Stiths from Dennis Pt. 1: The Autos

In my most recent package from the state which shall not be named, Dennis sent over a bunch of Shyrone Stith cards.  I decided to split them up based on whether they had an autograph or not, because that seemed like a neat idea to me.  So here we go!

You can never go wrong with Contenders when it comes to football cards.  One interesting thing about this card is it is not serial #'d - some years even the base ones are (like my base Michael Bishop and Seneca Wallace Contenders are both serial #'d), other years they are not.  Panini has made more of a move to this recently with some cards SP'd or SSP'd but otherwises they aren't numbered.  I also find it interesting that all the cards back then were on-card autos.  I'm not sure when sticker autos first emerged but it had to be like 2001 or 2002, because Seneca Wallace has a lot of sticker autos but I haven't seen any yet for Bishop or Stith, which is nice.

Pretty neat little back here with a few fun facts.  I really like how it focuses on his college team (their points scored, points allowed, stadium, etc.) rather than the pro team as the cards tend to do now.  It's also cool to see that Stith never averaged less than 5 yards per carry in a college season, though someone typo'd in the total line for average and gave Stith an extra yard per carry for his career.

I love the look of this Private Signings die cut card.  It's a bit Indiana Jones what with the giant football rolling towards a fleeing Shyrone Stith, but it's also pretty unique as a design from what I've seen.I will also add here that I love how Stith crosses his t - that line goes from the beginning of his last name to the end and it's glorious.

Here's the back.  I always really liked the Private Stock logo for some reason - well done Pacific.  Something about the PS reading one way and the "Private Stock" reading another - it just all comes together well.

 Finally we come to my favorite auto of the bunch, Stith's Score Rookie Preview Autographs.  I just love the golden hue on these and they shine a bit brighter in person than they do in scans.  Great card (I have a Score Preview for Bishop too and that might be my favorite auto of his as well!).

Neat back, a simple write up and a pretty awesome pic.  You don't see enough nasal strips in the NFL anymore, wonder why that is?