[estuaryman]

Interesting comment about Vick. I'm more of a team collector, so if a player signed who I couldn't stand, I would still root for my team, and tolerate, but not collect that player.

You wonder just how many copies of Vicks book will be bought in September.

[nthnoak]

Surprising a lot of that stuff doesnt effect my collecting. But I also pretty much only collect 49ers and a few other players and none of them are ever in the news for things except T.O. But he hasnt ever really done anything bad. People just dont like him because they say he ruins teams and likes to talk trash. However if it was personal to me, then it would. I honestly was nervous about this when I meat Frank Gore. I didnt think he would be rude to me (which he wasnt), but I just really hoped that he woudnt be because I had so much of his stuff and loved the guy so what would I do with it all if I had a bad experience with him? So what they do in their life doesnt effect my collecting, unless it happens to me directly.

[lambeau legend4]

It definatley would affect my collecting....
I guess there would be a line. If the guy acts like a dink, I can get past that. Criminal activity? Certainly depends on what. Assult or rape and Im selling my collection....

I completely agree. The only other thing I would add, is, is the player a proven player in the NFL or is he a rookie/young star?

For example... with my Favre pc, yes, Favre has done some questionable things (the pain killers - that one is a bit understandable though - and this thing with the "private" texts). Although, as a life long Favre fanatic, I can look past those incidents. Now when a rookie or young star does stupid stuff (assaulting their mama -who does that?? IDIOT!! - getting arressted, DWI, DUI...) That jus seems like a BAD omen for that player and in most cases, lead to further problems...which is the main reason why I dont collect rookies anymore. I like to collect HOFers & future HOFers. I dont collect for investment, but I DO like to know that if & when I want/need to sell something, the value will still be there. Thats ALMOST a guarantee with HOFers & FHOFers. Not so much with the rooks & young guns. But, to each their own. Jus my opinion tho.

[jonathani]

I tend to notice the positives more, myself, and this can make collecting easy. I appreciate many of the things Ryan Dempster has done for his community, so I started looking for his cards. There are a lot, and they are not very expensive. Is he a good player? Look at his ERA. Would I have collected him if he was not such a nice guy? I do not know, but the fact that he is philanthropic put him on my radar.

JonathanI

[mcleodfive]

I honestly collect a lot of the ones that have done questionable things. Blackmon, leshoure, Freeman and Mallett being the main of them. All 4 have all the physical attributes to ask for as players. They determine how good they want to be, because no one is going to be able to stop them. Blackmon said he will not do it again and that he has learned from it. If he says that and stays true to it he has a great future ahead of him, and his stuff shoots through the roof. They never proved Mallett with marijuana, but that is what dropped his stock in the draft is he supposedely did it. Leshoure got caught up with the wrong people in college and he says he is trying to break free of being with them. And for freeman he is partying to much. He's a 23 or 24 year old kid. Almost everyone did at those ages. These things drive the prices down on them, and as they get a little older they will hopefully mature a little. If they do the cards you where paying $5-$25 are now going $40 $50 +. It's really a low risk high reward IMO. It's the guys like griffin and luck I tend to steer away from lol. Great guys and great potential. But it is a high risk from the beginning at their pricing and little reward.

[rogue655]

Great responses so far. i'd love to hear more real examples.

A couple more questions:

Has the recent Black mailing of RGIII made anyone steer clear? Obviously he's done something pretty major for it to become such a big deal. Even without knowing what it is, does that change your opinion of him?

Cam Newton was arrested for theft and kicked out of Florida after being suspected of cheating. Add the Pay-to-Play fiasco to that and I think you have the perfect storm of reasons not to pick anything up... Yet, he sells better than almost any other player out right now. Does his rookie year performance really outweigh his history of poor decision making? Or does the hype make people forget about that?

Last question, Would you collect a player who is a total ***** but hasnt been in trouble with the law?

[Vols-1]

Maybe Albert Pujols cards are worth a lot more because he is an Angel!

[jmessick86]

Well Percy Harvin being a baby about getting a contract extension in Minnesota has steered me away from collecting him as much. He was a Gator and never seemed to really be in trouble there, but apparently all of it was covered up while he was there. Supposedly he was a problem the whole time he was there. A player's personality also steers me away from collecting them. I've never really liked Flacco or Cam Newton, but they come across as arrogant and cocly to me instead of confident (I know someone will disagree with this, but we all have our opinions). As for two people that people may question that I collect on the side: Michael Vick and Matt Forte. First Vick, I loved watching him in college he was AMAZING. Then the dog thing happened. Honestly I think he's made all the right moves (hooking up with Tony Dungy was his best move ever) and has become a good example for the younger players around him. As for Matt Forte, besides his amazing ability on the field, I don't feel like he was being selfish with the whole contract thing. He just wanted to be recognized as a top 10 back with his contract and really a RB's first deal after his rookie contract is when he makes the most money. He was going to holdout, but that's the way the NFL has worked for so long. I just think he handled the situation very well. Unlike Darrelle Revis and Chris Johnson, I like watching them play, but I think it's rediculous to holdout when you've only had 2 good years in a row and your contract isn't even expiring.
As for my main players I collect: Larry Fitzgerald, Matt Forte, A.J. Green, Joe Haden, Percy Harvin, Aaron Hernandez, Matthew Stafford, Tim Tebow, and LaDainian Tomlinson. Most everyone I collect does charity work, or is just a class act. The only players with questionable off field problems are Harvin, Forte, and we have yet to see Hernandez, but I believe he will be a headache for the Patriots come resigning time.
Sorry for the long winded comment, just wanted to throw my 2 cents in.

---

Great responses so far. i'd love to hear more real examples.

A couple more questions:

Has the recent Black mailing of RGIII made anyone steer clear? Obviously he's done something pretty major for it to become such a big deal. Even without knowing what it is, does that change your opinion of him?

Cam Newton was arrested for theft and kicked out of Florida after being suspected of cheating. Add the Pay-to-Play fiasco to that and I think you have the perfect storm of reasons not to pick anything up... Yet, he sells better than almost any other player out right now. Does his rookie year performance really outweigh his history of poor decision making? Or does the hype make people forget about that?

Last question, Would you collect a player who is a total ***** but hasnt been in trouble with the law?

I don't buy the whole RG3 thing personally, nothing has been proven about that. So that doesn't change my mind.

I believe Cam Newton is selling mainly because he is marketable and for now has a high resale value. I would only pick up a Cam just to trade it for a Stafford, RG3, or Tomlinson at this point. Cam is a phony although talented I won't pick him up except for trade bait right now.