NUMBER 9
Brett Favre 91 Topps Stadium Club UER RC
I’ve been a Green Bay Packers fan for as long as I can remember. Trouble is, being from Minnesota, I’ve also been a fan of the Vikings for virtually the same amount of time. Who in their right minds would like both teams? I must be F’ed in the H.
I am completely aware of the current national consensus towards Mr. Favre regarding, at the very least, this most recent season in which Green Bay said "nuh uh, fool, you too old" and New York said "Brett Favre? Hell yeah!" and then Mr. Favre, as Green Bay correctly suspected, melted down.
But, come on. He had to have done something amazing to accrue all of those records while playing all but two years of his long career in Green Bay. Bash him all you want, point out what an erratic passer he’s always been, but you’ve got to give credit where credit is due. The guy, at least up until last year, was in my eyes a very stand-up role model. He was very human. He wasn’t arrogant. He loved what he did. He loved his family. He respected his fans. He was loyal to his employers. He was a leader to his peers. This past year? I dunno what he was. He certainly wasn’t amazing, that’s for sure.
And, sure. Minnesota had guys like Warren Moon and Daunte Culpepper and… umm… Tarvaris Jackson? As you can see, as a Vikings fan, it’s been difficult to latch onto just one player. Having a QB of Favre’s caliber sticking around for over a decade made being a fan very easy.
The problem is, I’ve never seriously collected football cards. I’ve never had a Brett Favre card. So when I got back into collecting baseball cards, I figured I should find at least one card. So I decided to do my research. The two Favre RCs that are most sought after are both Stadium Club cards. The one I decided to hunt down is a truer RC in that it was from 91 and features him in his Falcons uniform. Topps also had problems spelling his name and issued no corrections. The second and much more expensive RC is a 92 short print and is the very first card issued to show Favre in his Green Bay garb. I purchased the 91 card just before his final season with the Packers. A lot of collectors and sellers had assumed that he would retire after the ‘07 season, so his cards weren’t cheap. I was lucky enough to find one in decent shape for around $50, but there was no way I was going to lay down the type of money it would have taken to get the 92 SP. No. Way. What. So. Ever.
Now, I know you all hate Beckett, but just hear me out. This is before I knew you all hated Beckett. Please put away your torches. KTHNX. When I got this card in the mail, this sucker looked sharp and clean. Being that it was a rookie card of my favorite football player ever, I decided to slab that sucker up and see what the stingy grading guys at Beckett thought of it. Back then, I didn’t know anything about card populations. I didn’t know that getting anything under a 10 from Beckett did not increase the value of your card one bit. I also didn’t know how strict Beckett was/is with their grading. Boy, do I know now.
This is the nicest, sharpest card I have ever laid eyes on. How the hell did this not get at least a 9.5? What the hell does it take to get a 10? GOOD LORD, MAN! I suppose, though, having such high standards do make those 10s harder to come by and increases their values quite a bit. Those sneaky Beckett bastards!
I’ve since purchased a couple higher end Favre cards, but I don’t think I’ll be continuing the chase for a Brett collection. I’ve got my RC, I’ve got my slab. I think I’m fairly happy with it.
