BACKTop NFL Rookies Help Panini America Make a Mark at the 2015 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl
LONG BEACH, Calif. — Tomorrow afternoon inside the StubHub Center in Carson, Calif., some of the nation’s top draft-eligible players will showcase their wares during the 2015 NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. Astute fans and collectors will no doubt be watching to see if they can grab an early glimpse at next season’s top rookies. But it’s this season’s top rookies — including Teddy Bridgewater, Mike Evans, Jordan Matthews, Tre Mason and more — who have spent the days leading up to Saturday’s game making their mark on some of Panini America’s final products of the 2014 NFL trading card season.
For the second straight year, Panini America officials are using the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl as an opportunity to bring special guests from the current rookie crop to serve as game ambassadors — and to sign some of the final trading cards of their rookie seasons. In addition to the aforementioned stars in attendance, Panini America also hosted Jarvis Landry, John Brown, Martavis Bryant, Andre Williams, Allen Hurns, Brandin Cooks, Austin Seferian-Jenkins, Branden Oliver and Bishop Sankey. The result? Only some of the sweetest autographed cards of the entire season.
Products on the to-sign list this week included 2014 Immaculate Football, 2014 Spectra Football and any outstanding redemptions from earlier releases. But it was the many jaw-droppers coming to 2014 Black Gold Football that seemed to resonate most — with the players themselves and with the fans and collectors who got their first glances Wednesday night on the Panini America Twitter and Instagram feeds. You can check out a must-see gallery of some of the week’s highlights in the gallery below.
Today, in between any last-minute signing sessions, be on the lookout for many of the rookies making the TV and radio rounds in support of Panini America and the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl. Stay tuned to The Knight’s Lance for additional coverage. For now, though, simply enjoy the eye candy . . .
