Thursday 21 December 2017

A Browns-hammer arrived in the mail

Like others have posted recently, I too have received a nice package of cards from one of the most generous bloggers out there, Wes of the Willinghammer Rising blog. He may not be posting now but he is still staying active with fellow bloggers.
2008 Upper Deck - Signature Shots #SS13
On September 13, 2003, as a member of the Baltimore Ravens, Jamal Lewis ran for a then NFL single game record 295 yards against the Cleveland Browns. Needless to say, I really didn't like the guy...and then he signed with the Browns after the 2006 season and rushed for consecutive 1000 yard seasons in 2006 and 2007. Believe it or not, my opinion changed. It was much better having him on my team than against it.
2010 Panini Absolute Memorabilia - Rookie Jersey Collection #27
Everyone hears about all the quarterbacks that the Browns have had since 1999. I know that I've mentioned it many times in the past, but in September when Joe Thomas was ready to reach his 10,000th consecutive snap from the start of his career, the NFL Network's Andrew Siciliano tweeted the following:

Oh, how familiar some of those names are to me.

Montario Hardesty had 153 carries for the Browns in 2011 and 2012.

Top Left: 2014 Panini Contenders - Rookie Ticket Swatch #RTS-14
Top Right: 2014 Topps Select - Rookie Jersey Prizm Red #RJ-JF (#/149)
Bottom Left: 2014 Panini Prizm - Panini Logo Prizm #103
Bottom Right: Panini Certified - Fabric of the Game #F-BM (#/99)
Some great cards from 2014. One retired Hall of Famer, and three players no longer with the team.

I love the photo on the Warfield card, and the old jersey, and old facemask on the helmet. Isn't it great when a company uses their own logo for a parallel? Or is that a sign that a company has too many parallels? I can understand the regular Prizm parallel, and appreciate a few colors, but there is the regular Prizm and 17 other Parallels to this set. However, I do need all the Browns I can get so I was happy to get this one.
L: 2015 Panini Contenders - Playoff Ticket #56 (#/199); R: Bowman - Die Cuts #BCDC-JM 
On to a couple of 2015 cards. Okay, Manziel was in the last batch, but this time he's joined by Travis Benjamin who's also no longer on the team. I miss having him on the team, with his speed he was a great deep threat and great on special teams.

Top (l-r): 2016 Donruss Optic - Blue #23 (#/149); 2016 Panini Select #283
Bottom: 2016 Panini Black Gold - Motherlode Triple Memorabilia ML4 (#/249)
Okay, two of these three from 2016 are still on the team.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Corey Coleman next year after playing two seasons with lots of injuries. Maybe he'll stay healthy and get less attention on the field if he's playing at the same time as Josh Gordon. He's young, hopefully his career will get on track.

With all of Deshone Kizer's troubles this year, I'm surprised that Cody Kessler didn't get another chance to start a game. To be honest, I don't expect him to be with the Browns next year. I think a quarterback will be drafted with their first pick, a veteran will be brought in and Kizer will be kept as a project. There are only so many roster spots available. Too bad he didn't really get another chance after being forced to start so many games last year as a rookie.

As you might also guess, the Black Gold Kessler card looks better in person.

Top (l-r): 2016 Panini Select - Tri-Color Prizm #186; Light Blue Die-Cut Prizm #186 (#/125)
Bottom: 2016 Panini Certified - Mirror Red #224 (#/249)
I was among many that expected big things from Ricardo Louis this year. On a team with a thin wide receiver corps, and that drafted many receivers in 2016, I was impressed by his rookie season and expected him to step forward with a big year. Sadly it hasn't happened, but I also think that Kizer's lack of accuracy has hurt all of this year's receivers.

Some great cards of Louis. I always enjoy getting a piece of the number on a patch. It is a nice card.

Wes, thank you for the great cards!


1 comment:

  1. That autograph is cool. Lewis was a beast. Had him on a fantasy team back in the day... and he would represent almost half of my team's points week in and week out.

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