Steeler Signatures

A few days ago I posted some recent auto additions on Returned to Sender, where a glorious $1 bin added some great autographs to my collection.   These autographs make up the black and gold portion of those pickups.  Though these autographs don't have quite the star power of the non-Steelers, I do love me some 90's Steeler autos.

This Carnell Lake auto is undoubtedly the star of the show for me.  Lake was one of my favorite Steelers during the '90's, and I loved his hard hitting play.  I actually already had his auto, but this marks a major upgrade.  My dad and I met Carnell during an autograph day at Steelers training camp in 1996 or 1997.  But at the time I still clung to the belief that signatures "ruined" cards, so instead I have his signature on a blank 3X5 white piece of paper in an autograph book.  Perhaps some day those pieces will get matted as cut signatures with a nice 8x10.  In the mean time, I'm thrilled to add this card.

Eric Green actually barely pre-dates my Steeler fandom.  But I'm not complaining, since he was replaced with first round pick Mark Bruener, and instant favorite since we shared a first name.  I'm not crazy about the card itself, since Green has a relatively small picture in the foreground.  Still, it's a fairly uncommon autograph at a great price.

When I picked this card up, I had a ttm request out to Lloyd that has since come back signed.  It was nice insurance incase my card never found it's way back.  Lloyd was a tough player, and seemed like the heart and soul of the Steelers D throughout much of the 90's.  His career ended fairly unceremoniously, but his bone crunching hits were a ton of fun to watch growing up.

Last but not least is receiver Ernie Mills.  Mills had a nice little run for the team, though perhaps he never quite lived up to what the team had hoped for from their 3rd round pick.  I love Pro Set cards, and though I doubt I'll ever put together the signed team set, it's a nice signed rookie that features Mills in his pro jersey.