Feb. 8 Report: Ken Anderson, Billy Sims, Rodney Holman, Tony Mandarich and Eugene Lockhart

Mondays always seem to be pretty good days for me, and this Monday was no exception. Five football successes, including one of the very first I sent out in late 2009 to prep for this project of getting An Autograph A Day in 2010 (365 different through the course of the year).

To my amazement I still have had no success in my baseball attempts, which is 0-for-9 for the record. It's kind of perplexing considering every other category has multiple success -- football, basketball, hockey, Olympians, entertainers, models, etc.

The fun part about this project is there is always tomorrow -- at least through the end of December.

Enough of that, so let's get to the autographs.

Former Bengals quarterback Ken Anderson was one of the first attempts I made for this project, and it was returned today about six weeks later. He played his entire career for the Bengals (1971-1986), where he passed for nearly 33,000 yards, was a four-time Pro Bowl selection and was league MVP in 1981.

My second add today comes from former Oklahoma running back Billy Sims. Sims won the Heisman Trophy in 1978 and was the first overall draft pick in the 1980 NFL Draft. He played brilliantly in '80, '81 and '82, making the Pro Bowl each year. He had a career average of 4.5 yards per carry (5,106 yards on 1,131 rushes) midway through the 1984 season, when he suffered a career-ending knee injury.

Sims was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995.

Rodney Holman was perhaps the best overall tight end in the league for a few years, where he combined brilliant pass-catching abilities with his usual stellar blocking efforts. He made three consecutive Pro Bowls beginning in 1988 and was a part of the Bengals' AFC Championship team that played in Super Bowl XXIII.

IN his 14-year career, Holman amassed 365 receptions, good for 4,771 yards and 36 TDs. Those numbers are still some of the best in Bengals history.

Eugene Lockhart was one of the few points of hope on some very bad Dallas Cowboys teams in the late 1980s.

In 1989, when the club went 1-15, Lockhart led the NFL and set a Cowboys record with 222 tackles. He added a pair of picks and set a franchise mark with 154 solo tackles. He was named to the Pro Bowl for his efforts.

Coincidentally, Lockhart replaced Bob Breunig (whose autograph I got on Jan. 19) at middle linebacker after Breunig hurt his back partway through the 1984 season and ultimately retired in 1985.

The final autograph of the day comes from one of the biggest busts in NFL draft history, but a man who has found another discipline in life in which he is very good.

Tony Mandarich was perhaps the most-hyped offensive lineman in NFL history coming out of Michigan State. He was drafted second overall in the 1989 NFL Draft -- ahead of Barry Sanders and Derrick Thomas.

Needless to say, he bombed in the NFL but has become a very talented photographer. I'm a semi-pro photographer, so I can certainly appreciate the efforts that go into some of Tony's work. Some really striking images if you take the time to look through his work.


Day of the Year: 39
Number of Autographs This Year: 72