This is primarily a place to discuss my Cleveland Browns football card collection. I will also share my thoughts on sports, and my hobbies and travels.
Last Sunday saw the most recent monthly local card show. Due to my hamstring injury and surgery, it had been a few months since I last attended it.
There is one dealer that I often trade football cards with. I bring in stuff that I know that he might want for his collection, and then I let him tell me if it is enough to trade for any Browns cards that he has for me, or if I might have to throw in a few bucks as well. At this show I had enough to trade straight up for the following Browns that he had for me.
L-R: 2018 Donruss Optic #158; 2018 Donruss #308
The other day I had a small e-mail exchange with Tony at the Off Hiatus Baseball Card blog, and he hoped that I was enjoying Nick Chubb. My reply was that I loved him as a player, but was disappointed that I didn't have many of his cards.
I had horrible luck last year pulling Browns cards. Not a good time for me to not pull them with Baker Mayfield, Denzel Ward and Nick Chubb rookie cards to collect.
Although they were the only rookie year cards, these two Chubb cards weren't the only ones that were traded to me.
I was watching the Bengals game on tv when Chubb made the catch pictured on the card. Is there any wonder that I love him as a player?
C'mon Score, the Browns released Jamie Collins in early March. I don't mind having some final Collins cards to add to my collection, but I'm sure that you could have found another player to include for the Browns.
Last year's Score set still had Joe Thomas as the Browns representative in the Captains insert set. I have no problem with Myles Garrett replacing him this year. It will be interesting to see what happens next year. Will Baker Mayfield get the spot in next year's set? Personally, I like seeing Garrett there, as offensive players, especially quarterbacks, always seem to get plenty of insert card love.
2019 Panini Legacy #26 and #25
I had been looking at small lots of Browns cards from Panini Legacy on eBay recently. I didn't buy any, but it was close. It was good that I waited. The dealer pretty much had the Browns base team set, with Mayfield and Chubb joined by an Odell Beckham, Jr. card for active players. On the Beckham card, he is listed as being with the Browns, but still in a Giants uniform. I'm sure I'll get that card pretty easily.
The base set also had the following Browns from the past.
2019 Panini Legacy #127 and #116
It seems that Ozzie Newsome seems to always make the cut as one of the legends in Panini's sets. It is nice to see Eric Metcalf join him in this set. I'm always happy to see new Eric Metcalf cards, and to add them to my collection.
2019 Panini Legacy #184 and #168
From a quick look through the checklist, I believe that these are the only two Browns draft picks in the set. It is nice to get them in this trade.
2019 Panini Legacy - Record Book #RB-NC; 2019 Panini Legacy - Lasting Legacies #LL-JB
Finally, these two insert cards were also in the stack traded to me, giving me a good start to this year's Legacy set.
A couple of days before the show, one of the members on the Trading Card Database asked on the forums if anyone was going, and if so, whether they wanted to meet.
Another member that has been making TCDB trading cards quickly piped up that he would like photos of any meet-up. I jokingly answered that a photo would take away my anonymity.
Anyway, I met up with Kari, karsal on the TCDB, at the show, and he asked about the photo.
I thought of a way to save my anonymity.
We did take another photo with me facing the right way, but after being told that the lighting was too poor, I didn't post the other photo to the forums.
We will have other opportunities for photos since the Ottawa shows are monthly, and quite a few other TCDB members show up to them regularly. This was my first time meeting one of them, and I had a great time talking with Kari at the show.
Now Kari isn't the first card collector I've met, either TCDB members, or other bloggers. I honestly don't remember if I've actually posed for a picture with any of the others. I don't think that I have.
At the card show, one of the dealers near the front usually has sports jerseys for sale. I always glance at them, but never expect to see a Browns one, especially one that would fit me.
Walking in the other day, I saw brown and white Browns jerseys. There were two brown Mayfield jerseys, and two white Beckham jerseys. I didn't look closely at the Beckham jerseys, but it appeared that one of the Mayfield jerseys was big enough to fit me. I asked how much the jerseys were, and then said that I would be back later. After all, I hadn't been to the show in a few months, and I didn't know whether the football dealer had a whole bunch of Browns that I would need to buy. I didn't want to commit my money right away.
After talking with Kari, I went to walk back to the front of the hall and buy the jersey. The dealer was gone. The dealer at the table next to me informed me that he fell ill and had to leave. I hope he's all right, and I hope that he'll bring the jerseys back next month.
I continued walking the hall, and went over to a table that sometimes had some interesting football cards. The dealer told me that he hadn't added any new Browns cards to his boxes, but I decided to flip through the boxes anyway while talking with him.
I had forgotten, and maybe the dealer had too, that there was in fact one Browns card in there that I had wanted before, but that he had priced a little higher than I wanted to pay.
I pulled out the card, and asked if the price had gone any lower. The dealer came down a bit, saying that he actually didn't mind keeping the card as people always seemed to want to talk about it, and as I was thinking about it, I noticed that he had some old unopened boxes, and oddball stuff.
Wanting to open some packs, I asked about a price for the card, and some other stuff and he agreed.
After getting home, I looked at eBay, and saw one completed auction that was a little cheaper than I paid for the card, and one card up for auction that had just started that was similar to the completed auction. There was also one copy listed for well above what I paid. However, having a card in hand that I don't need to worry about driving to Ogdensburg to pick up has to be worth the price difference, so I'm not worried about it. And I did also have the add on stuff too.
I like the card, and if Drew Brees ever retires and Teddy Bridgewater successfully succeeds him, the card could eventually turn out to be a good deal. If he doesn't, then it is still a needed card numbered out of 25 for my Browns collection.
Here is a photo of the other stuff that I picked up with the card.
I had fun opening the 1990 Pro Set Series II box. I found about six or seven variations that I needed, and added them to my set. I also pulled a copy of the NFL Superpro card that was in better shape than the one that I previously owned.
I previously owned the 1990 Final Update but I needed an extra copy of the Jim Shofner coach card for my set. My original copy is in my Browns collection.
The dealer had Canadian prices of $5 for the Update set, and $15 for the box. I also picked up a loose promotional set card of Peyton Manning with these, but mailed it off in a trade yesterday. Bundled with the Manziel card, I didn't pay anywhere near those prices.
Had the jersey still been available, I wouldn't have made these purchases, but I'm happy to have picked them up. I just hope that next month I'll be able to go home with a new Baker Mayfield jersey.
I seem to be following Night Owl with some of these blog posts, first with the blog bat-around, and now with a similar post to his Slipping Through the Cracks post. Well, if I'm going to follow someone, he's a good choice.
I've been trying to do a bit more trading on the Trading Card Database lately. (My user name is armac if anyone wants to trade.) In order to do so, I've had to go through old boxes to list traders on the site, or to dig through and look for cards that I haven't listed yet that are on other collectors' wantlists.
Recently, while digging through a box of 1976 Topps football, I came across a former Browns player.
1976 Topps #127
I recognized the photo, flipped over the card to read the back and couldn't believe that I didn't ever notice that John Demarie was in his Browns uniform on this expansion Seahawks card.
And looking at the card again, I even recognized that the photo is just a cropped version of his 1975 card.
1975 Topps #427
I'm very happy to add a card that I already own as a new Browns card to the 1976 part of my collection.
But wait, there's more!
Not another card that I own, but another card to chase.
As seen from the two cards above, my collection includes cards with the Browns team listed on the front, or players in Browns uniforms that are listed with other teams. However, it also includes cards of players in their college uniforms if they were drafted by the Browns.
In looking at John Demarie's cards on the TCDB, I saw one of those college cards that I hadn't noticed before. He has a card in the 1990 Collegiate Collection LSU set. I'll have to track down a copy.
John Demarie was the Browns 6th Round pick of the 1967 NFL Draft. He started five games in his rookie season, and then went on to start almost every Browns game between 1968 and 1974. In his last season with the Browns, the 1975 season, Demarie only started three of the fourteen games.
After being selected by Seattle in the 1976 expansion draft, Demarie started eight games with the Seahawks that season, his final one in the NFL.
Based on the 1975 card, I assumed that his last name was spelled DeMarie, but John Demarie's obituary has his, and his other family members, names spelled with the small 'm'. I'll have to try to remember that in the future.
John Demarie passed away on November 29, 2015, in Lake Charles, LA, at the age of 70.
It has been a while since I jumped on a blog bat-around. This one was started by Chris at The Collector blog.
Of course, this being a blog that is focused on Cleveland Browns football cards, I will show my favorite football card designs along with some of my favorite movies and songs from the various decades.
I can't really say that the songs and movies wouldn't change if I were to do this again in six months, and I'm sure that after I finish this blog post I will think of different songs that I should have used, but I'll try to give reasons why I have made each choice at this point in time.
As usual, I'll borrow card images from The Trading Card Database, although I'm going to use cards that I have copies of in my collection.
Movie poster images have been taken from each movie's listing at IMDb, the Internet Movie Database.
Okay, the 1950s choice was tough. Although I may not be a big fan of the modern day digital backgrounds we often see behind a photo of a player, I like these cards. There is a lot of color in the backgrounds, with a white aura around the player. And to me, there seemed to be a cachet to the Bowman name, in how it proceeded Topps, although the 1956 Topps was really close to being chosen.
I love how McCormack seems to be launching himself right out of the card at us. And, man, does his fist look big!
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I am a pretty big movie fan. There are always old movies that I need to see, as well as many that I need to see again. However, when asked my favorite movies, there are ones that are always in the top spots of my list. My favorite movie musical is among them.
film from 1952
There are plenty of other movies that I could have chosen here, but this one will always bring a smile to my face when I watch it. I only wish I could dance like Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor do in this movie.
There were many other movies that come to mind from the 1950s - Hitchcock movies, war movies, James Dean movies, the first movie musical I ever remember finding on my own to watch on tv, and that I couldn't change the channel from as a kid (Guys and Dolls), and classics that I've watched again recently on Turner Classic Movies (such as Twelve Angry Men). It would almost be better for me if I could pick favorite movies from different categories.
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If I thought picking a favorite movie from the 1950s was tough, I don't know what I'll do about a favorite song.
I love all types of music, and thank my parents for introducing me to so many styles when I was a kid. My parents listened to bagpipe music, marching bands, ragtime, big bands, country, and Broadway. The radio stations gave me pop and rock. Blues and jazz came along later in life.
A lot of things pop into mind when I think of 1950s music, but really I think it should be about the beginning of rock and roll. And the first two names that came to mind when I thought of early rock were Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly.
From there, I narrowed down my choice of favorite 1950s song (at this moment) to:
I've always loved the energy to Buddy Holly's "Rave On!", and as good as many of his other songs are, it is my favorite Buddy Holly song.
1960s
This came down to two years, and both have had cards featured on this blog lately. My very first thought of was 1962 Topps, but when I thought more about it, I had to go with...
1964 Philadelphia #30
...the 1964 Philadelphia set.
Now, if I were just rating the sets, I think that I would have gone with 1962 Topps, but I'm going with Cleveland Browns cards from the set, and almost all of the Browns cards have Jim Brown's Cadillac in the background.
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The 1960s are going to be a difficult for movies. Unlike most of the other decades, there isn't a movie from the 1960s in the top slots in my favorite movie lists.
The spaghetti westerns were going to be beat out by "The Magnificent Seven". Some of my favorite war movies were in the running, "The Longest Day", "The Devil's Brigade" and Jim Brown's film debut in "The Dirty Dozen". And that is just two genres of movies.
If I want to be true to myself, however, I think that I will be going with another musical. There were some great musicals in the 1960s, but my mom introduced me to a classic that I could probably sing every song to right now. (And, yes, I have gone to see a charity fundraiser sing-a-long screening of this musical.)
film from 1965
Sorry, Christopher Plummer, I know that you don't like being remembered for this movie, but it is still one of my favorites.
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I love sixties music, and I love vocal music with great harmonies. One of my favorite singing groups is the Beach Boys.
Having narrowed down my music choice to the Beach Boys, I had to then pick a song. Younger me probably wouldn't have picked "God Only Knows" as my favorite, but I just find this to be one of the most beautiful songs that I've heard.
1970s
The 1970s had a lot of designs that I like, but I chose 1974 because of the way the design frames the card, especially for the cards that had action shots.
1974 Topps #491
Don't you agree that the uprights provide good framing?
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Even though there is some amazing competition among movies in the 1970s, one movie has been my all-time favorite since I saw it in the drive-in as a kid.
film from 1977
"Star Wars" taught me the spectacle that movies could be, and I will never get sick of the John Williams score. Still to this day, if I hear the 20th Century Fox Fanfare, I expect to hear the theme to "Star Wars" continuing on from it. I will give an honorable mention to my favorite animated Disney movie, their 1973 version of "Robin Hood". I tell you, that Maid Marion, what a fox! ----- For music, young Angus in the 1970s would have probably picked some Kenny Rogers or Glen Campbell song. High School Angus probably would have picked Billy Joel's "Piano Man". Current me will pick a friend of mine's most famous song, and a song that I have sung at karaoke many times (but not in front of my friend.)
I've always liked the song "Signs" by the Five Man Electrical Band, and while in college I would go into used music/record stores looking to find a cassette copy. I never had any luck. Finally, after CDs took over, a greatest hits CD of the Five Man Electrical Band came out and I found a copy. I was thrilled.
I always knew that the Five Man Electrical Band was from Ottawa, and would often see the lead singer/songwriter's name on local marquees as he was playing in local bars. However, I never expected to become friends with Les Emmerson. I met him playing trivia over a decade ago, and became friends with him. We still play trivia together, golf together now and then (but not this year due to my injury), and have some great discussions about music, among other things.
Honestly, I can't say this is my favorite 1970s song because as I've told Les, it isn't even my favorite Five Man song, even though it is their most popular.
When I told Les my favorite Five Man song, he said that I had picked a great song, and that it was very personal to him, but other than that, I always joke that it must be my favorite because he isn't the one singing. If you're curious, look up "The Man With the Horse and Wagon", even though I'm not picking it for this post. (I'll have to tell Les about this post. He'll get a kick out of it.)
1980s
I almost picked the 1986 McDonald's set for the 1980s, partly because it had 24 different players represented in it, and partly because I liked the information given on the back of their oversized cards.
However, since I'm looking at this from a design perspective, I'm going to go with the clean and simple look of 1989 Score.
1989 Score #129
Of course 1989 marked the start of the expansion of football card sets with Pro Set and Score joining Topps in putting out cards. I enjoyed all three designs, but I think this one is just a little better.
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I find my favorite 1980s movie to be very quotable, and when I quote it people often know the movie.
film from 1987
I regret that I didn't see this movie in the theatre when it came out, but it is a movie that became one of my favorites the minute that I saw it for the first time on VHS tape. It is a movie that I would often played when I was in a bad mood, knowing that it would cheer me up.
I should watch it again sometime soon. It has been a while since I've seen it. (Not that I'm in a bad mood now...)
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I like too much 1980s music, and my choice here could change every day if asked.
For today, I have picked a song that I love that exemplifies 80s music and its synthesizers.
Of course, upon hearing Europe's "The Final Countdown", my roommate always expects there to be a magic trick. I think he watches too much Arrested Development.
1990s
With the card boom hitting, going through all the different sets is going to be a bit of work. As a Browns fan, however, at least some of the years of the decade didn't matter.
I was pretty sure that I was going to choose the oversize 1995 Pacific Gridiron cards as my favorite set of the 1990s, but then when I came across the following set I realized that I preferred it.
1999 Playoff Absolute SSD #174
The two sets couldn't be more different. The Pacific Gridiron card backs actually told the story of the game photo. These Absolute SSD backs have minimal information. They don't have room. The card border surrounds the see through plastic photo. Sure there are parallels, but they are really easy to figure out - the different color borders are very obvious.
As I looked through my 1990s cards, this set jumped out at me with how different it was. That was a good thing. I don't think that I would want to see a set like this every year, but I love this one.
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I'm sure that I'm not the only one that sometimes has the problem that when I see certain movies on television, I have to watch the rest of the movie.
For the following movie, another of my all-time favorites, I don't know why I will sit and watch it on tv when I can get up and play the DVD and not have to worry about commercials, but I do.
film from 1994
This is another movie that I missed in the theatre. A friend told me to watch it and it blew me away. What a great story!
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Okay, my song from the 1990s is going to draw some laughter but good memories come along with this song. It is the first song that came to mind when I thought of the 90s.
I was working as an overnight server at the first Denny's to open in Ottawa when "Wannabe" hit it big. Not only was it played constantly on the radio stations, but it seemed to be coming on the music service at work hourly.
Of course, everyone has to know the back and forth, "Tell me what you want, what you really, really want." "I'll tell you what I want, what I really, really want." Well, one of my colleagues and I got to the point where we would sing along with it, and each other, when the song came on...over and over again. We camped it up, and had fun.
A few bloggers have met me in Arizona, and in Watertown. If they were to describe me, I'm sure one of the words that would be used is big. I've gained weight since I worked at Denny's over twenty years ago, but I was still big then too. People joked that I was the overnight bouncer while I was working.
My colleague was not quite my size, but he was a good size too. I know that we got a lot of laughter while we were singing along to this so I'm assuming that the drunk, overnight patrons enjoyed our show.
2000s
Okay, quickly going through my Browns cards from the 2000s took a lot longer than I thought it would. There were a lot of sets that I really enjoyed, to go along with a bunch that made me wonder what the designers were thinking. There were a lot of old school designs that I really appreciated. Since the designs themselves could have gone in many directions, I decided to add the concept of the set to my decision making, and really that narrowed the field to one brand, and just left me to decide which year to choose.
2006 Topps Total #212
You may look at this card, and go, "Who?", but to me, that is the point of this card and set.
Mason Unck played in 44 games with the Browns from 2003-06, and is represented in two card sets in his career - Topps Total in 2005 and 2006.
Matt Stewart played in 60 games in his career with the Falcons and Browns from 2001-06, with his last two seasons being with the Browns. He had some rookie cards in three sets, and appeared in the Topps Total sets from 2003 and 2004 with the Falcons, and is only represented in his Browns career with the 2006 Topps Total set.
Jason Fisk played in 107 games from 1995-2006, with Minnesota from 1995-98, Tennessee from 1999-2001, San Diego from 2003-04, Cleveland in 2005, and St. Louis in 2006. He appeared in three sets: 2002 Fleer Platinum, and 2003 and 2006 Topps Total.
I loved the idea of Topps Total. They didn't show the entire team, football rosters are too big, but this 2006 set has 30 Browns represented. I don't mind shared cards like this. As a kid, I loved league leader cards that showed multiple players. Why would you think that I wouldn't like seeing solid players share a card so that they would be represented in a set?
I also love that these cards are on cardboard. I don't need glossy. I don't need bells and whistles. This Topps Total was great!
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I was around twelve when I was introduced to J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth. I loved "The Hobbit" and its dwarves, and then moved on to tackle the three books of "The Lord of the Rings". It turned out to not be the challenge that I thought it might be.
Can there be any doubt that my favorite movies of the 2000s would be the introduction of Peter Jackson's vision of Middle Earth to the big screen? Not in my mind.
film from 2001
I eagerly awaited each installment of "The Lord of the Rings" with its December release, and then enjoyed receiving the extended edition DVDs from my sister for Christmas the following year. (This pattern continued through the Hobbit movies as well.)
I may have some minor complaints over the course of the movies, but all in all I'm still thrilled to have the Middle Earth books put on the big screen. It has been a while since I've sat down and watched all three extended edition LOTR movies back to back to back, and I've never tried to do it with the three Hobbit movies before it. I should think of doing it while I still have the free time right now.
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A song from the 2000s...
I could have a different favorite song for so many different styles of music. So, when in doubt, fall back to movie musicals and a video made for it with attractive women with great voices.
"Lady Marmalade" - Missy Elliott introducing Mya, P!nk, Lil' Kim and Xtina…
I know it's a remake. I don't care. This remake was huge in 2001. No apologies.
I went with the official video above, but also gave a lot of thought to using a video from their Grammy performance with Patti Labelle.
2010s
Did I mention that this has taken a lot longer than I thought it would?
<looks back in the post>
Yep. I mentioned it in the 2000s.
The surprising thing to me is that it isn't the movie or song that is taking so long. It is reviewing all the card sets. A few different sets caught my eye. I really like the Topps Magic and Topps Valor sets, and I really liked the horizontal design of the 2011 Panini Threads set. However, I preferred this set just a bit more.
2017 Panini Illusions #85
I absolutely love the base 100 card set for 2017 Panini Illusions. I wish that there was more than three Browns in it.
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I have enjoyed a whole bunch of movies in the 2010s. Three from early in the decade that spawned sequels are "Ted", "The Expendables" and "Pitch Perfect". I considered all three of them.
I really didn't consider the Cleveland Browns centered "Draft Day", as fun as I think it is to me.
Both "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" and "John Wick" also came close, but they just couldn't beat out a sequel to a super-hero movie.
film from 2014
I have collected comics since my teens. I was never a huge Captain America fan. The movies have changed that, and this movie is my favorite of all the modern super-hero movies that have been made.
To me, it isn't just a super-hero movie, it is a great spy action movie that just happens to involve super-heroes.
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For 2010s music, I'm going to give a shout out to a singer that I was introduced to as a soloist with Postmodern Jukebox, Aubrey Logan.
She sings. She plays trombone. She does one-handed cartwheels on stage.
I have seen her sing twice with Postmodern Jukebox, once in a solo concert in New York City, and once with the group Dave Koz and the Summer Horns, and I have been blown away by her talent every time I have seen her.
Although I saw Aubrey Logan perform this song live in her solo show, I absolutely love her version of "Route 66" that she recorded and sang with Dave Koz and the Summer Horns. (I believe that Night Owl had to listen to me raving about the concert I attended in one of my trips with him from Watertown to Syracuse.)
The intro is a little long here, but, oh, the music!
Again, I know this isn't a new song, but it is a new version, and is found on the Dave Koz and the Summer Horns II from A to Z CD that I picked up when I saw them, and that is hyped in this video. Being on a new CD in the 2010s makes this a 2010s song to me.
Aubrey Logan is currently touring with Dave Koz and the Summer Horns. If they are anywhere near you, and you like horns, I highly recommend the concert. The band is so tight! I wish they were playing nearer to me, or that I was healthy enough for a longer road trip to see them.
Outside of this cover, Aubrey Logan also has many amazing original songs that she wrote and recorded on her two albums. I highly recommend both albums, "Impossible", and her recent "Where the Sunshine is Expensive". She really seems to have found her sound with her new album.
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There you go. I've finally finished with this blog bat-around. Thanks for sticking with it until the end, and I hope you enjoyed my selections.
Doing this blog post has made me want to dig into a series of reviewing the various base sets each year. I know it isn't an original idea, but it may show a bunch of different football card sets to many of you that aren't as familiar with them. With the amount of sets each year, I think each post will take quite a while to put together so it probably won't be starting too soon.
Let's continue the series of posts showing cards of five players with only one card in my collection. I'm using sorting tools at The Trading Card Database to look through my collection on their site to see who only has one card, and then finding the first five names that I haven't posted yet. I'm also using the images from their site.
1951 Bowman #37
I've shown this card before, but really didn't talk too much about Horace Gillom. This copy from the TCDB is in better condition than mine, but my copy is in good enough shape for me.
Horace Gillom was a fascinating player. He played for Paul Brown at Massillon High School, followed him to Ohio State, and then joined him again with the AAFC Browns in 1947 after his stints in the Army and at the University of Nevada. At every level, Paul Brown wanted the best players regardless of race, and Gillom was the third black player to join the Browns, after Marion Motley and Bill Willis in the team's inaugural 1946 season. (The Browns in the AAFC, and the LA Rams in the NFL, were the first two professional football teams to integrate pro football in 1946.)
During his Browns career, Gillom played at End on both offense and defense, and also punted for the team. He played for the Browns from 1947-56, and when he finished his career, his NFL average punting distance of 43.8 yards was second all-time behind Sammy Baugh's 45.1 average.
In looking up information about him, I came across a book that I'll have to buy (and have since bought), Andy Piascik's "The Best Show in Football: The 1946-55 Cleveland Browns". In it there is a passage that talks about how Gillom helped revolutionize punting. He stood further back than most punters, and that, along with his accurate directional punting, he pretty much introduced the element of hang time to punting.
Horace Gillom died in Los Angeles, at the age of 64, of a heart attack suffered while working as a security guard at a hospital. He was named to the Browns Legends in 2007.
Along with this card, there is a Horace Gillom card in the 1953 Bowman set that I need to acquire.
1991 Score #124
Although this card says Tony Blaylock, his Pro Football Reference page, his Wikipedia page and following football cards that were made of him all refer to him as Anthony Blaylock.
Blaylock was a fourth round draft pick of the Browns, out of Winston-Salem State University, in the 1988 NFL Draft. He played with the Browns through five games into the 1991 season when he was placed on injured reserve with a rotator cuff injury. He was picked up by the Chargers on waivers later in the 1991 season, and played with San Diego through the 1992 season before finishing his career with the Chicago Bears in 1993.
This is the only Anthony Blaylock card on the Trading Card Database that shows him as a Cleveland Brown.
1999 Giant Eagle Cleveland Browns #14
Lomas Brown is probably best remembered as a left tackle blocking for Barry Sanders with the Detroit Lions. Brown was the Lions first round pick, number six overall, of the 1985 NFL Draft. He played with the Lions from 1985-95, making the Pro Bowl with them from 1990-95.
After the 1995 season, Brown signed a three year, nine million dollar with the Arizona Cardinals, and made the Pro Bowl with them during the first season of that contract.
Lomas Brown signed a free agent deal with the Browns to join their 1999 expansion team. He only played one season with the Browns before moving on to the New York Giants for the 2000-01 seasons, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for their 2002 Super Bowl winning season to conclude his eighteen season career.
The Giant Eagle Cleveland Browns set gives us the only Browns card of Lomas Brown's career. There is a gold parallel to this card that I will have to find.
1950 Bowman #79
I've actually written about receiving my Tony Adamle card as part of my Secret Santa gift last year.
To save people from looking up the past post, and to make this part of the post a lot easier, here is what I wrote then:
Tony Adamle started with the Browns in the AAFC in 1947, and played with the Browns through the 1951 season before leaving the team to go to medical school.
While still in school, Adamle came back to the Browns to play for the 1954 season, helping the Browns win their second NFL Championship. His agreement with the team was for him to be allowed to practice with the team only one time per week so that he could continue his studies. He retired after the 1954 season to continue his medical schooling and start his medical career.
(For those that recognize the Adamle name, he is the father of Mike Adamle, former NFL running back, sports broadcaster, host of the American Gladiators, and a General Manager for WWE Raw in 2008.)
This is the first Tony Adamle card in my collection. He also has a 1951 Bowman card for me to find.
2009 Press Pass SE #3
I received this card in a Cleveland Browns card lot that I purchased. I was surprised to see it.
Graham Harrell wasn't drafted by the Browns. He wasn't even signed by them after the draft. Instead he was invited to participate in the Cleveland Browns rookie camp in May 2009. He was not signed by the team, and instead signed a contract with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the CFL.
Nevertheless, this card and a 2009 Philadelphia card show him on the front with Cleveland although he is in his college uniform, and there are autographed cards of him in a Browns uniform from the rookie camp in the 2009 SP, SP Authentic, Upper Deck and Upper Deck Exquisite Collection sets.
Graham Harrell made it to the NFL with the Green Bay Packers, appearing in four games in the 2012 season after spending the time from 2010 until then going back and forth between their roster and practice squad.
Harrell was signed by the Jets on August 28, 2013, and appeared in one series with them in an exhibition game before being released on September 2, 2013.
After his playing career finished, Harrell went into coaching with Washington State from 2014-15, and North Texas from 2016-18. On January 29, 2019, he was hired by USC as their new Offensive Co-ordinator.
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In a minor health update, this week I met with my surgeon at the six week mark of my surgery. He has referred me to rehab to stretch the tendon in my hamstring, but does not want me to work on strengthening it yet.
I am able to walk (limp) without my crutch, but the surgeon does not want me taking stairs normally yet. I am to continue climbing them by going up with my good leg, and then pulling the bad one up to the step before continuing with the good one again. Going down the stairs, I start with the bad leg, and then bring the good one down, and repeat...
I can sit in longer stretches now, for about between a half hour to forty minutes before I have to stand up for a bit. I'll probably try driving down to my PO Box in Ogdensburg sometime next week. I think that I should be able to manage the near hour long drive then.
I know that things are getting better but I'm still frustrated with the speed of it.
I saw the news that former Browns linebacker Vince Costello passed away on Sunday, June 23rd at the age of 87.
Vince Costello played for the Browns from 1957 to 1966, and was named as a Browns Legend in 2011.
1959 Topps #158
The text on the back of this card is in error. He was not a Guard, and didn't block for Jim Brown.
Costello played football, baseball and basketball at Ohio University, and he played two years of minor league baseball in the Cincinnati Reds system. Following college, he also served two years in the Air Force. He got a late start in professional football at the age of 25, getting an offer to join the Browns because one of his former college coaches became an assistant coach with the Browns and remembered him from college. He became the starting middle linebacker during his rookie season in 1957.
Vince Costello was a key part of the Browns defense that shut out the vaunted Baltimore Colts offense in the 1964 NFL Championship. Costello picked off a Johnny Unitas pass just before the end of the first half as the Colts were threatening to score.
1961 Fleer #16
Vince Costello is still the Browns franchise leader for Interceptions at the linebacker position, with 18 in 130 regular season games.
Costello was traded to the New York Giants after the 1966 season, and had four interceptions for the Giants in the 1967 season, including one against the Browns in a 38-34 victory over the Browns.
1964 Philadelphia #32
These are the only three mainstream football cards from Vince Costello's career, and I own copies of all three, although I borrowed these images from The Trading Card Database.
According to the TCDB, five other oddball cards have been made of Vince Costello from the following sets:
Carling Black Label Beer Cleveland Browns set from 1959
Kahn's Wieners Browns sets from 1960, 1961 and 1962
National City Bank Cleveland Browns set from 1961
After his playing career ended, Vince Costello joined Paul Brown as a coach with the Cincinnati Bengals from 1969 - 1973. He also had coaching stints with the Miami Dolphins and the Kansas City Chiefs.
After his coaching career finished, he started Vince Costello's Collectibles and although I'm not sure how many Hall of Fame figurines that he made, I do know that he made three Cleveland Browns ones.
I found out about these figures at a card store in Canton, Ohio during one of my visits to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
When the store owner was telling me about these figures, he told me that he had both varieties that were made - ones with real autographs, and ones with printed replica autographs.
I didn't have the money with me to buy the ones with the real autographs, but the store owner gave me a really good deal to pick up copies of the other ones.
I took them down from where I display them so that I could photograph them for this post. Each of these figurines are numbered out of 4900.
Lou Groza
Otto Graham
Marion Motley
Although I didn't get a chance to see Vince Costello play, I am happy that I was able to learn of his career through his cards, and books on the 1964 Browns.
