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.

The first autographs to hit Playoff Contenders, produced by Donruss Playoff, were released in 1998. The first Miami Hurricane alum to appear in the autograph set was Edgerrin James of the Indianapolis Colts in 1999. Since then, at least one Hurricane has appeared in every release, with the exception of 2009.

Panini America acquired DLP in 2009. Panini initially retained the Playoff moniker for the set, but would rebrand to Panini Contenders in 2012. Contenders Draft incorporated many of its NFL counterpart’s set, including photo variations and short prints.

In 2015, Panini began producing an annual Panini Contenders Draft Picks set featuring NFL draft prospects, legends, and fan favorites in their college uniforms. At least two Hurricanes have appeared in every Contenders Draft autograph checklist since the set’s inception.