The Card Album

With over 525 player alumni and staff from the University of Miami Football program represented, I believe my Hurricanes card collection is the most expansive in existence. It includes players that have been inducted into Hall of Fames through practice squad members and those that merely committed and walked away before the season began. Also represented are head coaches, assistants, and other staff members of the program. Along with traditional football cards, I also count similar flat collectables like pocket schedules and ticket stubs.

The Card Album is my personal collection showcase. I originally designed my first website, CardMagnet.info, from scratch in Microsoft FrontPage and used tables to organize things. The site was updated regularly 2009 to 2021. I’m proud to say that I had regular viewers from around the world, and my content was frequently in the top results on Google’s web and image results. The time came to put some new tools and ideas to use, and so TheCardAlbum.com was born.

Bill Hawkins (born May 9, 1966) is a former professional American football defensive end who played four seasons for the Los Angeles Rams in the National Football League and was an All-American at the University of Miami.

Hawkins was a 3-year starter at the University of Miami at defensive end. redshirted in 1984 and as a freshman, in 1985, he was a backup and recorded 10 tackles. As a sophomore, he moved into the starting lineup and had 62 tackles (10 for a loss) and 7 sacks. In 1987, as a junior he recorded 84 tackles with 14 of them going for a loss to go with his 6.5 sacks.

In 1988, as a senior Hawkins was a First-team All-American selection by the Walter Camp Foundation and the AFCA. He was a Second-team All-American selection by the AP, UPI and Sporting News. In 1988 Hawkins tallied 67 tackles (18 for a loss) and 7.5 sacks. He was also a finalist for the Lombardi Award. His coach, Jimmy Johnson called him, “the most consistent lineman he ever coached.”^[1] While at the “U” Hawkins earned a degree in Finance, with a B average.

In his four years at Miami the Hurricanes had a 44-4 win-loss record and Hawkins played in four “New Years’ Day” bowl games: a January 1, 1986, 35-7 loss to the University of Tennessee in the Sugar Bowl; a January 2, 1987, 14-10 loss to Penn State in the Fiesta Bowl; a 20-14 win over the University of Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl on January 1, 1988, and a 23-3 win over the University of Nebraska on January 2, 1989 in the Orange Bowl. The Hurricanes were National Champions after the 1987 season and the victory over Oklahoma.

Hawkins is a member of the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame.^[2]