Ever since I've decided to get picky about these things featuring at least one patch, progress has slowed. A lot of patches receive a crazy premium and are like $15 and up, while many other cards are just four single colored jerseys. So I was pretty pumped when this four QB card popped up cheaply on Ebay with some nice jersey pieces on the back. Around $1 a jersey piece, which is very nice IMHO. Here's the card in all it's glory:
Baltimore won the Super Bowl that year, but they wanted a better QB than Trent Dilfer for their repeat and they signed Grbac to a massive deal in the 2000 offseason. Grbac proceeded to be just an average to below average NFL QB (15:18 TD:INT ratio) and was cut after the season. Following his release, he retired from the NFL after 8 seasons in the league, somewhat surprising since he was just one year removed from a career year.
Blink and you missed Kevin Thompson. He went undrafted to the Browns in 2000, where he worked as Tim Couch's backup. He went 1-1 for 8 yards in his only attempt that year before succumbing to an ankle injury. And from there he bounced all over the league, first to NFL Europe, then the Bengals, then the Browns again, then Minnesota, New York, Buffalo, Cologne, and Los Angeles (of the AFL). Pretty crazy that earned him a jersey card, but as I've said before, 2002 Pacific Heads Up Quads offers all sorts of crazy subjects in its jersey collection, which is just too fantastic.
Tee Martin's jersey piece has some trim on the right side, not sure if it really pops in the scan or not. I remember him being pretty highly regarded coming out of Tennessee in 2000, as he ended up a 5th round pick for Pittsburgh. He spent two years as Peyton Manning's backup before compiling his own excellent statistics. Now of course he's better known for being one of six QBs chosen before Brady in the 2000 Draft, but that's neither here nor there...
Martin's entire statistical career consisted of one carry for 8 yards over two seasons. He spent 2002 with Philadelphia and the Rhein Fire before moving to Oakland in 2003 and finally seeing some meaningful game action. And it wasn't pretty - 6/16 for 69 yards and an interception (though he did add 5 carries for 28 yards). He then ended up in the CFL with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, not exactly where a lot of people expected Martin to end up after his two impressive college seasons. Since then he's had various coaching opportunities at the college level.
To finish this card we have Todd Husak's, whose beautiful two color patch was the major draw behind me buying this card. Husak was a 6th round pick by the Redskins in 2000, picked exactly three picks after Mr. Tom Brady and three picks before a QB I have never heard of, JaJuan Seidler. Husak injected some youth into Washington's QB core that was headed by Brad Johnson and Jeff George, and he actually saw action in one game where he went 2/2 for -2 yards with 1 rush for -1 yards. But the Redskins weren't impressed, and Husak found himself in Denver in 2001 before moving over to the Berlin Thunder in 2002, the Jets for 2002 and 2003, and finally Cleveland in 2004. None of his NFL time was particularly meaningful, but his year with the Thunder did lead to a league championship, which is pretty cool. Husak has since been a color commentator for Stanford football radio broadcasts.
Who wins the cards? Husak, Martin, and Thompson combined to throw 9/19 passes for 75 yards and one interception. They also added 8 carries for 35 yards. Grbac absolutely dominates this card and easily takes the win, even if you only counted his final disappointing year in Baltimore or backup years in San Francisco.
Husak was a stud at Stanford... but you nailed it. Grbac is definitely king of this card.
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