Card: 1984 John Elway, Card #63

Team/Position: Denver Broncos / Quarterback

Cost: $8 for this terribly off-centered beauty.

1984 is one of the few years in the modern era that can compete with the big-boys of the 1950′s.  Marino and Elway alone keep the year amongst the greatest of all time.

With that said, I have no use for John Elway or any other Quarterback that refuses to abide by the rules of the NFL Draft –  I’m looking at you, Mr. Eli Manning.

Elway played his college ball at Stanford where despite never leading the Cardinal to a bowl game, Elway posted ridiculous numbers and was part of everyone’s favourite sports highlight: “The Band IS OUT ON THE FIELD!!”

What many tend to forget about John Elway was his brief stint in the New York-Penn League prior to his senior season.  Elway obviously had all of the tools that scouts dream of, but whether or not he could’ve achieved greatness we’ll never know.

The Yankees selected Elway in the second round of the 1981 MLB Draft after the Royals had spent a selection on Elway in ’79.

From an ‘83 issue of Time Magazine:

How well Elway could play was a question, but how well he would be paid was not. The baseball “rights” to Elway belonged to the New York Yankees, who belong to George Steinbrenner, a free spender capable of buying a pennant and everything else on the shelf. And he seems loath to pay less than $1 million for anything. In six weeks of minor league baseball last summer, Class A ball in Oneonta, N.Y., Outfielder Elway batted .318. However, since Class A pitchers seldom throw a curve on purpose, there was naturally some uncertainty about whether Elway could ever be a major league baseball player, much less a star. Regarding his football skills, there is less doubt.

Elway eventually found himself a member of the Denver Broncos and would go on to lead DRIVES and DIVES.

Elway was the king of the comeback, and will be remembered more than any statistic, as such.  He holds the record for most game-winning or game-tying drives in the fourth-quarter with 47.

If you’re an Elway fan, you certainly have his Colorado Crush of the Arena Football League Jersey.  As the owner of the Crush, Elway’s pimpin’ out his jersey for the low-low-low price of 46.99.   Medium, Large and 2XL are sold out, so you’re out of luck unless you’re a size XL.

You can get pretty decent deals on Elway’s RC if you’re not picky — To me, it seems as though your best bet is an ungraded card in the PSA 7 range.

Card: 1989 Score Football, Card #72

Team/Position: Philly Eagles, Minnesota Vikings / Wide Receiver

Cost:

If Cris Carter isn’t a first-ballot Hall of Famer, I don’t know who is.  Jerry Rice is obviously going to be a first-ballot guy; but realistically, do you have to be the greatest player at your position to be deemed worthy of first-ballot status by the grumpy, old, balding men known as the HOF Selection Committee?

Cris Carter finished up his career as the second best wide-receiver ever, if you’re just going on statistics.  Before becoming a mentor to young players everywhere he went, Carter had early off-field issues.  Rather than rewarding such a turnaround, the Hall of Fame committee decided to punish Carter in 2009.

Cris Carter’s yet another Ohio State Alum, adding to the already gigantically prejudicial list of Paul Warfield, Jack Tatum, Jim Parker,  John Stallworth, and  Orlando Pace.

In his third season (1989,)  Carter caught 11 touchdown passes but in a shocking move, was cut by Buddy Ryan before the 1990 season.  Carter’s life was falling apart and behind the scene, Carter’s addiction to cocaine and booze, was well known.  Carter later credited Buddy Ryan for changing his life (I’m sure Eagles fans took solace in that as Carter went onto have a HOF-career).

Carter’s career slowly built up steam with the Vikings until it exploded with the acquisition of Warren Moon.  In 1994, Cris Carter set a then-record for receptions in a season with 122.  Carter continued to dominate until the Vikings drafted Randy Moss in 1998, at which point he entered the stratosphere.

With Moss opposite him, Carter was free to put up career-best numbers and continued to find the end-zone  at a torrid pace.

Carter finished up his career with the Dolphins in 2002.  When all was said and done, only Jerry Rice had better numbers than Carter’s 1,101 receptions and 130 touchdowns.  Marvin Harrison has since surpassed Carter for receptions, but his recent nightclub incident will probably reduce him to a second-ballot HOF inductee as well.  Ugh.

Carter’s the only player to ever post two seasons with 120+ receptions and hopefully he’ll find a way to sneak into the HOF in 2010, a year in which Jerry Rice and Tim Brown both become eligible.

If you were third-and-goal from anywhere on the field, Cris Carter is the wide-receiver you’d look to.  In that regard, even Jerry Rice couldn’t compare to Cris Carter’s hands and body control.

Two final things in closing:

1. It’s awful that so many of the greatest rookie cards of all time were over-produced to the point that they’re worthless.
2. Cris Carter definitely looks stoned as hell on the rear of his 1989 Score Card.

Card: 1989 Score Football, Card #246

Team/Position: Falcons, Cowboys, 49ers / Cornerback

Cost: $0.50

I absolutely, positively, despise Deion Sanders.  As a 49ers fan, it was Deion’s mentoring of Michael Crabtree that finally pushed me over the edge.  Sanders is brash and seems to wipe his ass with the mantra, “no man is bigger than the sport“.

Watching Deion play was one thing, but I’d rather listen to the transvestite lovin’ Marv Albert over Deion “Prime Time” Sanders.  Deion Sanders provides analysis on how any given football moment will positively or negatively effect a player’s salary.

Without a doubt, Deion Sanders was the best man-coverage cornerback to ever play.  Deion changed games with his blazing speed in coverage and in the return game, but he didn’t understand the concept of tackling until very late in his career.  Sanders’ take on football was simple:  I’m blessed with God-given talent, so pay me a shit-load of money and pay attention to me…Daddy, please pay attention to me!  look daddy, I did good.  I did real good.

If you were unaware, Deion also played baseball from 1989 to 1997, with a brief return in 1999.

During an at-bat, Sanders drew a dollar sign with his bat knob prior to refusing to run out a routine grounder.  Thankfully, Carlton Fisk was catching and had this to say to Sanders,

“I just told him [Deion Sanders] I thought that there was a right way and a wrong way to play the game, and he was playing it wrong, because it offended guys like me. And if he didn’t care to play it right, let’s go at it, right here at home plate.” Carlton Fisk on ESPN Classic’s SportsCentury series.

Sanders was great and could easily shutdown half of the field, but his persona will forever taint his legacy.

Did I mention that I hate Deion Sanders?

Whenever Deion starts stroking his ego too much, I can’t help but think about how well Sanders would fair against the physical offenses of yesteryear.  Sanders could cover, but I’d like to see him step up and take on a pulling Jerry Kramer on a Packer-Sweep.

…and oh yah, Kelly Gruber, weighed down by a mullet and gold-chains, tagged your ass biiiatch.

Card: 1984 Topps Football Card #280

Team/Position: Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts,  Oakland Raiders / Runningback

Cost: $5.00

For some reason, I feel that runningbacks of the 80′s definitely get lost in the wash. Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders went about destroying records at such a frequency that the Eric Dickersons and Marcus Allens of the world are all too often forgotten.  The 80′s was essentially, Walter Peyton or bust.

Eric Dickerson was absolutely amazing though, and his rookie card comes from one of the best football sets out there: 1984 Topps Football.

Dickerson’s one of the few men to ever rush for over 2000 yards and still holds the record for rushing yards in a single season with 2,105 yards which he accomplished in his second season.

In 1989, Dickerson became the fastest player to reach 10,000 yards, accomplishing the feat in only 91 games — Faster than Sanders (103 G), than Brown (98 G) and Emmitt and LT too (106 G).

Dickerson was a terrific back, and probably best known for making things look easier than a sorority girl.  Dickerson was just so incredibly fluid through the hole, and then accelerating through the second level.

I’m a fairly avid reader of FootballOutsiders where Dickerson’s name pops up in one of the most circulated fantasy football caveat:

A running back with 370 or more carries during the regular season will usually suffer either a major injury or a loss of effectiveness the following year, unless he is named Eric Dickerson

Dickerson eventually began to falter late in his career, but that was mainly due to contract disputes and general unhappiness.  Early in Dickerson’s career, he defied the odds by running the ball almost 400 times per year without losing a step — He WAS the Rams offense.

Eric Dickerson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999.

Card: 1989 Score Football Card #263

Team/Position: Denver Broncos / Free Safety

Cost: 50 cents

The 1989 Score set is absolutely loaded with rookies.  In ’99, Score re-released quite a few of the ’89 cards with certified autographs.

Considering the rookie crop, it was pretty damn amazing.  Earlier this year, Score used the ’89 design on 2009′s rookie crop which made for some pretty desirable cards.

I nailed down Steve Atwater for exactly 50 cents on CheckOutMyCards. If you plan on ordering a handful of low-value cards, it’s definitely head and shoulders above eBay.

With that said, I absolutely adore Steve Atwater. 

Atwater’s yet to be elected into the Hall of Fame, which is pretty much bullshit.  Atwater came out of Arkansas and brought some toughness to the Free Safety position.  Atwater was used in the box like a linebacker and recorded insane unofficial tackle numbers (1989: 129, 1990: 173, 1991: 150, 1992: 151, 1993: 141)

Atwater’s best known for his devastating hits.  My favourite, by far, is Atwater’s hit on the Nigerian Nightmare, Christian Okoye.

A 216lb free safety taking on a 260lb running back, boo-yah.

Atwater was a key part of the late-90′s Broncos Superbowl teams, and his performance against the Green Bay Favre’s was as clutch as it gets.  Atwater hit everything in sight and while his coverage skills were declining quickly, he just seemed to be in the right spot to deliver the hit on every play.   With 36 seconds left, you get to see Atwater knock himself unconscious on the field of play.

By the time Atwater was done, he’d been selected to 8 Pro Bowls and 2 First Team All Pro teams.  For his work with the Broncos, Atwater was named to the All-Decade team of the 1990′s.

On the reverse of Atwater’s rookie card, it proudly displays his 4.65 40-yard dash time.  It’s almost a miracle that Atwater was able to play with such a lack of speed at the safety position well into the 90′s.  Without Atwater’s leadership or football IQ, he’d be nothing more than the 90′s version of Roy Williams.

The bone-heads at the Pro Football Hall of Fame will undoubtedly see Atwater’s 24 Interceptions and 5 sacks and just scoff. Yet, there was so much more to Steve Atwater than just statistics.  When you think of guys like Steve Atwater and John Lynch, it’s hard to believe they’re not Hall of Famers, yet Atwater continues to get overlooked.  Lynch and Atwater both possessed superior leadership ability, but for whatever reason (skin-color, maybe?) much more was made of John Lynch’s ability to lead.

Only time will tell, I suppose.

I’m sure we’ll see 20 more mediocre receivers and quarterbacks elected before Atwater, and it’s a shame.

Card: 1984 Topps Football Card #129

Team/Position: Miami Dolphins / Offensive Center

Cost: $5.00

When it comes to offensive linemen, induction into the Hall of Fame is almost always preceded by a lengthy NFL career.  Linemen almost always gather enough information or dirty tricks to balance the erosion of their athletic ability.

So when a player is inducted after only having played six years as a starter, you know that he’s very, very special.  This is the case with Stephenson who played his rookie and most of his second year as a special teamer before eventually taking over Center from an injured Mark Dennard in late 1981.

Stephenson was the perfect offensive center in just about every regard.  Stephenson was incredibly explosive off the ball which allowed him to beat defenders to the punch on a regular basis.  Stephenson had the uncanny ability to use his quickness and agility to beat the defender off the ball before using his strength and positioning to knock ‘em on their asses.

If you look at the rear of the card, you’ll learn that Dwight Stephenson bench pressed over 350lbs.  You’ll also learn that Dwight was apparently white, with man-tits, and liked wearing a bikini top, all while doing something that doesn’t even vaguely resemble a bench press.

Stephenson’s Dolphins lead the league in fewest sacks allowed from 1982 to 1987; a period during which Stephenson was voted All Pro every year but 1982.

For all of the Dolphins’ of the 80′s greatness, they never won a Superbowl.  Stephenson made it to two Super Bowls, but he and Marino fell short on both occasions.

A severe knee injury eventually ended Stephenson’s career after eight years.  His induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998 is quite the testament to just how great Stephenson was as an offensive lineman.

Here’s my favourite exert from Stephenson’s Hall of Fame Chat Transcript:

kpaluso: Who was your favorite head coach?
Dwight Stephenson: I only had two: Shula and Bryant. Bryant had more of an affect on me as a person. He was influential in helping me to think and achieve goals. He helped me become a better person and player. As for Shula, he was very similar to Coach Bryant. He knows how to develop people so well.

Can you think of a better 1-2 combo?  Does anyone even come close now?  Pete Carroll and Bill Bellichick?  Woody Hayes and Tom Landry? Knute Rockne and George Halas?

By the way, 1984 Topps is the leader right now when it comes to the Best Football Set Ever.

Card: 1985 Topps Football Card #251

Team/Position: Houston Oilers / Quarterback

Cost: $4.00

Topps 1985 football endeavor was a masterpiece, at least in my books. I love the dark black borders and horizontal layout: the cards are quite sharp.  It’s not in the same league as the Godfather of black bordered cards, 1962 Topps, but it’s still a damn good card.

Unfortunately, 1985 was one of the absolute worst years for Football Rookie Cards.  Baseball was fine; it had Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Kirby Puckett and Brett Saberhagen.  Football, on the other hand, got the shaft.  Contrast the  ’83 Draft spitting out 6 Hall of Famers (Dickerson, Elway, Kelly, Marino, Green, and Matthews,) with the ’84 Draft and you’ve got a 6-to-0 shutout.

Other than Moon, 1985 gives us three men that knew Dan Marino intimately:  Irving Fryar, Mark Clayton and Bills’ LB, Darryl Talley.  Jim Jeffcoat also came out of the ’85 set, but I’m just mentioning him to plug the 8-and-1 Houston Cougars, for whom he’s a defensive line coach.  Houston snuck by Tulsa 46-45 yesterday and I doubt they’ll improve on their #13 Ranking — We’ll see though.

The Canadian Football League’s regular season wraps up today, so there’s no better time to discuss Warren Moon.  Moon had all of the tools to be a HOF NFL Quarterback, but the colour of his skin made his journey harder than it ever should’ve been.

After posting great numbers in High School, Moon’s desire to remain a quarterback initially cost him a scholarship from a big-time program.  After playing a season in Junior College, only the Washington Huskies believed enough in Moon as a quarterback to offer him.  The Huskies were eventually rewarded with one of the biggest wins in school history, a Rose Bowl victory over the Michigan Wolverines.

After College, the cycle once again repeated itself:  Moon conveyed a strong desire to play QB, but NFL Scouts saw him as a Tight End.  Moon refused to budge which set the stage for one of the greatest professional football careers ever.  Warren Moon was off to the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos, where he proceeded to win five consecutive Grey Cups from 1978 to 1982.  In just six years, Moon threw for over twenty-one thousand yards and 144 TDs with the Eskimos.

When Moon announced he heading South for greener, less snow-covered pastures, a bidding war ensued.  Houston ended up with Warren Moon, who eventually found his way with the Run-and-Shoot Offense. Rather than talk about the passing records that Moon set, or the big-fat juicy contract extension that made him the highest paid player, I’ll talk about something much more important:

TECMO BOWL!

There’s a great thread over at VirtualSportsNetwork, which I’ll borrow some images from.

Houston Oilers Run And Shoot Playbook

There’s all sorts of great screen captures from Tecmo Bowl, and I’d recommend giving them a look-see (I can only assume that you cannot copyright a screen-capture).

History

Warren Moon was the first and to this day, the only, black Quarterback inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame.  It was a pleasure to watch Moon prove the entire NFL wrong after dominating the CFL as a quarterback.  I’m not going to say that Moon opened the door for black quarterbacks, but he definitely reinforced that skin color has very little to do with the ability to play quarterback.

Card: 1987 Topps Football Card #327

Team/Position: Oakland Raiders / Halfback

Cost: $5

Bo Jackson was absolutely one of the best football players of all time, if you’re basing the list solely on talent.  Unfortunately, Jackson’s career, in both football and baseball, was cut far too short by a devastating hip injury.

For this reason, I’m not sure whether or not to list Jackson as a Bonus! Bonus! card or not.  The card itself can be had for 99 cents, but personally I think it’s worth it to spend the extra few bucks to buy a graded copy.  This card was graded by PSA which ends up costing about 15 bucks if you were interested in submitting it yourself, but I don’t particularly care about the grade.  What I do care about is a well protected card — Why not get it sonically sealed for an extra couple bucks?

Canada isn’t like Arizona; cards will absorb every drop of humidity in the summer, only to give it right back when winter arrives.  If a couple bucks is all it costs to stop your cards from resembling Marty McSorley’s stick against the Habs, it seems worth it.

Bo Knows…

Bo definitely knows that his Nike commercial took him from a star and turned him into a superstar.  Athlete’s faced an uphill battle in the late-80′s and early 90′s when it came to marketing and  branding themselves and this was Bo’s break.   You could tell by simply looking at the man that he was the perfect athlete.  To this day, it’s still hard to think of a man that looked more athletic than Bo Jackson.

Jackson was the first athlete to play in both the MLB and NFL All Star games, but I’ll focus on his football career.

At Auburn, there was little doubt that Jackson was a once in a lifetime player.  Whenever Jackson took the field, there was an opportunity to see something that you’d never seen before.  It’s almost impossible to fathom, but Jackson could’ve been both the fastest and the most powerful runner in college football during his career.  Jackson eventually won the Heisman Trophy in 1985 before being drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers first overall in the 1986 Draft.

The Bucs decided to take Bo on a little plane ride which eventually cost Bo his College eligibility.  Jackson was also given the choice of Football or Baseball by the Bucs, which resulted in Bo Jackson playing for the Royal’s minor league affiliate and the Buccaneers forfeiting his rights.

In 1987, Jackson was once again eligible for the NFL Draft.  The Raiders, in all of their brilliance, snapped up Bo Jackson in the 7th round and thus began history.  Al Davis wasn’t always Crazy-Lizard Man, as he allowed Jackson to play only part time for the Raiders until baseball season was over.   Davis may not have been Crazy Lizard Man, but he still valued speed above everything and anything else:  Bo Jackson ran a HOLY-WTF (mechanically timed) 4.12 second 40-yard dash at the combine.

In ’87, Bo Jackson played 7 games for the Oakland Raiders behind the soon to be washed-up Marcus Allen (Right, Al Davis?)  In those 7 games however, Jackson received 81 carries and posted…554 Rushing Yards and 4 Touchdowns.

That’s almost 7 Yards Per Carry (6.8 YPC) for someone who’d just finished a full baseball season (434 Plate Appearances).

Everyone, absolutely everyone, remembers Bo Jackson’s  Monday Night Game against Bustacular Brian Bosworth’s Seahawks.

When the Monday Night affair finally came to an end, Jackson had put together one of the best MNF performances of all time:  221 Rushing Yards, 2 TD’s and 12.3 YPC.

Jackson would only play four years in the NFL amassing 2782 Yards on 515 attempts (5.4 YPC).  Jackson’s career was cut terribly short when his hip became disjointed during a tackle, cutting off blood supply to the head of his left femur.  Jackson would require a hip replacement and while he continued playing baseball, his football career was over.

Jackson was one of the most talented runners that’ve ever played football and much like Gale Sayers, we’re just left to wonder What If?

Card: 1983 Topps Card #38

Team/Position: Oakland Raiders / Tackle

Cost: Almost Free!

I ended up grabbing this Singletary in an ’83 Bears lot; so it came cheap.  It’s brutally off-center and it’s pretty freakin’ ugly to boot.  Something definitely happened to Topps’ design team when the clock struck 1980.

Green and Purple as the two main colours just don’t do it for me.

With that in mind, I love Mike Singletary.  I love what Singletary’s done for the 49ers and I’d have no problem just writing about that.

Singletary’s one of the few “motivational” rather than “mad-genius” coaches that I love.  As long as you have a strong staff in place, guys like Singletary can really excel at coaching players rather than entire teams.

There was basically no way in which he could top Mike Nolan, who’s an all-time favorite, but showing his ass to Vernon Davis definitely helped.

Singletary: Chicago Bears’ MLB.

The Chicago Bears refuse to play a season without an outstanding Middle Linebacker.  It all started way back when Bill George decided to take a step back from the defensive line.  George was an absolute monster, yet the inventor of the MLB spot often gets lost in the shuffle of great Bears’ MLB by the younger fans.

…and then came Butkus, Dick Butkus.  There’s not much you can say about Butkus that hasn’t already been said, but The Greatest Middle Linebacker of All Time sums it up.

After a brief period — the Tom Hicks period — a man named Mike Singletary came to Chicago.  Singletary quickly asserted himself as the defensive leader of the Chicago Bears, which eventually culminated in a 1985 Super Bowl.  Singletary wasn’t quite as mean spirited as the other Bears’ MLB, but the intensity and motivation was definitely there.

Singletary’s skills were magnified ten-fold by the way he played the game.  He somehow managed to balance a ferocious style with smart play which lead him to 10 Pro Bowls and 2 Defensive Player of the Year Awards.  Singletary just seemed to be everywhere at the same time.

Urlacher’s athletic ability blows all of the previous linebackers away, but playing MLB in the Tampa-2 is a completely different ball-game.  For that reason, it’s really difficult to see the same attacking style that previous linebackers like Singletary and Butkus brought to the table.  The eye-black helps though, Yup.

The Chicago Bears and the Middle Linebacker will forever be united.  I really cannot think of another Team & Position that fit together so perfectly.  When all is said and done, the Chicago Bears could easily have four of the all-time top-5 MLB.

Card: 1989 Topps Card #91

Team/Position: Houston Oilers / Center-Guard

Cost: 25-delicious-cents

Bruce Matthews played a long, long, time.  When it comes to playing well past your physical prime, you basically get a choice between Quarterback or Offensive Center.  Both positions emphasize superior intellect over raw-physical ability — It takes a different breed of man to play Center, though.

Matthews was selected ninth overall in the 1983 NFL Draft, but as far as I can tell, 1989 was the first year that Bruce had a card  (There was a 1986 McDonalds Oilers card).

Bruce had already played 6 years before getting his first card and I’m sure his 1988 Pro-Bowl selection contributed to him getting his first card in ’89.

Unfortunately for Bruce, he’s getting the shaft in my collection.  So many great players debuted in 1989 and most of their true rookie cards come from the Score brand.  The Topps Traded versions of Aikmen, Deion Sanders and Barry Sanders are nice, but they hardly compare to the ballin’ ass 1989 Score. So, as is always the case, the offensive linemen gets the shaft.

Matthews eventually played 19 years in the NFL, all for the same franchise.  When Matthews retired, no position player had played more games than Matthews’ 296 and only Merlin Olsen had played in as many Pro Bowls as Matthews (14).  Jerry Rice eventually snuck past Matthews for games played in 2004 with 303 games played.

What Made Matthews Special

Matthews managed to sustain a high-level of play for his entire career.  It’s somewhat jaw-dropping to learn that Jeff Fisher, a teammate of Matthews’ at USC, eventually went on to coach the Titans before Matthews retired.

Matthews was a first ballot Hall of Famer in 2007, joining Elway, Marino, Kelly, Dickerson, and Darrell Green as HOFers from the 1983 draft.

That Family Tree

(photo gallery available here)

Clay Matthews Sr. played for San Francisco in the 1950′s.

Senior had two children that followed in the family business:  Bruce Matthews and Clay Matthews Jr. (who played in 4 Pro Bowls, himself)

Clay Matthews Junior’s son, Clay Matthews III, was recently drafted by the Green Bay Packers out of USC.

Bruce’s two youngest, Mikey and Jake, play for Elkin H.S.  Jake’s currently the 11th ranked Senior Tackle in the Nation by Rivals.com.  Bruce’s eldest, Kevin, is currently the starting Center for Texas A & M.

Finally, Clay Matthews Jr’s son and Clay Matthews III’s brother, Casey Matthews, is currently the starting MLB for the Oregon Ducks.  Kyle Matthews, Clay’s and Casey’s older brother, also played for USC during their 2003 Championship year.

That’s a lot of football for one family.

1989 Score Bruce Matthews

Matthews '89 Score

Two great lookin’ cards, but I believe the latter is his True Rookie Card.  I didn’t collect in ’89, so I tend to get confused.  Either way, Bruce Matthews autographs are surprising hard to come by nowadays. The only one that I could find on the ‘Bay was a 2000 Topps Finest autograph celebrating Bruce’s games played record:
This is actually an incredible card, but I’m sure back in 2000 whoever pulled it was pissed the hell off.  Matthews is one of the many incredible offensive linemen that’ll appear on my list.  I think I have a soft-spot for the men in the trenches.

I mean, just look at that Blue ’89 Score!  Matthews appears to be long-snapping and the Bills are literally inches away from his noggin’.  Half the defensive line is offside!  Great Photography like that deserves to be recognized and while I’m not exactly showcasing Bruce’s Score Rookie, I will add it to my collection.