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: 1978 Topps Football Card #314

Team/Position: Dallas Cowboys / Runningback

Cost: Purchased In Lot (about 3 bucks)

What a simply gorgeous football card!  Everything about this card, produced in Tony’s second year, is just beautiful.   The bright yellow border with black type just makes everything pop.  Of course, poor centering stands out like a bi-atch in these puppies, but everything else is perfect.

I think my favourite part of Topps’ 1978 set is the pink little football in the lower right corner displaying the player’s position.  There’s really no reason not to love it.

What Made Tony Dorsett Special?

This is going to be a tough one, but let’s start with something completely unrelated to Dorsett’s dominance at Pitt or in Big-D.  Let’s start with Tony Dorsett, the bringer of truth:

I don’t know why on God’s earth Tony Romo has been anointed a superstar in the National Football League, Tony is very young in his career. Not to say you can’t be young in your career and be a superstar because you’ve got one up there in Minnesota in Adrian Peterson.

But the thing is this: You have a guy who hasn’t done much, and quarterbacks in the NFL, most of them go through this growing curve. He hasn’t gone through that growing curve, but he was anointed this great player all of a sudden. Now he’s having to live up to that. And obviously Tony has some deficiencies.

“He’s a good player who’s still learning how to play in the NFL, and I think the media has given him too much credit for doing nothing. He hasn’t done anything really in the NFL to deserve all the recognition and visibility he’s gotten so far. (TSN)

Spot on, no?

First thing’s first, Tony Dorsett was an absolute machine for the Pitt Panthers. Until Ricky Williams did his thing, and Ron Dayne followed it up with the big-and-fat approach, Tony Dorsett was the all-time leading NCAA rusher.  Dorsett almost single-handedly transformed Pittsburgh into a powerhouse which in his senior season, culminated in a National Title victory.

In three of his four years at Pitt, Dorsett was named a First Team All-American. Dorsett finished as a Second Team All-American in 1974 behind a couple nobodies — Who’s heard of Archie Griffin, Walter Payton, Joe Washington and Anthony Davis anyways?

Dorsett weighed in at under 190lbs, but he managed to run hard on every play.  Dorsett had the uncanny ability to perfectly set up defenders before exploding past them.  I wouldn’t classify Dorsett as a tackle-breaker, but his swift cuts often put him in position to break one arm-tackle after the next.  The Cowboys had no problem running Dorsett between the tackles, which often resulted in Dorsett bursting out the back end never to be touched again.

Most people mention Dorsett’s Monday Night Football run as his defining moment.  Dorsett’s 99-yard run is still the longest run in league history, and it’s just a thing of beauty:

In 1994, Dorsett was elected to both the College and the National Football League Hall of Fame.  When Dorsett retired, only Walter Payton had more yards on the ground, but since then Emmitt’s bested them both.  Dorsett still ranks 7th overall behind Smith, Payton, Sanders, Martin, Bettis, and Dickerson.

Much like Barry Sanders, there’s a big “What If” surrounding Tony Dorsett.  Tom Landry made it quite clear that he had no intention on wearing Dorsett down saying, “If I wanted to risk Tony, I think he could gain as many yards as Payton and Campbell,” the Dallas coach explained. “But Tony is so much different than Earl, who is so big. Payton is probably the strongest little man I have ever seen. Then there is Wilbert Montgomery, who did get used a lot and got hurt. I don’t want that to happen to Tony.” (source)

Tony still looks terrific after retiring in the late 80′s as a member of the Denver Broncos.  Injuries eventually lead to Tony’s retirement, as is the case with most runningbacks.

The Cowboys gave up a lot to trade up to second overall in order to select Dorsett and it clearly paid off.  Dorsett often gets lost in the shuffle, despite being a member of America’s team.

For all of Tony’s greatness with the Cowboys though, he’ll still be remembered as a Pitt Panther.  ESPN listed Dorsett as the 7th best college football player of all time, which sits just fine with me.

Dorsett’s found his way into a few different products over the last couple of years.  Most recently, he’s popped up in Donruss Classics and Topps Magic as sticker autographs, but last year’s Mayo release numbered to 10 looks pretty sweet:

Card: 1960 Topps, Card #56

Team/Position: Green Bay Packers / Offensive Linemen, Tackle.

Cost: 15 Dollars

Forrest Gregg’s an interesting choice for the first card, especially considering this card was produced when Gregg had already been in the league for four years.

Gregg was a crucial part of the Packers’ dominance during the 1960′s.

Forrest Gregg’s clearly amongst the best offensive tackles of all time, but Tackles get no love.  Gregg was selected to 9 Pro Bowls, and was named to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary Team.

What Made Gregg Special?

The “Iron Man” Tag:  Forrest Gregg played in a ridiculous 188 consecutive games from 1956 to 1971.

Vince Lombardi claimed that Forrest Gregg was the finest player that he’d ever coached in his book, “Run To Daylight”.

A Personal Note:

Forrest Gregg has a couple things going for him in my books.  First off, he played for SMU football.  Gregg was even brought back to coach SMU football after the NCAA laid the smack down on the program.  Secondly, Forrest Gregg coached in my home and native land for the Toronto Argonauts.

There’s really nothing not to love about Forrest Gregg.  Even in the 60′s, Gregg was undersized yet still left his mark on each and every game.

LandofBoz recently had Gregg in for a signing back in 2007, and here’s what Forrest looks like nowadays.

Would You Rather Have?

A 1960 Forrest Gregg card or a 2009 Jason Smith autograph slabbed rookie card?