Got this one back a few days ago TTM. This guy has probably signed more autographs then any other HOF'er. Card even has a nice hole to hang it up by Still a nice one to get back though.
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
Fred, I don't think it's too hard of a card to track down. I have seen them occasionally on ebay. This particular one was purchased for $9.00 including shipping by board member JHS5120 in an ebay auction that didn't use the proper title to generate interest. He had it slabbed by PSA, and when I saw his poppage thread, I PM'd him and he asked for $70 and I thought that was fair from seeing a couple past sales of it, so I bought it from him so I could turn right back around and pop it out and send it TTM to Feller. I wanted to go ahead and get it done because of the advancing age of Mr. Feller. If you'd like to find one, watch ebay for a couple weeks and you'll probably see one pop up, might even be some there now, haven't checked lately. Good luck!!
I bought this from a fellow board member and signed rookie card collector. Neat card of Otto Graham. While he was a great HOF football player, interestingly enough, he played a season of NBA basketball and his team won the championship.
This is a nice card to followup the Otto Graham. Dante "Glue Fingers" Lavelli. He was one of the original Cleveland Browns and was one of the prime targets for Otto to throw to. Always nice to make a pickup of a deceased HOF'er.
Wow, up until about three weeks ago, it had been around a year since I had picked up a card off of my true "want" list (the ones I list in my sig line). This one makes the 3rd one I've been able to mark off that list in about 3 weeks. He is another TOUGH one to get on a rookie card. I now have signed rookies from 11 of the 12 members of the 1992 US Dream Team, I still need Ewing though and that will be no small accomplishment. I still kick myself for not buying the two I've seen.
<< <i>This collection is worthy of an article in a future SMR. Someone needs to contact the editor and get to interview going. >>
Thanks for the thought, but those persons collections that they put in their magazine, at least from the few that I've read, make my signed rookie card collection look like commons Some of those guys like Spence, Dmitri Young, etc, have some absolutely sick cards, and I'm sure that they probably have one individual card that is worth far more then my entire collection. Plus, I'm not sure, but I think the ones they feature all participate in the "Registry" and that's just not my thing. I'm not organized enough for that.
Very nice card - is the Hugh Mac auto a hard one - I remember the name but that's about it. >>
Mike,
Hugh is actually pretty easy to get from what I understand. He signs through the mail for a $10 donation I believe and has a pretty quick turnaround as well. When I was researching him when I was offered the card, here is a neat article that I found about him. Seems like he would be a fun guy to talk to.
The untold story of Hugh McElhenny, the King of Montlake In the twilight of his life, former Huskies star comes clean about fame, football and taking a pay cut to turn pro
By DAN RALEY SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
HENDERSON, Nev. -- Hugh McElhenny woke up and his legs wouldn't move. Those once churning, powerful legs that made him arguably the greatest University of Washington football player and an even better NFL running back, that carried him into practically every hall of fame imaginable in his sport, that brought him instant friends and favors, were limp and useless.
Frantically, he called out for his wife, Peggy. He was taken to a Seattle hospital and given a pseudonym, John Smith, to prevent media intrusions. He was paralyzed from the neck down and had surgery that didn't work. His weight dropped precariously, from 210 pounds to 145. Someone had to feed him for 2 1/2 months. He was forced to use a walker for a year. He almost died.
P-I file Hugh McElhenny's decision to play football for the UW 55 years ago spurred front-page headlines in the P-I The man nicknamed "The King" nearly had to relinquish his throne.
Today, McElhenny, 75, wakes up and he's living on the edge of an overheated Las Vegas, in a comfortable home in a gated community, surrounded by grandchildren and a sense of mortality, grateful to be self-sufficient again.
"My legs are weak, though," he says. "I still feel numbness."
Seven years have passed since he packed up and left the Pacific Northwest that worshipped him, heading south for good after being tackled harder than ever before. He was felled by a rare, sometimes fatal nerve disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome that affects one in 100,000 people, with half of all victims found in northern China.
"I went on a UW trip to China, a beautiful trip," he says. "Maybe I picked up the virus there."
It seems as if McElhenny had everything, then nothing. He will compromise for simple things now, such as a daily swim in his backyard pool, driving his grandsons to Little League practice and watching the sun drop behind the nearby Red Rock range with a drinkl in hand and his spouse of 55 years seated next to him. He still chain-smokes Merit Lights, a guilty pleasure he can't resist, but again he compromises, never lighting up inside his home.
He hasn't put on the pads in four decades, after leading a truly golden existence, mesmerizing everyone at every level with his broken-field runs, his three-year UW career inspiring as much awe as constant whispers.
You can ask McElhenny anything now. Nothing is too sensitive to stiff-arm and sidestep. Time has a way of letting secrets out.
"I'm too old to give a (bleep)," he said.
UW came bearing gifts
That being the case, what about that nagging suggestion, the one guaranteed to draw snickers whenever repeated, that he took a pay cut after leaving the UW for the pros?
For five decades, McElhenny grinned along with everyone else whenever the subject of his collegiate finances came up, offering only vague responses to each persistent inquiry.
No more. Now he's willing to deal with this matter head on.
"What they did with me was illegal," McElhenny said of the Huskies, publicly confirming for the first time that rules violations were committed on his behalf. "I know it was illegal for me to receive cash, and every month I received cash. I know it was illegal to receive clothing, and I got clothing all the time from stores.
"I got a check every month, and it was never signed by the same person, so we never really knew who it was coming from. They invested in me every year. Peg and I made more in college than I made in pro ball.
"When I look back, it was funny."
Isaac Brekken / Special to the Post-Intelligencer Hugh McElhenny, 75, relaxes at his Nevada home, surrounded by mementos of his storied football career with the Huskies and in the NFL. McElhenny said he and his wife received a combined $10,000 per year while in Seattle, give or take a few perks. That included Peggy's job with a medical insurance company (which was legitimate), his monthly $75 scholarship stipend (also legit) and an extra $300 monthly payment (definitely a rule-breaker).
As a rookie with the San Francisco 49ers, the big running back, even as a first-round draft pick, earned a modest $7,000 salary.
By today's standards, that $300 monthly allowance and $10,000 household income in 1950 would equal about $2,200 and $74,000, respectively.
Everyone wanted this dazzling football player and world-class hurdler from Los Angeles' Washington High, a school known by the nickname Generals. Alabama, Notre Dame, Navy, Nebraska, UCLA, Arizona State, Oregon, California and Kansas were among the more ardent pursuers of this five-star guy.
"When I finished high school, I could have gone to any university in the country," he said.
For three months, hometown USC had McElhenny in tow. He was signed to a football and track scholarship. He was a foreign language short of being eligible, but was still on campus, taking extension courses. He left after the school reneged on its offer to pay him $65 per month for the nonsensical chore of watering the grass around the Tommy Trojan statue.
After traveling around the country by car with a buddy, then spending a season playing for Compton Junior College, McElhenny agreed to join the Huskies in March 1949.
Apparently, he took the best offer.
His father, Hugh Sr., a Los Angeles vending-machine distributor, privately handled all dealings with interested alumni. In this case, it was former UW All-America tackle Paul Schwegler and booster Al McCoy.
"They came out of the blue," McElhenny said. "They offered me a package where I could afford to get married and take Peggy with me.
"I don't know how they got away with it."
Two weeks before traveling to Seattle, a place he had never been before, the big-name recruit and his bride were married. They went to Palm Springs for their honeymoon. UW booster Torchy Torrance paid for it.
While the Seattle newspapers reported the McElhennys were driving up the coast, they actually flew, at the UW's expense. Football coach Howie Odell and athletic director Harvey Cassill picked them up at the airport. McCoy drove the McElhennys' car, stuffed with their belongings, from Los Angeles to the Northwest. Each action was a rules violation.
Once in town, the player and his wife stayed at the Camlin Hotel for a month, before an apartment could be found. The price was right.
"Every night, I would go up and have a steak and just sign a tab," McElhenny said. "Each day, I got off the elevator with all those businessmen in my Levis, T-shirt, boots and a flight jacket."
The newlyweds took an apartment on Capitol Hill and paid the rent themselves. UW boosters, however, furnished the place.
His jobs were sometimes comical. Working for Rainier Brewery, he was told to take $200 and go down to the taverns that lined First Avenue and buy everyone a round, making sure they drank only the company stuff.
Instead, everyone recognized McElhenny and bought him beers.
"Before eight hours were up, I had drank too many beers," he said, chuckling at the memory. "And I still had that $200 in my pocket."
McElhenny remains unapologetic for receiving extra benefits. It was commonplace, if not expected, that most top football schools back then paid their best players under the table. Before his death last year, former Huskies quarterback Bob Cox allowed how he transferred from the UW to Minnesota because the Big Ten school gave him significantly more money than the Huskies. McElhenny said he recently ran into an old-time Georgia player who claimed he was still receiving a steady check from his college arrangement.
"It was looser then," he said.
Enforcement was almost non-existent until the mid-1950s, when the then-Pacific Coast Conference finally uncovered various alumni slush funds and cracked down on the Huskies and other conference members. Player suspensions and bowl bans were meted out.
Still, league commissioner Victor Schmidt and a court stenographer traveled to Seattle to meet with McElhenny during each of the player's three seasons from '49 to '51, hoping to catch him in a misstep. They grilled him mostly about his cars, which actually were purchased by the player or his parents.
What it came down to was the prized back was readily taken care of, and he was untouchable.
"I was a movie star up there," McElhenny said. "The people made you feel that way. It got to my head. I don't know if I took advantage of it, or didn't take advantage of it enough."
The perfect player
In an office inside his home, McElhenny has his keepsakes on display, his career neatly organized on walls and shelves, his mystique easily verified.
There are photos, plaques, coins, cards, clocks and watches. A 49ers helmet signed by five contemporary San Francisco Hall of Fame players and him. A painting of the NFL's 24 greatest running backs, autographed by each person depicted, including him. A handsome wooden case, filled with his 38 track and field medals and ribbons, and built by his grandfather. Game balls from the 1951 UW-UCLA game (he scored all of the Huskies' points in a 20-20 tie) and 1957 49ers-Baltimore and 49ers-Chicago contests. A replica bronze bust of him provided by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
There is ample proof he was a first-team All-America running back in 1951, NFL Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year in 1952, Pro Bowl Most Valuable Player in 1958, and a member of the pro, college, 49ers, Huskies, East-West Shrine Game and assorted other halls of fame.
McElhenny, who wears his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring with a diamond mounted in a blue stone, holds up a plaque presented to him by Chicago Bears fans. It's nothing fancy, but it is his most cherished souvenir. The inscription on a metal plate reads, "To the most respected opponent the Bears ever faced. If everyone played the game like Hugh McElhenny, wouldn't it be beautiful."
If everyone were built like him, it would have been scary. Physically, he had it all.
McElhenny possessed sizzling foot speed, 9.6 seconds over 100 yards, which was faster than the reigning PCC sprint champion; a sculpted body, with his 32-inch waist holding together a solid 6-foot-1 frame, his size considered huge for a 1950s running back, particularly since weight lifting hadn't been adopted as a popular training method; and, lastly, incredible balance, developed from years of high and low hurdling, which included regularly beating Olympic decathlete Bob Mathias.
"There's no question he could do everything," said former teammate Billy Wilson, a 49ers offensive end and McElheeny's closest NFL friend. "He could change direction on a dime. He had great cutting ability where other backs were just slashers."
In three seasons with the Huskies and 13 in the NFL, he generated 15,603 total-purpose yards, including 7,780 rushing (4.5 per carry), and scored 95 touchdowns. He ran for a school-record 296 yards against Washington State that still stands and an NFL-best 170 yards on just 10 carries against the Dallas Texans. He was always good for instant points, coming in every conceivable manner.
P-I Hugh McElhenny, left, greets former UW teammate and New York Giants quarterback Don Heinrich during their mid-1950s NFL careers. Among his UW end zone visits, he covered 100 yards with a punt return against USC, 96 with a kickoff return against Minnesota, 91 on a run against Kansas State and 77 on a pass reception against Illinois. He scored 10 times for the Huskies from 50 yards out or more.
He practically gave his coach heart failure by catching the aforementioned Trojans punt on his own goal line while boxed in by opponents, slipping up the sideline and juking his way past the last man, the great Frank Gifford. He knew better, but he couldn't help himself.
"How many idiots catch the ball on the goal line and go 100 yards? I'd like to know," McElhenny pondered. "Against USC, we were getting beat and sometimes, it was, God dammit, you have to do something different. You take a chance. You're getting bored, getting beat. I took a chance."
For the record, he remains the only Pac-10 player to run the entire length of the field with a punt return for a score, and just one of seven on the NCAA Division I level to pull off the feat.
The pros couldn't put any limits on him, either. His 89- and 86-yard scoring runs still rank as the second- and third-longest in 49ers history, and his 94-yard punt return for a TD is the second-longest for San Francisco.
McElhenny's single greatest run anywhere, in his estimation, was a creative 32-yard scoring jaunt against the 49ers in 1961. His former team had left him unprotected in the expansion draft and Minnesota claimed him. He wasn't fond of San Francisco coach Red Hickey, who got rid of him. Nine players had a shot at him as he zigzagged across the field, with seven missing tackles. He wanted to score on that play in the worst way.
"He must have run 130 yards," Wilson said.
"They could have sent me to a contender," McElhenny sniffed. "It hurt my feelings."
At least most people recognized football royalty when they saw it. In his rookie season, McElhenny scored five times in a 40-16 victory over the Bears, and had three others nullified by penalties. With his runs going all over the place, teammates were always clipping someone. However, he got a nickname that counted that day from his 49ers quarterback.
After the game, quarterback Frankie Albert came into the locker room and threw a game ball to the first-year player. Turning to veteran running back Joe Perry, then the rookie, Albert said, "You're still the Jet, but McElhenny, you're the King."
It stuck. It was just one of many coronations for the big back who could run faster than most.
"Jimmy Brown was the greatest running back I ever saw, because he was all power," said Dean Derby, a former UW, Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings defensive back who played with and against McElhenny. "Hugh's biggest thing was acceleration and change of direction, and he didn't fumble.
"Brown was the greatest, but I would put Hugh in the top half-dozen all-time NFL running backs."
Tackled for a loss
McElhenny never graduated from the UW, coming up 32 credits short. He returned to school after playing in several all-star football games, only to find his name removed from the class lists. He moved on.
"They cut me off," he said.
By all accounts, McElhenny didn't have an overbearing ego. If anything, he was a fun guy, maybe a little naive.
He joined a UW fraternity, which he admits was a mistake. Early in his senior season, he was staying out late partying and missing classes. His coaches were unhappy. He started showing up for his 2 p.m. class, but now he was late for the Huskies' 3 p.m. team meeting.
One day, UW players were ordered by Odell to give the running back the silent treatment at practice. They tried.
"When I got there, players whispered, 'We're not supposed to talk to you,' " McElhenny recalled.
"Usually you warm up in a group, but I went off by myself and did it. I was a team player, but I didn't want the guys getting in trouble by trying to talk to me. That (upset) Howie."
McElhenny was put with the UW second team all week. He wasn't certain he was going to play on Saturday. Alumni finally interceded in the locker room before kickoff and he was back in the starting lineup.
However, word got out to NFL scouts that he was a malcontent. The 49ers took him as the eighth pick in the opening round, but they weren't his first choice.
"That's where I heard the pros were afraid to draft me because I was a problem kid, and I wasn't a problem kid," McElhenny said. "The Rams were the ones I wanted to play for because it was my hometown.
"The Rams didn't take me because they considered me trouble."
If there was a void in his football career, it was an obvious lack of championships. The UW was 14-13-1 with him on the field, losing 14-7 to California and falling just short of a Rose Bowl trip in 1950. The 49ers earned just one playoff appearance with him in the backfield, losing to Detroit 31-27 at home in 1957.
"We needed a couple more studs up front," said former Huskies teammate George Black, an offensive end. "Who knows what he would have done with that?"
Near the end of his NFL career, McElhenny took on an ill-advised California grocery market venture, which ended in disaster. Two partners mismanaged plans to operate three stores. The running back was sued, threatened with having his Minnesota Vikings paycheck garnished and forced to declare bankruptcy.
Seven years after retiring as a player, McElhenny was asked to join a group intent on bringing an NFL franchise to Seattle and headed by Minnesota businessman Wayne Field. The new team would be called "the Kings," and play in the Kingdome. The names were chosen because of King County, not his football nickname, but people could think what they wanted. Using his name, he helped arrange two exhibition games at Husky Stadium, one featuring the New York Jets and Steelers and a Joe Namath-Terry Bradshaw quarterback matchup. It wasn't enough.
The Seattle franchise was awarded to a Nordstrom-backed group. It had a better business plan. McElhenny still thought he had a shot at a front-office job. He called newly installed team executive John Thompson in New York and asked for a meeting. He got Babe Ruth treatment, worshipped as a player yet cast aside in management pursuits.
"He said, 'When I come out there, I'll give you a call,' " said McElhenny, who worked for a local bottling company until retiring in 1995. "To this day, I have never heard from Johnny Thompson.
"That was a big disappointment in my life."
The simpler times
Once a month, McElhenny and his wife take in a show on the Las Vegas strip, though never Thursday through Sunday in order to avoid the big crowds. For vacations, he prefers to drive rather than get on a jet, recently spending two weeks behind the wheel while visiting friends in Oregon.
McElhenny hasn't been in Seattle since moving away in 1997, though the impending marriage of a grandson will bring him back to his college town next spring. He watches Huskies games only on TV.
He still attends various NFL-sponsored golf tournaments, giving him a chance to catch up with old friends. Less and less, he shows up for the Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremonies in Canton, Ohio, feeling greatly disconnected.
"I don't recognize the new inductees; I've not heard of them," he admitted. "The old guys earned between $25,000 and $100,000, and the new guys are multimillionaires. It's a different atmosphere."
As the years pile up, it seems that a world that once tried to give him everything is asking for it all back, with interest. Where his name regularly was splashed across headlines, the other day a Las Vegas sportswriter asked McElhenny how to spell it.
He would have been excused had he responded K-I-N-G.
McElhenny wakes up to a different world these days. The good thing about it is his legs work.
Hugh McElhenny has always been a great signer through the mail and he always provides a beautiful signature. Great addition Mike and thank you very much for posting the articles - I really enjoyed reading them!
Rgs,
Greg M.
Collecting vintage auto'd fb cards and Dan Marino cards!!
Nice choice on including Jim Kelly, very underrated.
BUYING Frank Gotch T229 Kopec Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
Got this one from board member mcholke. Sugar Ray had an earlier Panini issue, and a basketball promo card but some consider this to be his rookie card. I don't know if he's a hard sig to get or not as I've never really looked for one, but Kevin submitted this card in my bulk sub and I thought it was neat and he accepted my offer. I remember watching Sugar Ray growing up, and fondly remember my dad and I spending time together watching the fights.
BUYING Frank Gotch T229 Kopec Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
Here's a nice card. I bought the card unsigned as a PSA 7 crackout from Bill (LSU) on the boards. It was signed on August 21 in Pearland, TX. Turned out really nice.
This guy is an interesting, but entertaining character. Known for his macho roles, including Rocky and Rambo. Also known for his gun-control stance, and Brady Bill support. Has had some interesting quotes on gun control, however, he himself holds a concealed carry permit in California. Gotta love it. Neat card that has a nice vintage sig of Sylvester Stallone. Nowadays, you simply get an SS and squiggles. Outstanding sig.
1985 Topps Rambo First Blood Part II Sylvester Stallone
I like your non-sport sigs more so than the sports i think....
BUYING Frank Gotch T229 Kopec Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
Picked this one up from Jes. He got it signed in person. I always enjoyed Dickerson's straight up running style. Part of the Pony Express at SMU, he picked up in the pros right where he left off in college. I honestly don't remember if Dickerson was involved in the SMU scandal of paying players, but since that supposedly began in the 70's, he might have been.
Picked up another young pitcher. Hopefully, the Rangers short term investment in this guy can help them win the World Series. When this former Cy Young award winner is at the top of his game, there aren't many, if any, better.
Picked this one up from Reese. John Henry was the 4th leading rusher in pro football history when he retired, behind only Jim Brown, Jim Taylor, and Joe Perry.
Picked up a nice one compliments of VitoCo (Mike). Nice card with a great signature. This guy was the first player to record a quadruple double. Named as one of the NBA's 50 greatest players.
Picked this future HOF'er up from board member airjoedan. Ray Allen is a 9 time NBA All Star, former NBA Champion and former Olympic gold medal winner. He should have no trouble in getting into the HOF.
Mike, what an incredible thread you have here. I've followed it since you first started it. I don't know where you find the time for your project, but you must have a super understanding wife who supports and understands the dedication your project takes.
<< <i>Mike, what an incredible thread you have here. I've followed it since you first started it. I don't know where you find the time for your project, but you must have a super understanding wife who supports and understands the dedication your project takes.
Another thumbs up for your project
And a few for your wife!
brian >>
Thanks Brian,
She's a keeper although she has her moments at times
This is the man that us Rangers fans are hoping gives us a shot in the playoffs this year. Hopefully, we'll see a continuation of his dominance from last year, but hey, you never know.
Nice to have a homer pick in the collection...... another Cliff! Congrats..
BUYING Frank Gotch T229 Kopec Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
I already have the Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Julius Erving signed card from this set, but decided to work on some of the variation Bird, Magic rookies in this set as well. This is one of those. Jeserone got the Dr. for me out in LA, and VitoCo coordinated with a private signing where he got Magic for me. Now, we'll have to see if I have the guts to send it TTM to Jan Van Breda Kolff. LOL.
1980-81 Topps Van Breda Kolff, Julius Erving, Magic Johnson (RC)
<< <i>I already have the Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Julius Erving signed card from this set, but decided to work on some of the variation Bird, Magic rookies in this set as well. This is one of those. Jeserone got the Dr. for me out in LA, and VitoCo coordinated with a private signing where he got Magic for me. Now, we'll have to see if I have the guts to send it TTM to Jan Van Breda Kolff. LOL.
1980-81 Topps Van Breda Kolff, Julius Erving, Magic Johnson (RC) >>
No guts no glory, Mike!!
Harvey 2010 List: Jan Van Brenda Kolff 1102 French Town Ln. Franklin, TN 37067
And I'll almost certainly be doing Bird and Magic again after the first of the year.
If you are going to send him TTM I would throw in $10 and a thin tip blue Sharpie or Staedtler and politely ask him to sign it with your pen. That would really suck if he used a dried out fat black sharpie.
I've reallly got no intention of sending to Van Breda Kolff unless he pops up at a signing. I usually enjoy risks, but not when the reward would only be a Jan Van Breda Kolff sig. (no offense to his fans)
I've reallly got no intention of sending to Van Breda Kolff unless he pops up at a signing. I usually enjoy risks, but not when the reward would only be a Jan Van Breda Kolff sig. (no offense to his fans)
Mike >>
BOOOO!!! I just sent a program signed by Cousy, Sharman, Loscutoff and Risen (3HOFers) to Dick Hemric (who only played 2 years in the NBA). Gotta finish projects! Tell you what, I'll get in for two sigs or so if you want to write to him and ask him to sign 20 cards for $100 or something. I bet we could get 20 together on SCN. LMK if I can help. I don't even care about him but I just want to see a project finished!
<< <i> BOOOO!!! I just sent a program signed by Cousy, Sharman, Loscutoff and Risen (3HOFers) to Dick Hemric (who only played 2 years in the NBA). Gotta finish projects! Tell you what, I'll get in for two sigs or so if you want to write to him and ask him to sign 20 cards for $100 or something. I bet we could get 20 together on SCN. LMK if I can help. I don't even care about him but I just want to see a project finished! >>
Now that's a pretty good idea. I'll write him and see what he says about a proposition like that. Thanks for the idea!
I was glad to pick this one up. I had a 1983 Singletary "signed" card, but after seeing several in person signatures, I determined that the one I had was ghostsigned. I've been wanting to get it replaced, so I picked this one up to take it's place. I went and saw this guy play when he was at Baylor as my sister was there at the same time, great player. The Monster of the Midway.
Hey Mike ... You can have my card (the one on the bottom) and all you have to do is cut and paste! LMAO!
STAY HEALTHY!
Doug
Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
<< <i>Hey Mike ... You can have my card (the one on the bottom) and all you have to do is cut and paste! LMAO!
>>
I could send it to a paper restorer and they could do amazing things!!!
Do you happen to have an autographed card of Abdul Jeelani from that same year?? He was my favorite Maverick their first year when I was 10. I'd like to get one for my collection.
I only have 11 PSA/DNA cards from that year. SOOOOO, 33 autos total but NO Jeelani. Sorry!
STAY HEALTHY!
Doug
Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
Comments
1936 Goudey Premium Wide Pen Bob Feller
was that a tough card to track down?
collecting RAW Topps baseball cards 1952 Highs to 1972. looking for collector grade (somewhere between psa 4-7 condition). let me know what you have, I'll take it, I want to finish sets, I must have something you can use for trade.
looking for Topps 71-72 hi's-62-53-54-55-59, I have these sets started
<< <i>cool feller, he is a great signer
was that a tough card to track down? >>
Fred, I don't think it's too hard of a card to track down. I have seen them occasionally on ebay. This particular one was purchased for $9.00 including shipping by board member JHS5120 in an ebay auction that didn't use the proper title to generate interest. He had it slabbed by PSA, and when I saw his poppage thread, I PM'd him and he asked for $70 and I thought that was fair from seeing a couple past sales of it, so I bought it from him so I could turn right back around and pop it out and send it TTM to Feller. I wanted to go ahead and get it done because of the advancing age of Mr. Feller. If you'd like to find one, watch ebay for a couple weeks and you'll probably see one pop up, might even be some there now, haven't checked lately. Good luck!!
Mike
1950 Bowman Otto Graham PSA/DNA
Your Very welcome on the Wynn, anything to help out a fellow collector! Awesome pickups, especially that Pippen!
Congrats,
Dan
HOF RC Auto Set
1955 Topps Football AA
1950 Bowman Football
1951 Bowman Football
1952 Bowman Football
ebay user- Jolt333
Please be sure to check out my auctions!
1950 Bowman Dante "Glue Fingers" Lavelli
1988 Fleer John Stockton
1952 Bowman Small Hugh McElhenny PSA/DNA
BTW, check your PM. I have a card that you may like.
Robert
<< <i>Cool McElhenny!
BTW, check your PM. I have a card that you may like.
Robert >>
Hi Robert, I tried to reply to your PM but it doesn't seem to be working. Thanks for the offer and I'd definitely like that.
Mike Navarro
701 Dunn St.
Waxahachie, TX 75165
I appreciate it!! That will be a sweet card, he's had a heck of a year.
Sorry, my PM was turned off for some reason.
I will send it out tomorrow. Hope you enjoy it.
Robert
<< <i>This collection is worthy of an article in a future SMR. Someone needs to contact the editor and get to interview going. >>
Thanks for the thought, but those persons collections that they put in their magazine, at least from the few that I've read, make my signed rookie card collection look like commons
Very nice card - is the Hugh Mac auto a hard one - I remember the name but that's about it.
<< <i>Hi Mike
Very nice card - is the Hugh Mac auto a hard one - I remember the name but that's about it. >>
Mike,
Hugh is actually pretty easy to get from what I understand. He signs through the mail for a $10 donation I believe and has a pretty quick turnaround as well. When I was researching him when I was offered the card, here is a neat article that I found about him. Seems like he would be a fun guy to talk to.
The untold story of Hugh McElhenny, the King of Montlake
In the twilight of his life, former Huskies star comes clean about fame, football and taking a pay cut to turn pro
By DAN RALEY
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER
HENDERSON, Nev. -- Hugh McElhenny woke up and his legs wouldn't move. Those once churning, powerful legs that made him arguably the greatest University of Washington football player and an even better NFL running back, that carried him into practically every hall of fame imaginable in his sport, that brought him instant friends and favors, were limp and useless.
Frantically, he called out for his wife, Peggy. He was taken to a Seattle hospital and given a pseudonym, John Smith, to prevent media intrusions. He was paralyzed from the neck down and had surgery that didn't work. His weight dropped precariously, from 210 pounds to 145. Someone had to feed him for 2 1/2 months. He was forced to use a walker for a year. He almost died.
P-I file
Hugh McElhenny's decision to play football for the UW 55 years ago spurred front-page headlines in the P-I
The man nicknamed "The King" nearly had to relinquish his throne.
Today, McElhenny, 75, wakes up and he's living on the edge of an overheated Las Vegas, in a comfortable home in a gated community, surrounded by grandchildren and a sense of mortality, grateful to be self-sufficient again.
"My legs are weak, though," he says. "I still feel numbness."
Seven years have passed since he packed up and left the Pacific Northwest that worshipped him, heading south for good after being tackled harder than ever before. He was felled by a rare, sometimes fatal nerve disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome that affects one in 100,000 people, with half of all victims found in northern China.
"I went on a UW trip to China, a beautiful trip," he says. "Maybe I picked up the virus there."
It seems as if McElhenny had everything, then nothing. He will compromise for simple things now, such as a daily swim in his backyard pool, driving his grandsons to Little League practice and watching the sun drop behind the nearby Red Rock range with a drinkl in hand and his spouse of 55 years seated next to him. He still chain-smokes Merit Lights, a guilty pleasure he can't resist, but again he compromises, never lighting up inside his home.
He hasn't put on the pads in four decades, after leading a truly golden existence, mesmerizing everyone at every level with his broken-field runs, his three-year UW career inspiring as much awe as constant whispers.
You can ask McElhenny anything now. Nothing is too sensitive to stiff-arm and sidestep. Time has a way of letting secrets out.
"I'm too old to give a (bleep)," he said.
UW came bearing gifts
That being the case, what about that nagging suggestion, the one guaranteed to draw snickers whenever repeated, that he took a pay cut after leaving the UW for the pros?
For five decades, McElhenny grinned along with everyone else whenever the subject of his collegiate finances came up, offering only vague responses to each persistent inquiry.
No more. Now he's willing to deal with this matter head on.
"What they did with me was illegal," McElhenny said of the Huskies, publicly confirming for the first time that rules violations were committed on his behalf. "I know it was illegal for me to receive cash, and every month I received cash. I know it was illegal to receive clothing, and I got clothing all the time from stores.
"I got a check every month, and it was never signed by the same person, so we never really knew who it was coming from. They invested in me every year. Peg and I made more in college than I made in pro ball.
"When I look back, it was funny."
Isaac Brekken / Special to the Post-Intelligencer
Hugh McElhenny, 75, relaxes at his Nevada home, surrounded by mementos of his storied football career with the Huskies and in the NFL.
McElhenny said he and his wife received a combined $10,000 per year while in Seattle, give or take a few perks. That included Peggy's job with a medical insurance company (which was legitimate), his monthly $75 scholarship stipend (also legit) and an extra $300 monthly payment (definitely a rule-breaker).
As a rookie with the San Francisco 49ers, the big running back, even as a first-round draft pick, earned a modest $7,000 salary.
By today's standards, that $300 monthly allowance and $10,000 household income in 1950 would equal about $2,200 and $74,000, respectively.
Everyone wanted this dazzling football player and world-class hurdler from Los Angeles' Washington High, a school known by the nickname Generals. Alabama, Notre Dame, Navy, Nebraska, UCLA, Arizona State, Oregon, California and Kansas were among the more ardent pursuers of this five-star guy.
"When I finished high school, I could have gone to any university in the country," he said.
For three months, hometown USC had McElhenny in tow. He was signed to a football and track scholarship. He was a foreign language short of being eligible, but was still on campus, taking extension courses. He left after the school reneged on its offer to pay him $65 per month for the nonsensical chore of watering the grass around the Tommy Trojan statue.
After traveling around the country by car with a buddy, then spending a season playing for Compton Junior College, McElhenny agreed to join the Huskies in March 1949.
Apparently, he took the best offer.
His father, Hugh Sr., a Los Angeles vending-machine distributor, privately handled all dealings with interested alumni. In this case, it was former UW All-America tackle Paul Schwegler and booster Al McCoy.
"They came out of the blue," McElhenny said. "They offered me a package where I could afford to get married and take Peggy with me.
"I don't know how they got away with it."
Two weeks before traveling to Seattle, a place he had never been before, the big-name recruit and his bride were married. They went to Palm Springs for their honeymoon. UW booster Torchy Torrance paid for it.
While the Seattle newspapers reported the McElhennys were driving up the coast, they actually flew, at the UW's expense. Football coach Howie Odell and athletic director Harvey Cassill picked them up at the airport. McCoy drove the McElhennys' car, stuffed with their belongings, from Los Angeles to the Northwest. Each action was a rules violation.
Once in town, the player and his wife stayed at the Camlin Hotel for a month, before an apartment could be found. The price was right.
"Every night, I would go up and have a steak and just sign a tab," McElhenny said. "Each day, I got off the elevator with all those businessmen in my Levis, T-shirt, boots and a flight jacket."
The newlyweds took an apartment on Capitol Hill and paid the rent themselves. UW boosters, however, furnished the place.
His jobs were sometimes comical. Working for Rainier Brewery, he was told to take $200 and go down to the taverns that lined First Avenue and buy everyone a round, making sure they drank only the company stuff.
Instead, everyone recognized McElhenny and bought him beers.
"Before eight hours were up, I had drank too many beers," he said, chuckling at the memory. "And I still had that $200 in my pocket."
McElhenny remains unapologetic for receiving extra benefits. It was commonplace, if not expected, that most top football schools back then paid their best players under the table. Before his death last year, former Huskies quarterback Bob Cox allowed how he transferred from the UW to Minnesota because the Big Ten school gave him significantly more money than the Huskies. McElhenny said he recently ran into an old-time Georgia player who claimed he was still receiving a steady check from his college arrangement.
"It was looser then," he said.
Enforcement was almost non-existent until the mid-1950s, when the then-Pacific Coast Conference finally uncovered various alumni slush funds and cracked down on the Huskies and other conference members. Player suspensions and bowl bans were meted out.
Still, league commissioner Victor Schmidt and a court stenographer traveled to Seattle to meet with McElhenny during each of the player's three seasons from '49 to '51, hoping to catch him in a misstep. They grilled him mostly about his cars, which actually were purchased by the player or his parents.
What it came down to was the prized back was readily taken care of, and he was untouchable.
"I was a movie star up there," McElhenny said. "The people made you feel that way. It got to my head. I don't know if I took advantage of it, or didn't take advantage of it enough."
The perfect player
In an office inside his home, McElhenny has his keepsakes on display, his career neatly organized on walls and shelves, his mystique easily verified.
There are photos, plaques, coins, cards, clocks and watches. A 49ers helmet signed by five contemporary San Francisco Hall of Fame players and him. A painting of the NFL's 24 greatest running backs, autographed by each person depicted, including him. A handsome wooden case, filled with his 38 track and field medals and ribbons, and built by his grandfather. Game balls from the 1951 UW-UCLA game (he scored all of the Huskies' points in a 20-20 tie) and 1957 49ers-Baltimore and 49ers-Chicago contests. A replica bronze bust of him provided by the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
There is ample proof he was a first-team All-America running back in 1951, NFL Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year in 1952, Pro Bowl Most Valuable Player in 1958, and a member of the pro, college, 49ers, Huskies, East-West Shrine Game and assorted other halls of fame.
McElhenny, who wears his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring with a diamond mounted in a blue stone, holds up a plaque presented to him by Chicago Bears fans. It's nothing fancy, but it is his most cherished souvenir. The inscription on a metal plate reads, "To the most respected opponent the Bears ever faced. If everyone played the game like Hugh McElhenny, wouldn't it be beautiful."
If everyone were built like him, it would have been scary. Physically, he had it all.
McElhenny possessed sizzling foot speed, 9.6 seconds over 100 yards, which was faster than the reigning PCC sprint champion; a sculpted body, with his 32-inch waist holding together a solid 6-foot-1 frame, his size considered huge for a 1950s running back, particularly since weight lifting hadn't been adopted as a popular training method; and, lastly, incredible balance, developed from years of high and low hurdling, which included regularly beating Olympic decathlete Bob Mathias.
"There's no question he could do everything," said former teammate Billy Wilson, a 49ers offensive end and McElheeny's closest NFL friend. "He could change direction on a dime. He had great cutting ability where other backs were just slashers."
In three seasons with the Huskies and 13 in the NFL, he generated 15,603 total-purpose yards, including 7,780 rushing (4.5 per carry), and scored 95 touchdowns. He ran for a school-record 296 yards against Washington State that still stands and an NFL-best 170 yards on just 10 carries against the Dallas Texans. He was always good for instant points, coming in every conceivable manner.
P-I
Hugh McElhenny, left, greets former UW teammate and New York Giants quarterback Don Heinrich during their mid-1950s NFL careers.
Among his UW end zone visits, he covered 100 yards with a punt return against USC, 96 with a kickoff return against Minnesota, 91 on a run against Kansas State and 77 on a pass reception against Illinois. He scored 10 times for the Huskies from 50 yards out or more.
He practically gave his coach heart failure by catching the aforementioned Trojans punt on his own goal line while boxed in by opponents, slipping up the sideline and juking his way past the last man, the great Frank Gifford. He knew better, but he couldn't help himself.
"How many idiots catch the ball on the goal line and go 100 yards? I'd like to know," McElhenny pondered. "Against USC, we were getting beat and sometimes, it was, God dammit, you have to do something different. You take a chance. You're getting bored, getting beat. I took a chance."
For the record, he remains the only Pac-10 player to run the entire length of the field with a punt return for a score, and just one of seven on the NCAA Division I level to pull off the feat.
The pros couldn't put any limits on him, either. His 89- and 86-yard scoring runs still rank as the second- and third-longest in 49ers history, and his 94-yard punt return for a TD is the second-longest for San Francisco.
McElhenny's single greatest run anywhere, in his estimation, was a creative 32-yard scoring jaunt against the 49ers in 1961. His former team had left him unprotected in the expansion draft and Minnesota claimed him. He wasn't fond of San Francisco coach Red Hickey, who got rid of him. Nine players had a shot at him as he zigzagged across the field, with seven missing tackles. He wanted to score on that play in the worst way.
"He must have run 130 yards," Wilson said.
"They could have sent me to a contender," McElhenny sniffed. "It hurt my feelings."
At least most people recognized football royalty when they saw it. In his rookie season, McElhenny scored five times in a 40-16 victory over the Bears, and had three others nullified by penalties. With his runs going all over the place, teammates were always clipping someone. However, he got a nickname that counted that day from his 49ers quarterback.
After the game, quarterback Frankie Albert came into the locker room and threw a game ball to the first-year player. Turning to veteran running back Joe Perry, then the rookie, Albert said, "You're still the Jet, but McElhenny, you're the King."
It stuck. It was just one of many coronations for the big back who could run faster than most.
"Jimmy Brown was the greatest running back I ever saw, because he was all power," said Dean Derby, a former UW, Pittsburgh Steelers and Minnesota Vikings defensive back who played with and against McElhenny. "Hugh's biggest thing was acceleration and change of direction, and he didn't fumble.
"Brown was the greatest, but I would put Hugh in the top half-dozen all-time NFL running backs."
Tackled for a loss
McElhenny never graduated from the UW, coming up 32 credits short. He returned to school after playing in several all-star football games, only to find his name removed from the class lists. He moved on.
"They cut me off," he said.
By all accounts, McElhenny didn't have an overbearing ego. If anything, he was a fun guy, maybe a little naive.
He joined a UW fraternity, which he admits was a mistake. Early in his senior season, he was staying out late partying and missing classes. His coaches were unhappy. He started showing up for his 2 p.m. class, but now he was late for the Huskies' 3 p.m. team meeting.
One day, UW players were ordered by Odell to give the running back the silent treatment at practice. They tried.
"When I got there, players whispered, 'We're not supposed to talk to you,' " McElhenny recalled.
"Usually you warm up in a group, but I went off by myself and did it. I was a team player, but I didn't want the guys getting in trouble by trying to talk to me. That (upset) Howie."
McElhenny was put with the UW second team all week. He wasn't certain he was going to play on Saturday. Alumni finally interceded in the locker room before kickoff and he was back in the starting lineup.
However, word got out to NFL scouts that he was a malcontent. The 49ers took him as the eighth pick in the opening round, but they weren't his first choice.
"That's where I heard the pros were afraid to draft me because I was a problem kid, and I wasn't a problem kid," McElhenny said. "The Rams were the ones I wanted to play for because it was my hometown.
"The Rams didn't take me because they considered me trouble."
If there was a void in his football career, it was an obvious lack of championships. The UW was 14-13-1 with him on the field, losing 14-7 to California and falling just short of a Rose Bowl trip in 1950. The 49ers earned just one playoff appearance with him in the backfield, losing to Detroit 31-27 at home in 1957.
"We needed a couple more studs up front," said former Huskies teammate George Black, an offensive end. "Who knows what he would have done with that?"
Near the end of his NFL career, McElhenny took on an ill-advised California grocery market venture, which ended in disaster. Two partners mismanaged plans to operate three stores. The running back was sued, threatened with having his Minnesota Vikings paycheck garnished and forced to declare bankruptcy.
Seven years after retiring as a player, McElhenny was asked to join a group intent on bringing an NFL franchise to Seattle and headed by Minnesota businessman Wayne Field. The new team would be called "the Kings," and play in the Kingdome. The names were chosen because of King County, not his football nickname, but people could think what they wanted. Using his name, he helped arrange two exhibition games at Husky Stadium, one featuring the New York Jets and Steelers and a Joe Namath-Terry Bradshaw quarterback matchup. It wasn't enough.
The Seattle franchise was awarded to a Nordstrom-backed group. It had a better business plan. McElhenny still thought he had a shot at a front-office job. He called newly installed team executive John Thompson in New York and asked for a meeting. He got Babe Ruth treatment, worshipped as a player yet cast aside in management pursuits.
"He said, 'When I come out there, I'll give you a call,' " said McElhenny, who worked for a local bottling company until retiring in 1995. "To this day, I have never heard from Johnny Thompson.
"That was a big disappointment in my life."
The simpler times
Once a month, McElhenny and his wife take in a show on the Las Vegas strip, though never Thursday through Sunday in order to avoid the big crowds. For vacations, he prefers to drive rather than get on a jet, recently spending two weeks behind the wheel while visiting friends in Oregon.
McElhenny hasn't been in Seattle since moving away in 1997, though the impending marriage of a grandson will bring him back to his college town next spring. He watches Huskies games only on TV.
He still attends various NFL-sponsored golf tournaments, giving him a chance to catch up with old friends. Less and less, he shows up for the Pro Football Hall of Fame ceremonies in Canton, Ohio, feeling greatly disconnected.
"I don't recognize the new inductees; I've not heard of them," he admitted. "The old guys earned between $25,000 and $100,000, and the new guys are multimillionaires. It's a different atmosphere."
As the years pile up, it seems that a world that once tried to give him everything is asking for it all back, with interest. Where his name regularly was splashed across headlines, the other day a Las Vegas sportswriter asked McElhenny how to spell it.
He would have been excused had he responded K-I-N-G.
McElhenny wakes up to a different world these days. The good thing about it is his legs work.
Rgs,
Greg M.
References:
Onlychild, Ahmanfan, fabfrank, wufdude, jradke, Reese, Jasp, thenavarro
E-Bay id: greg_n_meg
1987 Topps Jim Kelly PSA/DNA
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
1991 Impel Olympics Sugar Ray Leonard PSA/DNA
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
1970-71 Topps Calvin Murphy
1985 Topps Rambo First Blood Part II Sylvester Stallone
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
1997 Press Pass Tim Duncan PSA/DNA
1984 Topps Eric Dickerson
2005 Modesto Nuts Ubaldo Jimenez
2002 Just Minors Cliff Lee
1955 Bowman John Henry Johnson
1969 Topps Nate Thurmond
1996 Topps Finest Ray Allen PSA/DNA
Another thumbs up for your project
And a few for your wife!
brian
<< <i>Mike, what an incredible thread you have here. I've followed it since you first started it. I don't know where you find the time for your project, but you must have a super understanding wife who supports and understands the dedication your project takes.
Another thumbs up for your project
And a few for your wife!
brian >>
Thanks Brian,
She's a keeper although she has her moments at times
Mike
2002 SP Authentic Cliff Lee PSA/DNA
Looking to BUY n332 1889 SF Hess cards and high grade cards from 19th century especially. "Once you have wrestled everything else in life is easy" Dan Gable
<< <i>Nice to have a homer pick in the collection...... another Cliff! Congrats.. >>
Yep, I had to throw in our rent-a-pitcher. Hopefully he's bringing his A game this year.
Mike
1980-81 Topps Van Breda Kolff, Julius Erving, Magic Johnson (RC)
<< <i>I already have the Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Julius Erving signed card from this set, but decided to work on some of the variation Bird, Magic rookies in this set as well. This is one of those. Jeserone got the Dr. for me out in LA, and VitoCo coordinated with a private signing where he got Magic for me. Now, we'll have to see if I have the guts to send it TTM to Jan Van Breda Kolff. LOL.
1980-81 Topps Van Breda Kolff, Julius Erving, Magic Johnson (RC)
>>
No guts no glory, Mike!!
Harvey 2010 List:
Jan Van Brenda Kolff
1102 French Town Ln.
Franklin, TN 37067
And I'll almost certainly be doing Bird and Magic again after the first of the year.
My Podcast - Now FEATURED on iTunes
If you are going to send him TTM I would throw in $10 and a thin tip blue Sharpie or Staedtler and politely ask him to sign it with your pen. That would really suck if he used a dried out fat black sharpie.
I've reallly got no intention of sending to Van Breda Kolff unless he pops up at a signing. I usually enjoy risks, but not when the reward would only be a Jan Van Breda Kolff sig. (no offense to his fans)
Mike
<< <i>Mike and John,
I've reallly got no intention of sending to Van Breda Kolff unless he pops up at a signing. I usually enjoy risks, but not when the reward would only be a Jan Van Breda Kolff sig. (no offense to his fans)
Mike >>
BOOOO!!! I just sent a program signed by Cousy, Sharman, Loscutoff and Risen (3HOFers) to Dick Hemric (who only played 2 years in the NBA). Gotta finish projects! Tell you what, I'll get in for two sigs or so if you want to write to him and ask him to sign 20 cards for $100 or something. I bet we could get 20 together on SCN. LMK if I can help. I don't even care about him but I just want to see a project finished!
My Podcast - Now FEATURED on iTunes
<< <i>
BOOOO!!! I just sent a program signed by Cousy, Sharman, Loscutoff and Risen (3HOFers) to Dick Hemric (who only played 2 years in the NBA). Gotta finish projects! Tell you what, I'll get in for two sigs or so if you want to write to him and ask him to sign 20 cards for $100 or something. I bet we could get 20 together on SCN. LMK if I can help. I don't even care about him but I just want to see a project finished! >>
Now that's a pretty good idea. I'll write him and see what he says about a proposition like that. Thanks for the idea!
Mike
1983 Topps Mike Singletary PSA/DNA
Doug
Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.
<< <i>Hey Mike ... You can have my card (the one on the bottom) and all you have to do is cut and paste! LMAO!
>>
I could send it to a paper restorer and they could do amazing things!!!
Do you happen to have an autographed card of Abdul Jeelani from that same year?? He was my favorite Maverick their first year when I was 10. I'd like to get one for my collection.
Mike
I only have 11 PSA/DNA cards from that year. SOOOOO, 33 autos total but NO Jeelani. Sorry!
Doug
Liquidating my collection for the 3rd and final time. Time for others to enjoy what I have enjoyed over the last several decades. Money could be put to better use.