Christmas Cards!

I was updating my autograph page around Christmas, and realized I had a few favorite players whose autographs weren't yet in my collection.  So I asked for and received several autos - let's check those out!

This first one is kind of an obscure guys (Unless you play a lot of fantasy basketball where blocks and steals are important) in Robert Covington:

My family does a yearly league, and Covington generally is decently rostered since blocks and steals are so hard to come by and Roco is so good at getting both.  He's a high energy player and I've always loved his play style, so it's cool to finally add an autograph of his to my collection!

Next up is a more well known baller, Ricky Rubio:

Rubio has moved around a lot since leaving Spain for the NBA in 2009.  He's always good for some assists and steals, and I was pretty pumped when he joined my local Cavaliers this year and he was performing pretty well until he tore his ACL a few weeks ago, ending his season.  I'm hoping he'll stick around Cleveland so I get a chance to watch him play, but knowing him he'll move elsewhere once the season's done, bringing his veteran leadership wherever he goes.

Card #3 moves to football, with current Dolphins backup Jacoby Brissett:

I always thought he was a cool player as a backup for the Patriots, and then Brissett moved on to the Colts and did some okay quarterbacking there when their starting QB was injured.  He's moved to a backup role since, but I still track his career a bit, so I liked adding this gold sharpie auto to the collection.

The final Christmas card is a nice auto of a guy I love (But who is somewhat controversial) in Josh Gordon:

You're probably somewhat aware of Gordon - he was an absolute beast of a WR for the Browns for a few years, and then fell out of the league due to drug and alcohol issues.  He's since had stints with the Seahawks and Patriots and is actually currently an active member of the Kansas City Chiefs, where he caught a touchdown this year.  A lot of people look at him as an example of how NFLers are bad dudes and get too many chances, but I look at him as an example of how addiction is like hell to overcome for many people even with all the support and resources in the world by your side.  I'm never going to stop rooting for Josh Gordon, so I'm definitely psyched to finally have an autograph of his in my collection!

The last two cards here are cards I actually purchased around Christmas rather than received from others.  The first was sort of purchased for me thought - around Christmas some parents get little gifts for teachers, and I got a few Amazon gift cards that I turned around and spent on this Josh Cribbs rookie autograph:

I used to PC Josh Cribbs and may again someday, as he remains one of my favorite NFL players of all time.  The guy was an absolute GOATED kick returner and wasn't too bad as a receiver, running back, or wildcat option either.  Nowadays he does local TV stuff with his wife and just overall seems like a really good dude.  Definitely a great autograph to add to the collection!

The final card of this post is a true PC one, and excitedly yet ANOTHER PC printing plate.  This time it's one of J.R. Redmond that popped up on Ebay super cheaply right before Christmas:

I was willing to bid pretty high since I didn't have a J.R. Redmond 1/1 yet, but didn't really have to as this magenta plate shipped for less than $11.  That means I now have 1/1s of almost every guy I PC - someday I'll reach that goal!