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: 1973 Topps Card #288

Team/Position: Oakland Raiders / Safety

Cost: $4.00

Continuing with the Ohio State trend, here we have Jack Tatum’s ’73 Rookie Card.  The Oakland Raiders selected Tatum in the first round of the 1971 Draft with the 19th overall pick.  Tatum quickly took over the starting free safety job and as they say, the rest is history.

Tatum was nicknamed the Assassin for good reason.  The hits he laid on receivers are legendary, and the only man to come close to the force that Jack hit with was Ronnie Lott, who often names Tatum as an idol.

In 1970 for the Buckeyes, Tatum was voted an unanimous All American and the National Defensive Player of the year.  When it comes to the best safeties in the history of college football, Jack Tatum is amongst the best.  Sports Illustrated named Jack Tatum as their starting free safety on the All-Century team in 1999. I’m not a huge fan of the card itself, but the photo of Jack Tatum is absolutely frightening.  I can’t help but think that Jack Tatum would be Vegas’ favourite in a prize-fight against a series of black bears, lions, and great white sharks.

As A Raider…

I guess there’s no place to start other than the Immaculate Reception. Jack Tatum’s the reason the ball flew upwards before eventually landing in Franco Harris’ hands.  Tatum was the one that separated John Fuqua from the football before Harris’ grab.  I always enjoy watching the former Raiders players question the call, saying the ball hit the ground or the ball hit Fuqua (illegal for the ball to be touched by two offensive players in succession back in the day).

Tatum was unfortunately also known for his pre-season hit on Darryl Stingley that left Stingley paralyzed from the chest down.  Tatum denied any responsibility for the hit, claiming it was well within the rules, but failed to immediately apologize.  Tatum claims that he’s attempted to apologize, and feels genuinely bad about the outcome of the play, but the people close to Stingley at the time refused to let it happen.

The Credentials

Tatum holds the record for the longest fumble recovery in the history of the game (t. 1) after returning a fumble for 104 yards against the Packers.

Tatum was a 3-time Pro Bowler, a 2-time 2nd team All Pro.  For some reason, Tatum has yet to be entered into the Professional Football Hall of Fame.

Tatum’s without a doubt one of the greatest safeties of all time and for the life of me, I cannot figure out why he’s being held out.  It’s apparent that there’s a chunk of sports-writers that aren’t all that fond of Jack “the Assassin” Tatum.

Tatum definitely looks like a Hall Of Famer and anyone who played with or against him would say he played like a Hall of Famer, so… What’s the problem?