Former Toros

I know that there are people that collect cards of athletes from their alma mater but I went to an art school so there were no sports teams. I spent my early years in Tucson, home of the University of Arizona, so I have been a Wildcat fan since I was 7 years old. But some collectors, like Defgav, have extended their collection to include their high school too. 

I don’t see this as a regular segment for me, I don’t really want to add any more PCs to my collection until I close some off, but from time to time I will pick up cards from former Mesa Mountain View Toros who went on to successful college / semi-pro /professional careers. I plan on picking up relics and autographs with the occasional RC.

I will begin with John Beck. He went to Mountain View in the late 90s, going 25-2 over his two years as a starter and winning the 5A State Football Championship his senior year. He still holds the Arizona high school record for the best TD-INT ratio, throwing 42 TDs to only 4 INT in a season. After his Mormon mission he went to BYU before being drafted by the Miami Dolphins in the second round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He spent 5 years in the league, and another 2 in the CFL.  

First up is a helmet sticker from 2007 SAGE Aspire School Pride release. The stickers are the ones that were awarded to players for good plays. The sticker on the card is not from his helmet, but an unissued sticker.

The second is from the 2007 Leaf Rookies & Stars release, two bars from his facemask what was used at the 2007 Rookie Premier. This is my third facemask relic, I always thought these were pretty neat so a nice addition to my collection.