A Couple Of Seattle Guys Late In Their Careers

It is a beautiful time of year, the heat is finally dying down and the days are cooler. Both baseball and football are in season and basketball is not far away. I have not made it a secret of my love for Seattle, I spent half of my life there and will be a die-hard Seattle fan until the day that I die and have often talked about my beloved Sea-town teams.

How about some old guys who looked to extend their career another season in Seattle? A couple of cards of one of the greatest base stealers ever,  Rickey Henderson. Henderson played 92 games in Seattle in 2000 and then went on to play for the Padres, Mets and Dodgers over the next three seasons before calling it a career.

 

Another guy who made it up the coast from the Bay Area who would put in a season in Seattle, Jerry Rice. He played 11 games for the Seahawks in 2004 and did nicely for a receiver on 42-year old legs catching 25 passes for 362-yards and three TDs. After finishing up in Seattle he signed a one-year contract with Denver but decided to retire before the ink even dried. The 2005 Upper Deck NFL Legends card lists him as a Bronco even though he never played in a regular season game for them. In 2005 Upper Deck released at least two relic cards that I know of which show Rice in a Seahawks uniform, lists him as a Bronco and include a jersey relic from one of his Raiders jerseys. I don't have either of them but they are on my Grey Whale Want List.

 

 

Only A Card A Jerry Rice Collector Could Love

The legacy of Jerry Rice is a mile long, he holds over a dozen records including most games by a position player (303 games), most receiving yards (22,895) and most TD receptions (197), he is a three-time Super Bowl Champion (including one Super Bowl MVP Award) and he is well respected by players and fans alike.

 

After he left the 49ers following the 2000 season to the Raiders he seemed to have a resurgence, even returning to the Super Bowl with the Raiders. He spent 3 productive seasons in Oakland before growing disgruntle and requested a trade. Six games in to the 2004 season he was granted that trade and he headed to Seattle for the final 11 games of his career. After the 2004 season he signed a one-year deal with Denver but decided to retire instead, signing a one-day contract with the 49ers so he could retire properly.

 

Because his time with the Seahawks was limited to only 11 games in 2004 I am pretty restricted on which Rice cards I want to add to my Seahawks personal collection. I came across this card, which I had seen before but paid no attention to it, which depicts him in his Seahawks uniform, lists him with the Broncos (including the Broncos logo on the back) and includes a relic from his Raiders days. I am not sure, but this seems to be a fail by Upper Deck. Outside of a Jerry Rice super collector I don’t see people clamoring for this card because it doesn’t put him all with one team, the Seahawks, Broncos and Raiders are all represented here and most team collectors would bypass the card because of that, including me.

 

What is your take on a card like this?