Tuesday, June 17, 2014

The final, and most awesome of the COMC Quad Jerseys

Last, but definitely not least.  Actually, most.
The star power on the front of this card is pretty decent, but I still like the jersey pieces more.  T.O. has a little black thread piece and then Jeff Garcia's is actually three colors from left to right.  Very nice and a great start to this card.

T.O. needs no real introduction, he of the 15 year, 6 Pro Bowl career.  A few things I found interesting after looking at his stats:
- Owens didn't cross the 1,000 yard barrier until his third season
- Only 9 of his 15 seasons resulted in him going over 1,000 yards receiving
- His Pro Bowls were all chunked: 5 straight from 2000 to 2004, but none in his first four years and only one from 2001 to 2005 in his Eagles/Cowboys/Bills/Bengals days
- He was a 3rd round pick in 1996.  First rounder Marvin Harrison may have been slightly better, but T.O. outperformed higher picks like Mushin Muhammed, Keyshawn Johnson, Eddie Kennison, Derrick Mayes, Eric Moulds, Terry Glenn, and Bobby Engram.  

Jeff Garcia is similarly well known.  He was undrafted in 1994 due to his small size, and ended up establishing his career in the CFL.  In 1999 the 49ers signed Garcia as Steve Young's successor, and despite a lack of playoff success Garcia actually did quite well in his 5 years in San Francisco, especially given his 113:56 TD:INT ratio.  Garcia then spent a year in Cleveland, a year in Detroit, a year in Philly, two years in Tampa, another year in Philly, and, after a year off, one final season as a backup in Houston.  His 49ers days as certainly the lasting memory, but I remember the guy best as a Cleveland Brown.
Tim Rattay has the best patch on this card, so at least he's the best at something!  He was a 7th round pick in 2000, a little after some Tom Brady guy.  After playing in parts of 8 games over his first four seasons, Rattay actually started 3 games in 2003, with 7 touchdowns to just 2 interceptions.  In 2004 the 49ers lost Garcia and needed a QB, and so a battle between Rattay and Ken Dorsey ensued, which neither QB really won.  I mean, Rattay was definitely better, but not great, and the team was 1-8 in his 9 starts.  He started four more games in 2005 due to the struggles of Alex Smith/Dorsey/Cody Pickett and was similarly blah, but Tampa Bay saw enough to let Rattay start two games for them in 2006 after Bruce Gradkowski and Chris Simms went down.  Rattay spent 2007 as a backup in Arizona before retiring from the NFL, and though he didn't last as long as Brady has, I'd say 8 years and 15 starts for a 7th round QB is nothing to scoff at.

J.J. Stokes was the 10th overall pick in 1995 for the 49ers, and man did they expect big things out of him.  He was okay during his time in San Francisco, with one career year in 1998 of 63 catches, 770 yards, and 8 touchdowns.  But by and large he wasn't what they had hoped, and he was outshined by both the guy he was supposed to replace (Jerry Rice) and the guy who replaced him (Owens).  By 2002 Tai Streets was starting over Stokes, and in 2003 Stokes spent time with Jacksonville and the Patriots before calling it a career.  He did earn a Super Bowl ring for his time with the Pats though, which is nice.

As for the draft, Stokes finished 7th all time in receptions, behind three WR (how was Antonio Freeman a third round pick?), two TE (Kyle Brady, who was picked 9th in front of Stokes, had ONE more career reception than Stokes), and one RB (HOFer Curtis Martin - HOW WAS HE A THIRD ROUND PICK?).*  Not the best, but really not that bad considering who he was up against.

Who wins the card? Terrell Owens for sure.

* Running backs/Full backs picked in front of Martin in the 1995 draft:
1st round: Ki-Jana Carter, Tyrone Wheatley, Napoleon Kaufman, James Stewart, Rashaan Salaam
2nd round: Ray Zellars (RB/FB), Sherman Williams, Terrell Fletcher
3rd round: William Henderson (RB/FB)

Other (un)notable guys: Billy Milner, Craig Powell, Trezelle Jenkins, Ron Davis, Pat Riley, Andrew Greene, and the awful picks 61 to 63 of Jimmy Oliver, Jesse James, and Shane Hannah (two career games between them, all 2nd round picks).

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