2024 National Free Signer - Randy Grossman

Randy Grossman was another of the free signers at the National this year.  I picked up this 1981 Topps football card at the show.  Since there was so much dark space on the card, I had it signed in gold paint pen.  It turned out great.

Grossman (b. 1952) played professionally from 1974 to 1981 for the Steelers.  He had 119 receptions for 1,514 yards and 5 touchdowns.  He was part of 4 Super Bowl Championship teams (1974, 1975, 1978, 1979).

2022 National Free Signer - Mike Nelms

Now that I am breaking down all of the free signers at this year's National, I've realized that there were a lot of signers.  Usually, I skip the non-baseball guys, but I think this year, I got at least one card signed by all of them except for the football guy at the VIP party (I forgot his name already).

There was a vendor right near the bathrooms at the show who had a display board with cards of most of the free signers for $5.00/card.  Some (most) of those were a gross overpay, but in the end, my time was valuable, and it saved me from spending hours at dime boxes looking for random folks.  So, I purchased a few of the guy's cards, like these of Mike Nelms.  The card above is a 1983 Topps.

I also found his 1981 Topps and a 1990 ProSet.  All of the cards turned out great and are a little something different in my album.

Nelms (b. 1955) played in the NFL from 1980 to 1984 for the Redskins.  He was a 3-time Pro Bowler (1980, 1981 and 1982) and an All Pro in 1983.  He won the Super Bowl with the Redskins in 1983 (1982 season) when the Redskins defeated the Dolphins.