1991 Pro Line Portraits Autograph #143 Eugene Lockhart

I grew up in the Dallas metroplex so I have been a Dallas Cowboys fan all of my life. After I decided to go to school at the University of Houston, I became a huge Cougar fan. When you combine those two interests, I have a great fondness for players who are both a Coog and a Cowboy. One of those players is Eugene Lockhart.

Eugene The Hitting Machine played for UH from 1981-1983. He was co-captain of the 1983 team with Duane Losack and Dwayne Love. He led the team in tackles and was named second team All Southwest Conference by UPI. Unfortunately, that wasn't one of the Coogs better seasons with a record of 4-7.

Lockhart was drafted in the 6th round by the Cowboys. He went on to a solid career playing 7 years with the Cowboys and 2 years with the New England Patriots. In 1989, he led the NFL tackles and was named All-Pro.

Today's card is the Pro Line Portraits Autograph #143. I loved when these cards came out. First the setting for the pictures were so different than any other card. The players were either in work out or casual clothes instead of the normal full uniform game pictures. This allowed for a better look at the player because they weren't wearing a helmet. It also allowed for some more creative pictures. I need to post the 1992 card of David Klingler in his boots and cowboy hat leaning on a tractor. The backs of the cards contained a lengthy quote from the player along with another picture. While I love statistics on cards, these quotes were supposed to get your closer to the player just like the casual photos did.

This set was also one of first I remember having widespread autographs of several players. Prior to this set, I remember very rare inserts of the biggest stars, generally of the past, which you couldn't get without opening a ton of packs or paying a huge amount from a card shop for the single. With this set, even the average collector might be able to pull an autograph from a pack or buy the single autograph at a fairly reasonable price.

Lockhart looks he's just finished a hard workout on this card with a sweat soaked shirt. The camera angle with only sky in the background is a nice touch. I just hope he didn't wear that huge gold chain while playing football.

Overall I love this card and set. I also have the autographed Andre Ware and non-autographed Jack Pardee from the set.