It's All About Collecting The U : Milestone Reached!

Card Magnet · Jun 1, 2015

Today's mail hit and surpassed a milestone in my Miami Hurricanes Football card collction : 400 alumni of the program! I now have 403 out of a known 449 available alumni of the program. I have a handful of the remaining 45 sitting on COMC ready to be shipped the next free shipping promo they run. The remaining players are mostly odball cards, like school and player issued and regional cards. It's very plausible that I will never truly hit that every Cane collected mark.

You can read my ramblings, or scroll right past it to view a gallery showing every individual in my collection.

You can view my full 5,000+ card collection on my site - http://miami.cardmagnet.info/

I have put a lot of time and effort into not only my collection website, but also putting together the most comprehensive list of Miami Hurricanes football players and coaches with at least one trading card on the market. Just when I think I've completed a master list, I'll stumble onto an oddball that I somehow missed or was forgotten to time.

What I think makes my collection unique is the overall diversity. Sure, I have all of the names you'd expect to see in a Canes Football collection, but I've dug deep to add names you might not connect to the school or that many don't even realize played football. See, I don't just collect football cards, but any card of any genre featuring an individual connected to the Miami Football program. One of my biggest targets that continues to elude me is a tennis card, a 1975 J.F. Sports Collection card of Gardnar Mulloy, father of the Miami tennis team, but also a former football player.

The hunt for oddball and regional cards is as frustrating as it is exciting and fulfilling. I've managed to acquire team issued cards, like Leonard Conley of the AFL's Iowa Barnstormers, that I thought I may never see. Most of the holes left in my checklist are these regional cards from arena leagues and the like. For years, I have searched in vain 1975 Jacksonville Express Witt Beckman, 2004 San Jose SaberCats Jason Geathers, and numerous others.

I have cards from all levels of football, from high school through the NFL, and everything inbetween. Though a bit out of my price range for now, one of my top 3 wanted cards is of the CFL's Mario DeMarco, from the 1956 Shredded Wheaties set. DeMarco was an all-star in the CFL whose career was tragically cut short in a plane crash that killed him along with four other players on their way home from the CFL All-Star Game. Aside from the CFL, I have picked up cards from the AFL, the briefly lived XFL, the ill fated USFL, and various high school bowls.

While I'm sure everyone is familiar with the Leaf/Razor Army All-American Bowl sets of the past five years, there are other high school all-star sets. My favorites come from the PA Big 33, as I'm from Pennsylvania. The Big 33, dubbed "The Super Bowl of High School Football" showcases an all-star team from PA against Maryland (formerly Ohio, which was a better game and roster), and has featured just about every prominent player to have come from the three states during the game's run. There are also quite possibly the hardest cards to find coming from the Under Armour game, the player issued cards from Topps. I'm trying to track down a Gerald Willis III from 2014.

There are a slew of players who put their careers and/or education on hold to serve their country. They were true American heroes and are among my favorite players in my collection for it. College Hall of Fame quarterback Arnold Tucker started as a quarterback at Miami before enlisting in the Army during WWII, where he put together his hall of fame career with the Army Black Knights. Tucker would return to Miami as an athletic director and run their ROTC program.

A baseball fan favorite Al "Flip" Rosen, aka "The Hebrew Hammer", duped the system by using an alias to preserve his amateur status to play baseball, football, and box at Miami before answering the call of duty during WWII. He served for four years in the Navy, fought in the Pacific Theater, and left as a lieutenant. He may be the greatest baseball player of his era to not have made the Professional Baseball Hall of Fame.

John Douglas was a promising baseball prospect and multi-sport athlete from Miami who also put his own ambitions on hold as he served his country during WWII. He suffered a severe knee injury while serving with the Navy that left him medically discharged. He returned stateside requiring a brace to even walk, but still showed up for spring training. Though he made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers after that injury, his MLB career lasted only that game, and he finished his baseball career in an independent league.

There are others in my collection who were multi-sport athletes that chose professional baseball upon graduation, like Jim Maler of the Seattle Mariners. There are also those who left school early to pursue their baseball dreams, like Kenny Kelly and T.J. Prunty. There is even the rare case of Garrison Lassiter, who became a walk-on quarterback after spending multiple years in the New York Yankees system.

Prior to withdrawing from Miami, a young hot head by the name of Larry Pfohl was an offensive lineman. You might know him better by his professional wrestling name : Lex Luger. Then there is the most electrifying man in all of entertainment, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who has football, professional wrestling, movie, television, and pop culture cards. As far as I know, his card from the 1994 Miami team set is the most valuable collegiate issued trading card on the market.

Among the ranks of players are those who transferred, like Storm Johnson and future Philadelphia Eagles head coach Rich Kotite, or went on to be graduate students at other universities, like Malcolm Bunche of UCLA. I even showcase the "bad seeds" of the program that were dismissed, like Kevin Olsen and Miguel Robede. Some unique additions are cards issued by other universities of players that ended up transferring to the Miami program, like Wisconsin's David Gilbert.

I've also picked up cards of former Miami players who found their calling on the sidelines with other universities, like Mike Archer of LSU. Before becoming a Hall of Fame coach for the Washington Huskies, the legendary Don James was a gunslinger for the Canes.

A backup to Jim Kelly, who never really got to show his talent on the field for obvious reasons, asked Kelly if he could also perform with him at the UM Pro Day for NFL scouts. Though he went undrafted, his pro day was solid enough to get him rookie free agent offers. As (bad) luck would have it, the day he arrived in his new home of Denver may be the most important day in Broncos history : John Elway's trade from the Colts was announced. He then found his way to the Dolphins...getting stuck behind some kid named Dan Marino. After three stints of backing up future Hall of Famers, he eventually found his calling as a head coach, winning numerous accolades including two SEC Coach of the Year awards. Just who was that kid? Mark Richt, 15 year head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs. After a long hunt, I managed to land one of his team issued cards from the University of Georgia.

I also include the coaches and staff of the Miami team. Though they don't put on a helmet and may have played for other schools, they often have as great a hand as any in the success of the UM program and development of its players. There are the iconic Canes coaches like Howard Schnellenberger and Jimmy Johnson, as well as former staff members like Hank Stram and Dave Wannstedt. It has been fun chasing down some of these staf members who only have cards issued through their school during their playing days, like Jethro Franklin's 1987 Fresno State card sponsored by Burger King. My oldest football card is of former positions coach Perry Moss, his 1948 Leaf rookie card.

I thank you for taking the time to read my lengthy article and ramblings, or just for looking at the pictures if you're not in the mood for a novel. One of the most enjoyable thing about this hobby for me is when I get to share and discuss it with others. Without further adieu, a photo gallery showcasing each of the 400 Canes in my collection.

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