Jim Hart was undrafted out of Southern Illinois “The Harvard of the Midwest” but went on to play 19 years at QB in St. Louis and Washington. 

 Leading the “Cardiac Cards” of the 70s, he was a 4X Pro Bowler, NFC Offensive Player of the Year in 1974 and NFL Man of the Year in 1975. 

 When he retired, only Johnny Unitas and Fran Tarkenton had thrown for more yards and he was 10th all-time in touchdown passes.  His 23 career game winning drives is on par with Hall of Famers YA Tittle, Ken Stabler, Dan Fouts and Terry Bradshaw.

 After his playing days he was a successful restaurateur, broadcaster and was Athletic Director at his alma mater, SIU. 

 He was enshrined in the Cardinals Ring of Honor in 2017 

2:47 – “My friend. My mentor. My Quarterback.”
Tom’s boyhood idol (and former boss) Jim Hart joins the final episode of Season 1 to talk about #17, acting in the movie Paper Lion, wearing Billy Kilmer’s #17 in Washington, practicing on Thanksgiving Day and much more.

17:47 – “Let’s start with football in honor of Jim Hart.”
We lead off with football which includes Braylon Edwards, Jake Delhomme and Dave Krieg along with Red Badgo, Charlie Ward, Billy Kilmer and Dandy Don Meredith. Contenders are Jim Hart, Doug Williams and Harold Carmichael.

25:44 – “See if you can figure out which is one of my all-time favorite players.”
Keith Hernandez, Dizzy Dean and Scott Rolen topline the list with nods to Mickey Rivers, Oscar Gamble, Dock Ellis, Mark Grace and others.

33:34 – “Let’s get to basketball.”
Handsome SOB Rick Fox is a sentimental favorite while lesser-known players like Jim Pollard, Don Barksdale and Gene Conley take Honorable Mention. Mullin and Havlicek make strong cases as Contenders.

40:48 – “First Wendel Clark.”
Three hockey guys. Wendel Clark, Rod Brind’Amour and Jarri Kurri. David Pearson also gets a shout out in NASCAR (again).

42:27 – “The great Hollywood icon.”
Our last Screen Stars lines up thusly:

1. Steve Carlson as Steve Hanson in Slap Shot (1977)
2. Alan Alda as George Plimpton in Paper Lion (1968)
3. Jim Hart as Jim Hart in Paper Lion (1968)
4. Charlton Heston as Cat Catlan in Number One (1969)
5. Matt Stone as Doug Remer in BASEketball (1998)
6. Sylvester Stallone (car) as Joe Tanto in Driven (2001)

44:33 – “A freak injury sustained during a coin toss.”
Derrick Rose Award

1. Denny McLain

Hall of Shame

1. Bob Ojeda
2. Turk Edwards
3.  Plaxico "Cheddar Plax" Burress

50:15 – “Why not just totally change our format completely?”
Top current #17’s (now by sport)

1. Football – Philip Rivers
2. Hockey – Ilya Kovalchuk
3. Baseball – Kris Bryant
4. Basketball – Dennie Schroder

53:16 – “Back and to the left.”
The Hall of Fame list for #17:

1. John Havlicek
2. Jarri Kurri
3. Dizzy Dean
4. Chris Mullin
5. Keith Hernandez

Our sincere thanks to everyone who listened and supported season 1. We’ll be back at a time and place of our choosing, but feel free to hit us up on the Interwebs anytime!

Billy “White Shoes” Johnson played 14 NFL seasons with Houston, Atlanta and Washington and 1 year in Canada. A wide receiver and return specialist, his famous “funky chicken” end zone dance made him an all-time favorite. He was also a 3X All-Pro and made the Pro Bowl 3X including winning the MVP of the game in 1975. He’s also a member of the College Football HOF and the NFL’s All-Decade teams of the 70s & 80s. He’s also on the NFL’s 75th & 100th Anniversary All-Time teams and is the only member of the 75th Anniversary team not (yet) in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

3:12 – “Wow. I was glad it did.”
Billy “White Shoes” Johnson talks about #84 as well as his college number (#46), #81 with the Falcons and his love for #24 which he wore in Canada. And there’s more. Much, much more.

14:33 – “Let’s dive into number 84.”
Tom starts with the hockey list which consists of Guillaume Latendresse and Mikhail Grabovski. That’s it.  That’s the list! Rudy then hops in the Ron Baker and Chris Webber in basketball and we round it out (literally) with Prince Fielder and JT Snow.

19:32 – “Let’s get going with Bob Trumpy.”
The football list for #84 is loaded with talent. Bob Trumpy, Webster Slaughter, TJ Houshmandzadeh (shout out to Michael Hoomanawanui), Jerry Robinson, Javon Walker, Jack Snow, Gene Washington, Brent Jones, Jay Novacek, Joey Galloway, Antonio Brown, Roddy White, Herman Moore, Billy “White Shoes” Johnson (again), Gary Clark (and Gary Clark, Jr.), Randy Moss and Shannon Sharpe.

31:39 – “One is the aforementioned Jack Snow .”
Screen Stars for #84:

1. Mike Lookinland as Bobby Brady in The Brady Bunch (1 episode in 1973)
2. Jack Snow as Cassidy in Heaven Can Wait (1978) 

32:56 – “Let’s do the Derrick Rose Award first.”
Derrick Rose Award for #84:

1. Darryl Stingley
2. Sterling Sharpe

Hall of Shame for #84:

1. Zeke Mowatt

36:20 – “Anybody who went to Harvard and is in the NFL . .  .”
Heat Check list for #84:

1. Jack Doyle 
2. Cordarrelle Patterson 
3. Irv Smith Jr. 
4.  John Curtiss 
5. Cameron Brate 

39:10 – “Let’s go to the Hall of Fame.”
Hall of Famers for #84:

1. Randy Moss
2. Shannon Sharpe
3. Sterling Sharpe
4. Gary Clark
5. Billy "White Shoes" Johnson

Thanks to David Fletcher from the Texas Bowl for helping us to get Billy “White Shoes” Johnson on the pod. Check out the Texas Bowl HERE.

Sports memorabilia guru and all-around good dude Tracy Hackler of Panini America joins the fun to talk about the explosion in popularity of sports trading cards and memorabilia, the effect of uniform numbers on card value, cutting up a perfectly good rare Babe Ruth jersey and watching Ryan Leaf's NFL career implode before it began.

Our Guest
Tracy Hackler has spent the majority of his career talking about sports trading cards. You know those 2 ½ x 3 ½ pieces of cardboard gold that many of us collected as kids. So yes, he’s got a better job than you do. For more than a decade now Tracy has been running point on all communications and marketing for Panini America, the collectibles giant based in Dallas-Fort Worth. Panini produces official trading cards for the NFL, NBA, college football and NASCAR as well as baseball and World Cup soccer cards. Over the past couple of years – and especially the past few months – Panini and the entire sports collectibles category has enjoyed a revival of sorts. Sports cards are super cool again and innovators like Tracy continue to push the envelope to make guys like us want to dig into our savings accounts to buy the next ultra-limited edition titanium-infused autograph jersey card of Zion Williamson.

3:35 – “I can retire now.”
Sports memorabilia guru, and all-around great guy Tracy Hackler chops it up with Rudy and Tom. Rudy also takes a victory lap over his first-ever brilliant guest introduction.

4:39 – “It’s been a pretty surreal six months.”
Tracy talks about the resurgence in popularity of sports trading cards and memorabilia.

5:50 – “Anaheim ’91 was kinda the Catalina Wine Mixer for card people.”
The National as it’s known is THE event if you’re a collector. We’re dropping knowledge all over the place in this podcast!

6:55 – “From the late 90s to 2010 . . .”
The proliferation of products and innovations beyond just cards has moved the entire industry forward. Jerseys, bats, cleats, socks . . . Panini destroys it all and puts it in your hands.

8:40 – “The more peculiar the item . . .”
Tracy discusses NASCAR tires and other hand-made items that have become cards and collectibles.

9:28 – “I really don’t die inside.”
Tracy explains how players have become savvy to the value of their jerseys and memorabilia in general. He also relays the story of cutting up one of three known Babe Ruth jerseys which means he’s certainly going to be haunted by The Babe either now or in the future.

11:20 – “How do they matter?”
Rudy asks about jersey numbers and cards and how the two intersect. For example, a John Elway card that is #7 of 50 in existence commands a premium price. Again, the more you know.

12:56 – “An education at a small liberal arts institution in the northeast.”
The value of cards and memorabilia has exploded with collectors and even investors getting into the act.

14:43 – “That is a great question and I’m glad you asked that.”
Naturally a great question to Tracy about how a change of uniform number or a change of teams/uniforms affects both the sentimental and monetary value of cards and memorabilia for collectors.

16:12 – “The NBA has always been really forward thinking.”
Tracy discusses the NBA’s approach to appealing to an international audience and the effect of increased education from Players Associations.

18:24 – “Tracy was at the crossroads of greatness and not greatness.”
It is revealed that Tracy was the unnamed friend who had a front row seat to watch Ryan Leaf’s NFL career implode before it ever began at the Quarterback Challenge in 1998.

Thanks to Tracy Hackler. Check him out on the Interwebs at https://www.paniniamerica.net