The annual NFL PLAYERS Rookie Premiere is nothing less than one of the most pivotal events on the trading card calendar every year — and the 2012 edition is upon us.
The annual NFL PLAYERS Rookie Premiere is nothing less than one of the most pivotal events on the trading card calendar every year — and the 2012 edition is upon us.
A dedicated Panini America team will depart for Los Angeles tomorrow morning for four full days dedicated to capturing the essential content — photographs, autographs, memorabilia, interviews, videos and lasting memories — that will drive its NFL trading card sets all year long.
Stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance, and Panini America’s Facebook and Twitter feeds this week for complete updates and behind-the-scenes access to the 2012 NFL PLAYERS Rookie Premiere that you simply just won’t get anywhere else.
For Panini America, the event begins in earnest Wednesday at the host hotel, where company officials will begin capturing autographs from 35 of the most promising rookies in the NFL. That process will continue through Friday.
All of that then paves the way for Saturday’s marquee event — the lights, cameras and action of the actual photo shoot inside the historic Rose Bowl. We’ll chronicle every Panini America step during the all-day affair scheduled to include:
Player | NFL Team | College | Pos. | RD | Pick |
Andrew Luck | Colts | Stanford | QB | 1 | 1 |
Robert Griffin III | Redskins | Baylor | QB | 1 | 2 |
Trent Richardson | Browns | Alabama | RB | 1 | 3 |
Justin Blackmon | Jaguars | Oklahoma State | WR | 1 | 5 |
Ryan Tannehill | Dolphins | Texas A&M | QB | 1 | 8 |
Michael Floyd | Cardinals | Notre Dame | WR | 1 | 13 |
Kendall Wright | Titans | Baylor | WR | 1 | 20 |
Brandon Weeden | Browns | Oklahoma State | QB | 1 | 22 |
A.J. Jenkins | 49ers | Illinois | WR | 1 | 30 |
Doug Martin | Bucs | Boise State | RB | 1 | 31 |
David Wilson | Giants | Virginia Tech | RB | 1 | 32 |
Brian Quick | Rams | Appalachian State | WR | 2 | 33 |
Coby Fleener | Colts | Stanford | TE | 2 | 34 |
Stephen Hill | Jets | Georgia Tech | WR | 2 | 43 |
Alshon Jeffery | Bears | South Carolina | WR | 2 | 45 |
Isaiah Pead | Rams | Cincinnati | RB | 2 | 50 |
Ryan Broyles | Lions | Oklahoma | WR | 2 | 54 |
Brock Osweiler | Broncos | Arizona State | QB | 2 | 57 |
LaMichael James | 49ers | Oregon | RB | 2 | 61 |
Rueben Randle | Giants | LSU | WR | 2 | 63 |
Dwayne Allen | Colts | Clemson | TE | 3 | 64 |
Ronnie Hillman | Broncos | San Diego State | RB | 3 | 67 |
DeVier Posey | Texans | Ohio State | WR | 3 | 68 |
T.J. Graham | Bills | NC State | WR | 3 | 69 |
Russell Wilson | Seahawks | Wisconsin | QB | 3 | 75 |
Michael Egnew | Dolphins | Missouri | TE | 3 | 78 |
Mohamed Sanu | Bengals | Rutgers | WR | 3 | 83 |
Bernard Pierce | Ravens | Temple | RB | 3 | 84 |
Nick Foles | Eagles | Arizona | QB | 3 | 88 |
T.Y. Hilton | Colts | Florida Int. | WR | 3 | 92 |
Chris Givens | Rams | Wake Forest | RB | 4 | 96 |
Lamar Miller | Dolphins | Miami (Fla.) | RB | 4 | 97 |
Joe Adams | Panthers | Arkansas | WR | 4 | 104 |
Robert Turbin | Seahawks | Utah State | RB | 4 | 106 |
Jarius Wright | Vikings | Arkansas | WR | 4 | 118 |
Nick Toon | Saints | Wisconsin | WR | 4 | 122 |
Stay tuned after the video for a small gallery showcasing just some of the Panini America cards your favorite rookies will be signing this weekend.Late last week, Panini America spent a few quality minutes with Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2012 NFL Draft, as something of an NFL PLAYERS Rookie Premiere preview. In this brief but revealing chat, Griffin addresses his hobbies, his first love (here’s a hint, it’s not football) and at least one thing he’ll do this weekend at the Premiere.
Now, the gallery . . .
Looks like an excellent collection of this year’s best offensive prospects, can’t wait to see the results!
sure hope you get them all to sign!!
Not one defensive player! Someone better tell the big guys at Panini that football fans dont only like offense! Alot of fans love defense, To be honest with you look at all the talent comes out of Defense. Not impressed with this class at all! No one will live up to Cam or even Andy Dalton or Mr Green, oh well always next yr. But please start doing defense stuff, this is painful to see!!!!!
Appreciate the feedback, Jon. This list is not a Panini-exclusive list. It is selected with input from us, our competitor and, ultimately, NFL PLAYERS.
Good to know. Morris Claiborne would have been a good fit. Top CB + America’s Team would have definitely create a lo to demand.
Great looking cards and awesome video as well! Must be such an awesome experience to go to. Meeting all of the upcoming stars..especially Griffin and Luck…and Giants players of course…but must be tons of fun for shoots, autos and everything else a hobbyist loves.
Whoever redesigned Prestige this year deserves a raise in the graphic design department. Much cleaner, nicer looking in my opinion. Great to see the previews! Good luck this weekend.
Appreciate the kind words, man. I’ll pass them along to the design group.
No Cowboys, Packers, Bears, Falcons, Patriots, Chargers, Steelers, Raiders, or Chiefs. These are some of the most popular teams in the league. This really hurts the group break community to have so many teams without a single Rookie Premiere representative. I am not sure that we need 2 Colts TEs instead of a player like Morris Claiborne. I know it is a joint venture, but spreading the wealth should be in everyone’s best interest.
I see Alshon Jefferey is attending now, so there is a Bear despite previous reports that he would not attend.
The Colts have been under-represented for years with 1 player at most at the Rookie Premiere. Nice to see them getting 4 this year. Both tight ends are rated near the top at the tight end position so if makes perfect sense to have both included.
I do not agree that it makes perfect sense to have 4 of one team at the expense of 3 other teams. Having only one representative at the Premiere is not under-represented. I would promote the idea that every team should have at least one player attend unless the entire draft consisted of OL, kickers, and punters. Then add extra slots for remaining elite players. Role players in a 2 TE set probably would not make the cut in that scenario,
I have to agree no cowboys whats up with that the true fans are speaking out lets go panini lets get a cowboy morris clairborne in there for real and get them to sign autos (NO MORE REDEMPTIONS).
Great video and great gallery! To everybody that is worried about certain players or teams not being represented at the Rookie Premiere, dont worry because im pretty sure that Panini will get there autographs in upcoming products, they always do. Cant wait to see some pics and updates this weekend! Prestige looks great by the way!
Players not at the Premiere get 100% sticker autos and zero relics in all products. That is why people are worried.
Great Job Tracy. You guys have fun out there! Wish I was there, with all of you!
Pretty disappointed no Chiefs. Panini Prestige was going to be my first case buy and now I don’t even get a premiere rookie to look forward to. I suppose lineman don’t look pretty enough, but no love for 4th Rounder Wylie? One of the fastest players at the combine AND he will likely get a good amount of playing time. Taken before Jarius Wright and Nick Toon as well. Sad sad day.
Tracy,
Will you be getting signed draft hats this year by Tannehill, Miller, and Egnew from the Dolphins? I cannot wait to hear how I can get my hands on one of those draft hats.
Keep up the great work.
Thanks,
T
Love the improvements to prestige, even if I’m not a fan of photoshopped photos.
awesome! when will we see previews for absolute?
Would be cool to see some defensive players on the list and at least one player from each team so we could have patch and auto cards from each team. Team collectors would appreciate that. Just a thought.
Also, will you be photoshopping or using training camp photos for the top defensive players and o-lineman early season rookie cards? Those look a lot better than using the combine pictures in their Under Armour gear. I actually avoided a lot of products and certain single cards because of that last year.
Appreciate the feedback. We will be using minicamp shots for most of the non-Rookie Premiere players in our early sets.
Good to hear. Less photoshop = nicer cards… although your guys do a much better job than Topps’s.
Thank you for not inviting any offensive linemen but why not any defensive players? There were some really good DBs this year (Kirkpatrick, Claireborn, and Gilmore). That’s disappointing.