Top 10 football

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 My lists of my favorite ten autographs I own in each sport continues with football. If you missed the first one in this series, which featured soccer, please make sure to click here. This list will likely be the second toughest one for me to formulate after baseball, as I have a lot of Hall of Famers in both sports so there will be some tough cuts. When compiling my list, I had to do a lot of juggling but I realized part way through that it was probably going to be extremely quarterback heavy. 

A reminder; My list factors in different aspects of how I obtained said item. Anything signed by the athlete in front of me because I got to meet them will likely rank higher than something I purchased for myself. A rookie card would likely rank higher. How hard it is to obtain a specific player's autograph will also factor into the equation as will that athlete's excellence level. The higher esteem they are held within their sport, the higher the player will likely be on my list. 

10. Emmitt Smith rookie Card



This Emmitt Smith makes my list because not only he is one of the greatest running backs of all time, but I got to meet him in Las Vegas and have my rookie card I owned since I was about eight years old signed by him in person. 

9. Dan Marino card


Marino makes the list because of who he is and by the sheer fact he is one of the all-time great quarterbacks. This is also a numbered Prizm auto which tends to be a coveted item but since I did not obtain it in person, it can't rank higher.

8. Joe Montana card


See the exact same reason Marino is on the list above, except in this case Joe Montana is considered one of the top two or three QBs ever so he has to rank above Marino. 

7. Drew Brees card


There is a story behind this one, as I obtained it in person at the celebrity golf tournament locally here in San Diego. I got to talk to Drew when he still played for the Chargers for about 15 minutes as these events were always sparsely attended back in those days. The provenance behind this one pushes this card higher than the two arguably better QBs above that ranked lower on my list.

6. Justin Herbert photo and rookie card



The Chargers are my favorite team and Herbert is my current favorite player in the league so of course he's on the list. Both the photo and card were sent into a private signing he did shortly after his rookie season, so when I asked for the inscription on the photo I did so without knowing he was for sure going to be the 2020 rookie of the year because it had not been announced yet. 

5. Bill Belichick photos


The story behind these is what makes them so cool. Essentially, for my father in law's birthday, I wrote a letter to Bill asking if he could sign these photos (one for my father-in-law and one for me) since my father-in-law is a huge Patriots fan. These photos are what I sent and were returned to me with. 

4. Barry Sanders rookie card


Anyone that grew up watching football that is around my age loved Barry Sanders. I compare him to Ken Griffey Jr., during the same era. Must watch TV and arguably the best running back of all time. I sent this card into a private signing and it's a rookie card. It was always going to rank high. 

3. Peyton Manning Card


Probably my best through the mail autograph to date, since while Manning used to sign for people through the mail, it was sporadic and it was just luck of the draw that mine was one of those he ended up signing and sending back. I attempted to get his autograph twice and on the second time struck paydirt. 

2. LaDainian Tomlinson jersey



I got this at a public signing LT did down here in San Diego years and years ago and I believe it was the season after he won NFL MVP. He and Junior Sear are still my all-time favorite Chargers so meeting him was awesome and getting my LT jersey signed that day is something I'll remember forever. Speaking of Seau...

1. Junior Seau football


This was gifted to me during Christmas when I was just a kid by my late stepdad, and to this day remains one of the two or three coolest gifts I ever remember getting. In some ways, this ball kickstarted my memorabilia collection as it was my first autograph from an NFL player at the time. Having recently lost my stepdad, it's safe to say this ball is going absolutely nowhere and hopefully my kids keep it around when I'm gone. 

Honorable mentions just missing the cut;

Steve Young rookie card
Justin Jefferson rookie card
Terrell Davis photo
Brett Favre rookie card
Roger Staubach card
John Elway card
Jerry Rice card


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