Titus Young's Hall Of Fame Career Will Have To Wait

Sometimes I will look to past posts and see if there is a follow up that I can do to update a situation and sometimes a face from the past forces their way back in to the headlines which just shouts at me to do a follow up.

This time it is Titus Young, the troubled former Detroit Lions wide receiver, who has spent more time in jail than in the NFL. Here is the <LINK> to one of my former posts covering Young’s 26 game career with the Lions.

In 2013 he was arrested three times in a one week period (twice in 15 hours) with charges of DUI, Breaking and Entering, Burglary, Resisting Arrest and Assaulting a Police Officer. He was later arrested after a bench warrant was issued in late 2013 after he failed to appear on the burglary charges. In July 2014 he was arrested on five counts of Assault and Battery and eventually was sentenced to one year at an inpatient treatment rehabilitation center beginning in May 2015 plus five years probation. He left the rehabilitation center after six months and then immediately decided to attack his neighbor with a deadly weapon.

The legal system has finally had enough of Titus Young’s antics and this morning sentenced him to 4 years in prison.

He once claimed he was a Hall of Famer and better than every player on the Detroit Lions team but it can now be said that unless he goes to prison at Citrus State Prison (The Longest Yard reference) he is done with his football career.

His father continues to claim that all his problems are directly connected to a mystery concussion (or series of concussions depending on when he talks about it) that was never diagnosed by a team doctor or independent doctor saying that his son’s brain is compressed to the front of his skull. I say to his father quit blaming Titus’ horrendous criminal decisions on everyone else and focus on the one consistent variable, your son.   

I do not own the card at the top of this post, I pulled it from eBay and I feel bad for the seller who has it posted at $149.99 BIN price.

Rex Chapman, Not Apple Store Friendly

In local news former Phoenix Suns player Rex Chapman was sentenced to probation, 750 community service hours and $15,128.30 plus an additional $10,000 in restitution following his trial today were he pleaded guilty to four felony charges of shoplifting from a local Apple Store.

He was accused of stealing $14,000 worth of Apple products from the Scottsdale Apple Store over a period of 7 thefts, he would use the store’s “Self-checkout” and would leave without paying and he would then sell the items for cash at a pawn shop. In an interview with Sports Illustrated he claims he does not remember doing it because he is addicted to pain killers.

I felt it is appropriate to skip the jail jumpsuit relic and go with a piece of evidence. Damn Chappy, drugs sure can be a bitch.

Return Of The Jailbird Relics

Titus Young, the newest inductee in to my Jailbirds relic card series. He now sits among giants of the sports criminal world like Gilbert Arenas and Lawrence Taylor.

Question, do you prefer the old design that I used with Agent 0 and LT (and below) or do you like the new Jailbirds design that I used above? I lost my original design template when my computer crashed so I figured I would play with the layout when I made a card for Young.

Well, That Did Not Take Long

In case you missed it, Titus Young was arrested again this weekend. For anyone keeping track this would be Young’s third arrest in one week. This time around he was caught breaking in to a home in San Clemente, California. When the Orange County deputies arrived on the scene he ran and when they caught him he fought back. He has been charged with burglary, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer.

The other day when I posted about his DUI and breaking in to the impound yard I asked if there was any chance he would get another shot in the NFL, I think this post I can almost certainty say “No” unless the Raiders want to give him a chance.


I think I may need to revive my Jail Birds relic card design soon.

Next Up Lawrence Taylor

When an athlete makes poor decisions does it affect their collectability? There are certain cases where the extreme action, such as OJ Simpson being accused of murder, will usually deter collectors, but in cases such as Ben Roethlisberger being twice accused of rape or Michael Vick doing time for his connection with dog fighting do we see a drop in collectability over the life of the player’s career and afterwards?

The most recent case is Lawrence Taylor, who today agreed to plead guilty to two misdemeanors of improper sexual conduct involving a minor. If you do not know the case, he had sex with a 16-year old prostitute and was arrested last May. By pleading guilty to the lesser charges he is expected to be sentenced to 6-years’ probation, he will need to register as a sex-offender and he will be fined $2,000.

Only a handful of cards have been put up for action since the latest news but there is still over 900 LT cards up for sale. Most cards from his playing days are in the $1-2 range with relics and autograph cards starting around $5 each. Will he be stigmatized by his actions or will fans stand up and support the Hall of Famer?

Is This Card On The Horizon?

In the last year we have seen Topps release some very questionable relic cards. In January this year they admitted that some of the more prominent cards in the 2009 Topps Tribute Baseball set actually contained wood from stadium seats and not bats as originally believed. This included the Babe Ruth Dual and Triple relics, Ty Cobb Dual relic and both the Jackie Robinson and Mickey Mantle Triple relic cards. Most recently there have been questions regarding Topps 206 Mickey Mantle “Warm-up Jacket” relic cards. I am not positive but I am pretty sure that Mickey never wore a warm-up jacket with pink or teal on it.

I suggest that Topps takes a look at relics that will not be in short supply any time soon. How about a relic insert based on jail garb? Every month it seems like another athlete shows up in another mug shot, so lets take these lemons and make lemonade.

Please note that I am making this post in jest, I really hope that none of the card companies become so desperate as to actually consider this avenue. But, with that being said I introduce my newest custom card set, the Jailbirds relic set. Each custom card will include actual jail-worn garb (Just so everyone knows these cards are just digital mock-ups and will not actually be printed plus I wouldn't even know where to go to get the jail gear.).

Watch for your favorite parolee to make their appearance in this promising new insert set. First up is one of my favorite jail birds, and University of Arizona product, Gilbert Arenas in his Washington DC Department of Corrections gear.