Dan Gable

Who: Olympic Wrestler Dan Gable

Team: Team USA, Iowa Hawkeyes

Card: 2008 Goudey Sport Royalty

Acquired: TTM 1/1 6/29/2009 (258 days)

Comments: This is one of my favorite returns. I sent this card to Coach Gable care of his wrestling camp last October. It took a while, but wrestling GOD Dan Gable took care of me. I'm so happy this came back.

Considering the general overview of the autographs on this blog, aside being a Goudey card, this one is probably coming out of nowhere for ya. See, I wrestled for two seasons in high school. It's probably the toughest physical thing I've ever been through. The matches, the practices, all of it - it's just flat out brutal. But, I can't tell you how much it teaches you about yourself - mental and physical toughness, how to push yourself beyond what you think you're capable of, how to overcome obstacles... the list goes on. I played football in college, I've run 11 marathons and countless other races, I have pushed myself - but I don't know that any of it was as tough as wrestling. That said, I wasn't all that great at it. I won a grand total of two matches. Those were some great wins though!

So, back to Dan Gable. When you are learning the craft, the first name out of any coaches mouth is Dan Gable. He is the messiah of wrestling, a pioneer, the greatest champion of the sport. EVER. He's quite simply a legend. A legend as a wrestler and a coach. So, while I have my heros in baseball and football and other sports... Dan Gable is right up there too.

Also, with this card, I am starting a new category: Small Sigs. Yep, exactly. Small signatures. I've gotten a few cards back with some really tiny signatures. Nothing wrong with them at all, they are just nice and tight. Good things come in small packages, right?