On Monday Night Football this week, NFL veteran and current Bears linebacker Cassius Marsh made headlines by sacking Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger for a seven-yard loss on third-and-eight with 3:40 left in the game. It was a pivotal play as the Bears trailed 23-20 and it appeared the Steelers would have to punt on fourth down, giving Chicago a chance to take the lead with little time left. Instead, after Marsh followed the sack with his celebratory spinning jump kick and moved toward the Pittsburgh bench, he was penalized for taunting. Rather than punting the ball away, the Steelers were instead awarded an automatic first down and moved downfield where they kicked a 40-yard field goal to extend their lead to six.
Though Chicago answered with a go-ahead touchdown and extra point with 1:46 left, the Steelers managed to come back and eventually win the game, 29-27, on a late field goal by Chris Boswell. Nevertheless, Marsh – who was just signed to the Bears practice squad last week and activated for Monday’s game – was the center of attention. It’s been a very busy two weeks for Marsh.
On Sat, Oct. 23, StockX Trading Cards held a special 1994 Magic: The Gathering Revised box break event. It was hosted and streamed live by none other than then-NFL free agent Marsh at his card shop, Cash S Cards Unlimited, in Westlake Village in Los Angeles County. Adding fuel to the mix was celebrity guest and fellow MTG enthusiast Post Malone, who assisted with the box break and provided plenty of energy to the festivities.
They were joined by top social influencers of the MTG community including The Professor (@tolariancommunitycollege), Josh and Jimmy (@commandcast), and Michael and Joe (@i_hate_your_deck). To participate in the event, you had to buy one of 36 packs available at $850 each. The buy-in included giveaways, an invitation to the VIP Commander event, and a Revised pack to open on stream. As a special incentive, the Top 5 MTG cards pulled would be graded by PSA. Outside of the great tournament scene, the MTG community had never before seen an event quite like this one.
The special VIP Commander event took place the night before at an undisclosed location and was set up for the invited guests and influencers to play Magic amongst themselves. It was a very relaxed atmosphere and tables were set to get some duels in. It was the perfect setting for the MTG influencers and guests to share their love of the game. The night concluded with a personal thanks from Marsh and the distribution of several playmats signed by Post Malone, Cassius and the MTG Influencers on hand for many of the invited guests.
Saturday’s box break was segmented with activities for the breakers between pack breaks. Those present were able to rip their packs alongside the influencers. The hits people were looking for were the coveted “Dual Lands” with Marsh informing the audience that a typical box should produce at least two, maybe three dual lands. At the end of the break, Cassius would choose the Top 5 hits to submit to PSA for authenticating and grading.
Throughout the stream, the influencers were in good spirits and connected with the guests. As the 36 packs were being ripped, the box yielded not two, not three, not four, but five Dual Lands! Those five cards were all submitted to PSA afterwards and came back this week with the following grades: Bayou, PSA NM-MT 8; Plateau, PSA Mint 9; Scrubland, PSA Mint 9; Tropical Island, PSA NM-MT 8; and Volcanic Island, PSA Mint 9. After the box break, Post Malone grabbed his Urza’s Legacy booster box to open and hand out packs to the guests who participated. The event truly was an exciting way to build on the already strong foundations of the MTG community and surely won’t be the last of its kind.
