What eBay Hath Wrought 14: Quarterbacks of Renown

It's been maybe a month or more since I got these cards, but I added a bunch of cards of various Denver quarterbacks to my collection by way of eBay. Unfortunately, one of them only shows up in the uniform of his previous team. I don't have any Peyton Manning cards with him in his Denver uniform yet.

I showed the actual card a while ago, but first up are a couple of reprints of John Elway's 1984 Rookie card. One is from Topps Archives, and the other is from Topps Chrome.

Up next are a few more cards featuring Elway, including one also showing Tim Tebow, a guy who I'd like to see succeed in the NFL, but I think he is unwilling to accept that he isn't going to make it as a quarterback. He and the Broncos had a great run a couple of years ago, although it was mostly thanks to the defense, but they were exposed by New England in the playoffs. I will still take a Tebow card when I can get it, but I don't expect we will see him much in the NFL unless someone can convince him to forget being a quarterback and try some other position.

I like those old-school uniforms more than the newer ones, but I've pretty much accepted that we won't be seeing them again except in the occasional throwback game. After the Elway and Tebow cards I've got a few of the latest Denver quarterback, Peyton Manning, who tied the NFL record for touchdowns in a game in Week 1 this season against the Ravens and then put the beatdown on his little brother's team in Week 2.

I didn't get any cards of him in his Broncos gear, so I had to settle for a bunch of cards featuring him in the blue and white of Indianapolis. Fortunately, most of the cards feature him in his helmet, so the glare of his massive forehead doesn't blind everyone who looks upon his binder pages.

In all seriousness, though, Peyton Manning seems like the kind of guy you'd want as the leader of your team. He's a class act in public life, he seems able to improve whatever team he's on, and he's always giving out discounts and free Papa John's pizzas, even more than Papa John wants to give away. Oh, and look at that sweet serial-numbered Fleer card! There were only 4131 of those made, so you know it's worth some serious cash.

My main complaint about most of these cards is that the backgrounds all feature something other than a picture of the actual action on the playing field. Don't get me wrong, I like wild foil and background explosions on cards, but it would be nice to see some context or game action. Maybe since these are inserts they are the exception and the base cards have more game action on them.