[TRADING CARDS]

CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / CRUSSELL@STARBULLETIN.COM Honolulu photographer Jay Metzger is thrilled to have his work appear on the rookie card of Denver Broncos' first-round draft pick Ashley Lelie. Metzger says he was a fanatic baseball and football card collector as a youngster.

He knows how to
play his cards

A trading card company puts
Metzger's photographs of Ashley Lelie on
the former Hawaii receiver's rookie card

---

By Jason Kaneshiro
jkaneshiro@starbulletin.com

Count Jay Metzger among the local folks pulling for Ashley Lelie to have a big rookie season for the Denver Broncos this fall.

The Honolulu photographer's shots appear on Lelie's football cards produced by Racing Champions in its Press Pass Jersey Edition, and he hopes the former Hawaii receiver can boost the cards' value with a successful first year in the National Football League.

"As long he goes past one year, I'll be happy," Metzger said.

The Press Pass cards are now in circulation and other card companies, including Fleer, have contacted Metzger about using action photos of Lelie in a UH uniform.

Metzger grew up an avid card collector, accumulating more than 25,000 baseball and football cards over his childhood and teen years. He also inherited his father's collection of baseball cards from 1952 and '53, which includes high-priced images of Ted Williams, Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella.

But having his own work featured on a card moves the Lelie pieces past the others in personal significance.

"I don't expect this to get me anywhere, but being a fanatic baseball and football card collector when I was young, these two cards hold more value to me than any of my 25,000," Metzger said. "Those are just there. To me these are precious."

Metzger's break into the sports card business is due largely to Lelie's ascent as a record-breaking receiver at UH then as the Broncos' first pick in April's NFL Draft.

Metzger works full-time as a video technician at Kamehameha Schools and runs a business, Metz Photography, in his off-hours. But it was while doing freelance work with the UH Sports Media Relations Department that he captured the shots of Lelie that the card company eventually selected.

"It was a great pleasure to just be able to be on the field with him," Metzger said. "To be on ground level and watch him play you get a different perspective of how fast he is and how tall he is."

After Lelie became the first UH player selected in the first round of the draft, Racing Champions asked UH sports information director Lois Manin for photos. Manin then referred the company to Metzger, who submitted 10 photos for its artists to review.

Metzger relished the opportunity to have his work considered for a card, knowing the limited opportunities for local photographers to contribute to the sports card business.

"For photographers here it's hard because we don't have professional athletes for us to photograph," Metzger said. "In Ashley's case, he just finished his junior year and no one had photos of him except for newspaper guys, me and a couple of other people. That's why I'm glad I got the opportunity."

After three months of wondering whether his photos would end up on the finished product, he finally received his copies of the cards last week.

"It was this rinky-dink package, I pulled out a paper and a check and then I looked and saw the cards and I couldn't speak," he said.

Metzger received $560 for use of the photos, but the reward went far beyond financial terms.

"The money doesn't matter," Metzger said. "It was having the cards in my hand and knowing they were official cards and hopefully little kids are collecting them now."