FRISCO — Coy Eakin is a rare breed, one of the few in his generation who knows how to write in cursive.
That’s thanks in large part to his mother, Kelly, a writing teacher at Hook Elementary School in Stephenville. Kelly made him write in cursive, though it’s nowhere near as neat as what she can produce. As one of the key players of the Texas Tech football team, Eakin, along with several other teammates, has seen increased requests for autographs from fans and through NIL partnerships.
In Eakin’s case, he was one of four Red Raiders who were featured in the 2025 line of Bowman U Chrome football from Topps, one of the leading trading card companies. Along with Behren Morton, Reggie Virgil and Caleb Douglas, Eakin’s image is featured on base sets and premier cards, some of which feature his autograph either on a sticker or directly on the card.
An avid trading card collector growing up, Eakin still has a rough estimate of 10,000 cards from his youth.
“Now that I’m on a card and I have my own trading card,” Eakin told the Avalanche-Journal, “that’s kind of like a full circle moment. Like, surreal.”
Eakin’s autograph on these cards is a mixed bag. While he spells out his full name — while Brice Pollock, who will be part of the line of Panini cards coming out later this year, sticks to his initials — it’d be hard to tell it’s his name on the sticker. The C in Coy looks much like a Z. Sheridan Wilson was mainly able to tell it was Eakin’s signature from the “3” inscription at the end.
“I can see a little bit of the E here, maybe,” A.J. Holmes Jr. said when shown the card.
As the boom of college athletics continues in the NIL space, star college athletes’ autographs are more in demand than ever — for most players. Guys like Wilson and Holmes (the preseason Big 12 defensive player of the year), who are crowded in the middle of the line of scrimmage, are less recognizable than some like Carter or Eakin.
Pollock’s first autograph experience came when a family member asked him to sign a napkin, saying he expected the Texas Tech cornerback to become a big name someday.
“He’s still got the napkin,” Pollock said.
Wilson’s first time signing for a young fan was just as memorable, but in a different way. During a visit to a Lubbock elementary school, a young boy asked Wilson to sign his shirt. Seeing the shirt looked pretty new, Wilson asked if his parents would be OK with that.
Yes, the boy told him. It would be fine.
“I shouldn’t have listened to him,” Wilson said. “I signed a shirt, and somebody sent me a Facebook post from the mom. It was like, whoever signed this shirt, please refer to this post.”
Signing autographs is one of the thrills of being an athlete, somebody wanting their signature as a memento or possible high-dollar investment piece if the player becomes a household name, such as Victor Wembanyama or Shohei Ohtani.
Part of the danger of signing autographs, though, is it has to be very different from a player’s signature on a legal document.
“Football is going to be different than my signature for like a check or something,” Eakin said.
Carter has recently changed how he signs autographs. Before it was “T Carter” and now it’s “TC” with a seven (his Texas Tech jersey number) down the middle. While he doesn’t spend time practicing his autograph in his spare time, Carter and other Red Raiders still get a kick out of being asked to uncap the permanent marker for the occasion.
The biggest thrill is when the requests start coming in more frequently. Carter’s first time signing came during his time at Louisiana, which was more relief in his growing popularity than an odd gesture.
“It was more like, finally,” Carter said with a laugh. “I’m starting to get known, then now it’s like, oh, gotta sign more autographs.”
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: How Texas Tech football players craft their autograph signatures
Reporting by Nathan Giese, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal / Lubbock Avalanche-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Nathan Giese, Lubbock Avalanche-Journal | USA TODAY Network
