Dave Foley

Sent: 11/9/11
Received: 11/18/11
Time: 9 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1973 Topps, 1974 Topps, 1975 Topps, 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites
Item Received: 1973 Topps, 1974 Topps, 1975 Topps, 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites.  All signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
Both "Electric Company" tackles in one day!  Dave Foley was the left tackle on the Bills' famed offensive line for six seasons.  During that time, O.J. Simpson broke the single-season rushing record and the Bills had their first run-in with success since the AFL-NFL merger.  Foley was named to the AFC Pro Bowl squad in 1974.

Mike Montler

Sent: 11/9/11
Received: 11/17/11
Time: 8 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1976 Topps, 1977 Topps, 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites
Item Received: 1976 Topps, 1977 Topps, 2005 Topps All-Time Fan Favorites.  All signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
The Buffalo Bills acquired Montler from the Patriots in 1973 and installed him as their center.  That season, O.J. Simpson became the first running back in league history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.  Obviously his stellar line needed a nickname, thus "The Electric Company" was born.  Montler centered the group for three more seasons before moving on to Denver.

Ken Baumgartner

Sent: 11/7/11
Received: 11/15/11
Time: 8 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1991-92 Score Canadian, 1992-93 Ultra
Item Received: 1991-92 Score Canadian, 1992-93 Ultra.  Both signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
Appropriately nicknamed, "Bomber" was an enforcer through and through.  Over 12 NHL seasons he totaled over 2,200 penalty minutes and only 54 points.  Like a lot of other hockey tough guys, he's actually a very smart guy: following his playing career he obtained an MBA from Harvard.

Alfred Anderson

Sent: 11/3/11
Received: 11/12/11
Time: 9 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1985 Topps, 1985 Vikings Police, 1989 Topps, 1990 Pro Set
Item Received: 1985 Topps, 1985 Vikings Police, 1989 Topps, 1990 Pro Set.  All signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Possibly the only bright spot during the Vikings dismal "Les Steckel season" of 1984 (when they finished with their worst-ever record at 3-13) was the play of rookie third-round draft pick Alfred Anderson.  Although he was probably miscast as a featured running back, he did rush for a team-leading 773 yards.  It was a career high by a long shot.  Big Alfred did play eight years in the NFL, all with the Purple, and handled every role you could ask from a running back: featured tailback, third-down back, blocking back, kick returner.  Quite simply, he was an everyman.  He was one of the key character figures on the teams I grew up with, and always one of my favorites.  Thanks, Alfred!

Paul Gruber

Sent: 10/25/11
Received: 11/12/11
Time: 18 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1989 Score, 1989 Topps, 1990 Pro Set, 1991 Topps
Item Received: 1989 Score, 1989 Topps, 1990 Pro Set, 1991 Topps.  All signed in blue Sharpie.

Notes:
How's this for strange?  I had not sent a request to a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers star until October 25, when I sent to both Paul Gruber and Mark Carrier.  Letters went out on the same day, autographs came back on the same day.  As for Gruber, he was an outstanding and incredibly underrated left tackle.  He came into the league out of the University of Wisconsin and paid his dues on some truly awful late '80s/early '90s Bucs teams.  He was one constant in the Bucs lineup as they transitioned from perennial losers to contenders.  He retired in 1999, after twelve seasons in the league, just a few years before Tampa reached (and won) their first Super Bowl.  And, he is quite possibly the best player of his era to never make a Pro Bowl.

Mark Carrier

Sent: 10/25/11
Received: 11/12/11
Time: 18 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1989 Pro Set, 1989 Score, 1989 Topps, 1990 Pro Set
Item Received: 1989 Score, 1989 Topps, 1990 Pro Set.  All signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Mark Carrier (not to be confused with the Chicago Bears safety of the same name) had an incredible All-Pro caliber breakthrough season in 1989: 86 receptions for 1,422 yard and nine touchdowns.  He looked every bit like the next great NFL wide receiver.  He would never come close to those numbers again during his 12 year career.  Some of that, in his defense, can be attributed to a poor group of quarterbacks.  The only other season in which he would surpass the 1,000 yard plateau was in 1995, when he would amass 1,002 yards for the expansion Carolina Panthers.

Jim Hough

Sent: 11/7/11
Received: 11/10/11
Time: 3 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1983 Vikings Police
Item Received: 1983 Vikings Police, signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Hough was a mainstay on the Vikings offensive line from the late '70s to the mid '80s.  He was versatile enough to play everywhere on the line, but had his most success as a guard.  Outside of the football card explosion in the '90s, linemen have always been severely under-represented on cardboard, and I believe this 1983 police issue Vikings card to be the only one Hough had.  My favorite aspect of this card: he's blocking the greatest Viking of all, the honorable Alan Page.  So weird to see Page in a Bears uniform.

Nate Odomes

Sent: 9/6/11
Received: 11/10/11
Time: 65 Days
Address: Home
Item Sent: 1990 Pro Set, 1991 Stadium Club, 1991 Topps
Item Received: 1990 Pro Set, 1991 Topps.  Both signed in black Sharpie.

Notes:
Odomes was a dominating cover-corner.  He was the best defensive back on the early '90s Bills dynasty and was perhaps the most underrated cornerback in the league from approximately 1989 to 1993.  After his stint in Buffalo he signed a big free agent deal with the Seattle Seahawks and was immediately hampered by injuries that would prematurely end his career.  For a few years, though, he was one of the great ones.