stretch play. You have edge. On one side, you have Harrison. On the other side, you have Wayne.

And then in the middle, you have Dallas Clark. Good luck. Good luck stopping that. And you have a quarterback who knows exactly what to do and can do it. Hey. He's he wasn't bad, but, yeah, I'm I'm pumped about this card.

So That's awesome. Glad I could share it. Alright. We're we're running up on time, and we have a a lot on the agenda. So we might have to cut some, I'll be quick because it I think your answer is gonna be quick.

But, you know, we're doing this football podcast, and you had mentioned something about how Andrew Luck cards helped you get over his sudden retirement. Yes. Where, like, that was part of the healing process.

And I feel like I do that in a sense with I remember players through rose colored glasses, Jay Cutler and Alshon Jeffery, were not successful Chicago Bears players, but that that doesn't matter to me anymore.

I look back, and I'm like, hell, yeah. They were kick ass. I wanna collect their cards. But my question is, are there any Colts players or a moment that's too painful that you'd never be able to collect them, like, even as time goes on.

And, like, looking back, you'll never be like, oh, actually, you know, I I like that player and can forgive certain things. Yeah.

It's easy one for me, and that is Mike Vanderjak. Mike Vanderjag has cards in, like I know he's got a 24 karat gold, and I think he's got a PMG. It's like, I I just can never collect him because of all the pain and misery he caused me.

And it made me absolutely sick to my stomach that after all these flops and missed field goals in these pivotal moments, he was still recognized as the most accurate kicker in NFL history.

I was like, my ass. This guy sucks. Get him out of town. So Mike Vanderjag, total loser.

Never wanna see his cards. Never wanna see his cards in my collection. If I could throw dirt on one player, no player would get more shovels of dirt on their head than Mike Vanderjag, that liquored up drunk kicker.

I love it. I remember that 24 karat gold, it might still be on eBay. I feel like it's been there. There was one on eBay forever. And I did I'd see it, and I was like, I wonder. So he But He had some he was good.

He was the most accurate kicker. But, no, you can't can't collect banner jack. For me, it's similar. Kickers, man. Cody Parky, double joint. Oh. Like It is. He just it'll net not that I would collect a kicker anyways. But, I mean, hey.

If that's your lane, go for it. But Is it bad is it bad that I remember where I was for the double doink? Like, how do you feel about that? Like, I'm not a Bears guy, but I remember where I was for that. Oh, I it was horrible.

I mean, that was like that was an all time low moment because that team was cooking. That team was gonna they would have played the Rams next. They had already beat the Rams in the regular season. Like, they had, McVay figured out.

That was the Rams Patriots Super Bowl year. I'd Belichick would have ran circles around Matt Nagy, so I don't think the Bears would have won the Super Bowl, but I do think they had a path to get there that year.

And I that just broke the team. I mean, it broke Matt Nagy's brain. I think it rattled Trubisky who was absolutely cooking that game. Like, people forget the bears to get into double joint position.

Like, they drove, like, 60 yards in, like, thirty seconds. Like, the Eagles scored with, like, a minute left, and Mitch had, like, big throws to Allen Robinson to get into 42 yard field goal range to to win the game.

That's a bad one. And Chris Conte, when the bears and Packers played in twenty thirteen week seventeen, the winner win the wins the division and goes to the playoffs.

And on fourth down, Aaron Rodgers hit Randall Cobb for, like, a Oh, yeah. 55 yard touchdown. Just ran right past Chris Conte.

I was actually at Soldier Field by myself for that game. I had just moved to Chicago, bought a ticket, like, one solo ticket. Devastating. Just absolutely devastating. Yeah. Fun times. I hope Chris Conny doesn't have any cards, though.

No. Yeah. And another date we can talk about why I was such a Mitch Trubisky advocate. I'm I I couldn't consider myself that, and Bears fans are probably yelling at their, you know, phones right now.

But I the circumstances, I think he he never got a quite the fair shake, and maybe we could talk about that on another podcast.

He had his chances. People were always like, just like, for Justin Fields, it was always you stick with just like, the Bears didn't stick with Justin Fields.

He had three full years as a starter. And it's like, if you're still asking questions going into year four, he's probably not the guy.

And, yes, there's a variety of, you know, things going on that are out of their control, but you if you've got three years as a starter, you should figure it out.

And Mitch had that too. Mitch at you know? But the common denominator there is the Chicago Bears. So maybe there's, you know, more at play than just the quarterback.

Should we should we hit some of these market watches? Yeah. I think we could hit, like, two of these. Yeah. Why don't why why don't you maybe you do one, and I'll do one, and then we'll round it out.

Yeah. The first the one I'll pick is 2000 eight Bowman Chrome, John Harbaugh, gold refractor out of 50. I didn't know this card existed. I had never seen it before. Sure.

There were I'd looked it up. I think there were only a couple coaches who got cards this year. How sick is that? Like, I got It's I had no idea these were a thing either. And, dude, John Harbaugh has looked the same for so many years.

This is exactly how he looks right now in this o eight card. And I saw him in Indianapolis during the combine on the street, like, ten, twelve years ago. He looked the exact same then.

But yeah. That for a Ravens fan, I would want this card so bad. And then knowing that there's a super factor out there too, that's a super cool card and coach cards in general. Like, I've seen the 2024 prism Andy Reid pop up a bunch.

I know Matt LaFleur had one recently because I remember seeing that and looking at the checklist thinking Matt better not have a card. Like, I hope to God Panini didn't waste an ounce of Blackfinite juice on a Matt Eberfluss card.

And so I'm I'm thankful that they didn't. Yeah. I thought, dude, when I when those first when those first drop, I was like, did they really just do every coach?

And then I quickly learned that they didn't, but I thought, like, that would there's actually, like, some coaches that would have made that that would have had, like, a black finite that, like, out of just pure humor would be it would be that would be a fun collection to build out.

Oh, for sure. They should do a coach set.

I mean I'm buying. Yeah. Alright. What one do you wanna go look at? This is tough. I am going to go let's see here. I'm gonna go with this one because why not talk about Terrell Rivas, who first, I'm gonna talk about the cards.

This is a 2015 flawless, Rivas greats patch auto ruby out of 15. My my youngest daughter's name's Ruby, so maybe I'd so I picked it.

It's a PSA 10, flawless, just game use. You've got Rivas, the auto. This thing sold for just under a thousand dollars, and this will go I believe I can do this. Where did I see this? I got card ladder going.

Yep. So here is a example of the absolute madness. And this is not what I wanna talk about, but why not talk about it? So we can go to how about this, 2023 clearly non Russ. This card sold for a dollar more than the other ones.

You've got a PSA 10 downtown of Rivas selling for a dollar more than a Game Use Patch Auto from Flawless. So that's where we're at here in 2025. And, actually, this one's even crazier.

This this copy, not even graded. Clearly, Donruss downtown sold for $14. 88 on June 22. This sale just happened. Raw. $1,500 for a raw, clearly, Donerous downtown, Daryl Rivas, but let's not talk about the madness.

Let's talk about this card. So I think when you get into defensive players, especially, like I put Rivas in, like, the top of the top to me in terms of defensive player at his position.

Like, to me, he's in the top conversation with all time great cornerbacks. And I he is because when you played against him, the offensive, the offensive, game plan, it started with where where's Rivas?

Okay. Well, this is what we gotta do on this other side of the field, because Rivas Island was an actual thing. Like, in his prime, I have never seen a player dominate at the quarterback position like Rivas.

I mean, just an unbelievable player. Colts and Jets had some great playoff matches while Rivas and Rex Ryan were kinda collabing together, and it was just always even Manning, it was like, alright.

We're we're not gonna throw it to Rivas' side. I don't know. Like, I see I am a big fan of great defensive players, especially in collecting cards.

And I think you got a player like Rivas and his got, like you know, his catalog just based on him being a defensive player is gonna be a lot smaller than some of the other greatest players of all time.

And I just I don't know. It's got this opportunity in a premium product with this game worn patch and this autograph and a PSA 10.

It just got it's got all the elements to me. So, that's just a moment I wanted to spend by just recognizing the greatness of Rivas.

Obviously, hall of famer, obviously, one of the greatest to ever do it. But, again, it just feels like we're we're not talking enough about this player who literally changed the game while he was playing.

I love shutdown corners. That's a lane of collecting that that would be so fun to get, like, a sick Rivas card, sick Richard Sherman, champ Bailey.

Like, Rivas, 14 four time first team all pro, including three in a row during that stretch from 02/2009, 02/2010, 02/2011.

He was so good. He was picking off Brady. He was shutting down Moss or had battles with Moss on the Patriots. Just he was awesome.

And, yeah, thousand bucks for this card. That's a very expensive card. But then when you see those Donerous clearly, come on. Come on. Like $14. 88, man. Dude, we have no respect. Like Yeah. Yeah. But, like, to each its own.

And, like, what does what does that say? It just says that, like, downtowns people just want into a downtown. So, like, when we're talking about set collecting or, like, pay like, you're paying a premium just for the set.

Like, that's all that is, and it doesn't make sense to us. It doesn't. But, yeah. People I think people enjoy us, like, bringing up these players from the past and talking about them.

I know I enjoy talking about them, and I think that section, which will we we've kinda we've covered a lot of ground here, but that section will be a good opportunity in the future for us to do that.

For sure. Alright. Let's wrap it up. The card call out real quick. I'll I'll blow through this, but we asked to see defensive players, and, wow, the loyal listeners showed up.

There were so many awesome defensive player cards. I'll I need to, like, make a, like, story highlight thing for the page so that people can go revisit if they want because there were some awesome cards.

I picked up a couple that jumped out to me. First up, this Aidan Hutchinson rookie Obsidian electric blue etch one of one, just an awesome looking card.

Obsidian is a set that I love. I don't collect it. Like, I have a few cards here and there that I've gotten over the years of, like, Bears guys, but it's something I've always thought looked so cool.

I feel like this set will have its day one day. Just an awesome looking card of a stud defensive player. Then next up, a nineteen fifty five Bowman Tom Landry. It wasn't this exact copy, but what a cool card as a vintage guy.

You know? I am this card rules. But this led me to just the Tom Landry Wikipedia, which was cracking me up because, you know, like, early football days before, like, the NFL was formed is, hilarious to me.

Like, I'm just gonna read this one sentence that kinda sums up what football was like in the, like, forties and fifties.

Landry was selected in the nineteenth round, a hundred and twenty eighth overall, of the nineteen forty eight AAFC draft.

He played one season in the All America Football Conference for the New York Yankees, then he moved in 1950 across town to the New York Giants.

And he was able to go to the Giants because they exercised their territorial rights and selected him in a dispersal draft.

But just this era of all these, like, little football leagues that were forming and there were different teams, and then they folded and got absolved by other football corporations is that era just cracks me up.

And Tom Landry, 32 interceptions. He had a a good run as a defensive player, and he was also their punter. Another thing I love about this era where there's just, like, these dudes who were doing everything.

Dude, my favorite thing to do when everybody's asleep in the house is just sit on my couch and let like, be completely relaxed and turn on NFL Network and watch, like, a football life or something on like Tom Landry.

And it's just take the history behind the game is what it's all about, man.

We always talk about this season and what's forward, but looking back on this stuff, man, it is the best, and it's great that people can share their cards to remind us or to educate us on these these moments. I think it's so much fun.

Yeah. As you were talking through that, I'm like, maybe I is there a I'm like, is there, you know, people are watching quarterback on Netflix and stuff. I'm like, yeah. I could be into that, but I'd much rather watch a Tom Landry.

It's a football life. Yeah. And, I mean, George Halas, papa bear, just the who founded the NFL, but, I mean, the bear started he was he worked at a starch manufacturer, and he was just their sales representative.

And but they had, like, a a football team for the the company. Like, that's what, like, these, you know, it's all these dudes working at steel mills and in plants, and then they have football teams, and they play against each other.

And he they started, like, investing money into his starch manufacture team and takes it to Chicago. But, like, that era to me is so so fascinating.

And he was like, he did it. George Halas is sick. He did everything. Like, he was, like, selling tickets, doing marketing, and coaching at the same time and, like, you know, just doing it all.

And then the last one, 1996 Select certified Bruce Smith, MirrorRed premium stock. Our guy, Ben, Brooklyn Berry Bright posted this.

This isn't his exact copy. He shared it, like, via his story and not, like, a post, so I couldn't link it. But, this card rules. I don't know a ton about this set, but I know it's something he collects.

And so I see pictures of them, and they just look so cool, the way the light hits them. They remind me kind of of just those early x fractures, the way the all the different rainbow colors hit it.

Just a sick looking card. Amazing card. Every time I see Bruce Smith, I think about, like, the Bruce Smith and Tony Bucelli feud of, like, Bruce Smith, like, basically saying he's no good, and he shouldn't be in the hall of fame.

And just like that beef that was, like, maybe there while they're playing extending outward.

But Bruce Smith was awesome. And, also, like, I know we're gonna probably get to it, but just the sharing and the call out, you all are bringing it, man.

Just to see all the posts of you tagging, the football card pod and just just going through that last week was so much fun. Like, there you all have just amazing cards and wanna just say thank you for sharing them and tagging, our page.

It's a great I love the bat signal, man. It's been awesome to to follow all of it. It is. And this week, hall of very good players. We've talked about this area before, but I don't wanna see any hall of famers.

No hall of famers allowed. You know, there'll be other chances for that. This week, we wanna see the hall of very good. Who are those players who are maybe on the cusp, on the fringe, maybe one day?

Or you maybe they're not, but you think they deserve in the hall for one reason or or the another. So share those cards, share a story behind it, and, of course, tag the football card pod so that we can reshare it on our story.

And, yeah, looking forward to a week of seeing some maybe unheralded players, but players who still deserve some shine. I'll I'll I'll say this, and then we can get out of here.

The hall of very good topic is one of my favorites because my QB one of the starting team of the hall of very good is my favorite player or one of my favorite players, and that's Andrew Luck.

Never make the hall of fame. Hall of very good. Andrew Luck's in there all day every day.

You know, actually doing research for this episode and during my hate research of Chris Conte, I found out he did pick off Andrew Luck. So there was a moment in time. Chris Conte got the best of old Andy.

There he threw some pics out there. That's for sure. But, can't I would never have guessed Chris Conte got the best of them, but, you know, every, blind squirrel finds a nut or whatever that saying is.

Yeah. That Chris Conte was a blind squirrel for sure. That's a good way to put it. Alright. I think we're out of here. Thank you all for listening to the football card podcast episode four. We'll see you next week.