He played there? Football Edition: Part 1

This "Cards for Blog" box that is sitting next to my computer has been taunting me lately. I know, I know, I need to write stuff for everyone to read while they're on the toilet or sitting on their couch with their family pet in their lap. Sometimes the box overwhelms me, but today, I figured I'd at least try to get 1 in before the weekend and my son's football team's championship game. You read that right, my 5-year-old son's team is actually playing in the Super Bowl this Sunday. Win or lose, they get a police escort back to their home field. This is actually a big deal in our town and I'm proud of my buddy for sticking it out in his first season and not complaining and learning a lot about football. Hopefully they win! LET'S GO WEST A!

With that said, on to the "He played there" Football edition! 

No one will really care, or care to remember this first one, but this one is for me. In 1993, the rookie quarterbacks were all the rage. Rick Mirer and Drew Bledsoe were two players I was actively hunting that season. I pulled a few nice Bledsoe's but only pulled 1 Rick Mirer that year. Mirer, if you had forgotten was selected 2nd overall behind Bledsoe in the 1993 NFL Draft out of Notre Dame. He was hyped as the next Montana due to both of them being former Notre Dame quarterbacks. In his rookie season, he did not disappoint. Mirer would set NFL rookie records for attempts, completions and yardage (since broken by Andrew Luck). He would finish second in the Rookie of the Year award behind his former college teammate Jerome Bettis. After Mirer's rookie season, he was never able to recreate the success he had and had bounced around with stops with the Chicago Bears, New York Jets, Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders and Detroit Lions, but only playing games with Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Oakland. So, for basically my excitement only, here are cards at 2 of those stops.

How was he acquired? June 13, 2000, the San Francisco 49ers signed Rick Mirer to a 1-year $440,000 contract. March 23, 2002, the Oakland Raiders signed Rick Mirer to a 1-year contract. May 10, 2004, the Detroit Lions signed Rick Mirer to a 1-year contract.

2000 Upper Deck Encore Rick Mirer #183

2004 Topps Rick Mirer #5 (showing both Raiders and Lions - a BONUS!)

From one 49er to another one. Richard Dent was a player that most, if not all would associate with the Chicago Bears. Dent was a sack master. In fact, to date, he ranks 3rd all-time in sacks in the NFL with 137.5. He was a legend. A 2-time Super Bowl Champion, Super Bowl XX MVP, 4-time Pro Bowler and Hall of Famer (2011). However, did you know in 1994, he spent 2 games with the San Francisco 49ers (earning his 2nd Super Bowl win - even though he was on injured reserve) and after a brief stop back in Chicago, he played for the Colts in 1996 and finished his career with the Eagles in 1997? Well, I didn't! It wasn't until I was putting together some Action Packed sets that I did a double take at a card I had. It was Dent as a 49er! I thought, well, this has to go in the blog. Here it is!

How was he acquired? On June 9, 1994, the San Francisco 49ers signed Richard Dent to a 2-year contract.

1994 Action Packed Richard Dent #192

On to another Hall of Famer. This next player is also an analyst. He is also considered to be one of the best receivers in the history of the NFL (depending on who you ask). He's an 8-time Pro Bowler, led the NFL in TD's 3 times during his career, has his #80 retired by the Vikings and is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame (2013). It's Cris Carter! Carter is most remembered for his time with the Minnesota Vikings or the Philadelphia Eagles. After Carter retired in May of 2001, he began to work with HBO as an analyst. However, his retirement was short lived as he would come out of retirement to sign with the injury riddled Miami Dolphins thanks to some persuasion from his friend Dan Marino. He would play his final 5 NFL games and retire for a second time as a Miami Dolphin. He finished that season with 8 catches for 66 yards and 1 touchdown. 

How was he acquired? On October 21, 2002, the Miami Dolphins signed Cris Carter to a 1-year contract.

2003 Topps Cris Carter #130

The next player was just inducted into the Hall of Fame (about darn time). It's Roger Craig. During his career, Craig was a versatile running back. He is the first NFL player to gain 1,000 yards both rushing and receiving in the same year. Marshall Faulk and Christian McCaffery are the only other running backs to do so. When I was growing up in the 80's, he was always a guy I didn't mind pulling from a pack of cards. Craig was a 3-time Super Bowl Champ, NFL Offensive Player of the Year (1988), 4-time Pro Bowler, Jim Thorpe Trophy Winner and the NFL receptions leader as a Running Back in 1985. I do remember when he left the 49ers for the Los Angeles Raiders. He only lasted 1 year there in 1991, but when I recently opened a pack of 1992 Upper Deck, I was shocked. Wait, Roger Craig played for the....Minnesota Vikings? The heck.... Well, yep, apparently, he spent 2 seasons there and started 4 games. So, since I didn't know about this, I had to share it with my readers. 

How was he acquired? On March 17, 1992, the Minnesota Vikings signed Roger Craig to a 2-year contract.

1992 Upper Deck Roger Craig #500

There are some really great players in this pile of cards I'm staring at, and the next one is no different. Andre Johnson will always be remembered as one of the best Wide Receivers of his era. When I actually read up on Johnson, I was stunned to see he only had 70 touchdowns in his career, but then it made sense with all the crappy quarterbacks he played with. Even with the spotty QB play, Johnson is still 11th all-time in career receptions and would make it to the Hall of Fame in 2024. In his 14-year career, Johnson would play 12 years with the Houston Texans and 1 year with the Indianapolis Colts and his final season with the Tennessee Titans. Wait, Colts and Titans? Well, I searched far and wide and I couldn't find an Andre Johnson Titans card, so you will have to suffer for the Colts.

How was he acquired? On March 11, 2015, the Indianapolis Colts signed Andre Johnson to a 3-year $21 million contract.

2015 Panini Prizm Andre Johnson #193

From one Andre to another. Andre Reed was a player that I grew up watching while with the Buffalo Bills. He was always a solid receiver. Reed spent 15 seasons with the Buffalo Bills. He is 15th all-time in touchdown receptions with 87 and 9th all-time in post-season receptions with 85. Andre would also be remembered as the leading receiver on the Buffalo Bills team that played in four consecutive Super Bowls (winning 0). He would eventually be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014. Reed, however, did play for 2 other teams after his Bills tenure. In 2000, he signed a 2-year contract with the Denver Broncos. During training camp that season, he was buried in the depth chart behind Rod Smith, Robert Brooks, Ed McCaffrey and Travis McGriff and asked the Broncos to release him. That's when he was signed by the Washington Redskins after Michael Westbrook tore his ACL to play his final season before retirement. In his only season as a Redskin, he would catch only 10 passes for 103 yards and 1 touchdown.

How was he acquired? On September 12, 2000, the Washington Redskins signed Andre Reed to a 1-year contract. 

2001 Score Andre Reed #211

While the Buffalo Bills are fresh on my mind, one of Andre Reed's former Bills teammates also ended his career on a weird team that many may not remember. Thurman Thomas was the Running Back on those famed Buffalo Bills teams of the 90's. Thomas spent 12 seasons as the Bills Running Back. He was the NFL's MVP in 1991 along with being named NFL Offensive Player of the Year that same season. He was a 5-time Pro Bowler and has his #34 retired by the Bills. Thomas would eventually be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2006. After the 1999 season with Buffalo, the Bills released Thomas to clear cap space. Thomas chose to sign with the Miami Dolphins with what would be his final season in the NFL after a knee injury in November cut his season short. Thurman Thomas would sign a 1-day contract on February 27, 2001 to retire as a Buffalo Bill. 

How was he acquired? On March 7, 2000, the Miami Dolphins signed Thurman Thomas to a 3-year $3.5 million contract.

2000 Upper Deck Encore Thurman Thomas #114

When I worked at my office job years ago fresh out of college, word got out that I had an art degree. It was near impossible to get a job in my field, so I did some freelance stuff when I could. There was a guy named Dave who was a former marine that was obsessed with the Oakland Raiders. One day we were at happy hour at Buffalo Wild Wings, and he asked if I would do a stipple drawing of Ken Stabler to hang in his home office. He said he'd pay my tab at Buffalo Wild Wings that night and also give me $250 cash. Uh, yeah! Sign me up. I spent hours on this drawing. Eventually after 3 weeks, it was finished. I was always shy about people checking out my artwork, so I asked him to come pick it up after work at my house. When we got there, he was elated. He loved it so much! I was happy that he was happy and a few months later, Dave would get laid off from that management position he had and I never saw him again. Years later, I was at a large flea market in Ohio and I ran into Dave. He told me that my Ken Stabler artwork hangs in his office downtown at his new job and people ask where he got it all the time. That really made me feel good. 

Anyways, Ken Stabler was a Raiders legend. He led the Raiders to a win in Super Bowl XI, was the NFL MVP and Offensive Player of the Year in 1974, a 4-time Pro Bowler and a National Champion twice during his time at Alabama. Stabler was also inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2016. It's also pretty crazy that he threw more interceptions than touchdowns (194 TD's/222 INT's). When I saw the card for this blog, I didn't remember him playing for that team, but I do remember Stabler as a Houston Oiler and only because I had his 1980 Topps card. In April, I bought a 1983 Topps pack in hopes of pulling a Marcus Allen Rookie Card. Well, I didn't. The best card in my pack ended up being Ken Stabler, which I don't think my brain processed it was him at first. I put the commons in a box and in July when I went to grab that box to put out at our garage sale, I decided while I was sitting and waiting on people to sift through my bargain boxes that I would look at some cards. So, when I got to the Stabler card, I figured I would put it in this blog because I don't remember him being a....New Orleans Saint?

How was he acquired? On August 24, 1982, the New Orleans Saints signed Ken Stabler.

1983 Topps Ken Stabler #118

This player was one of the members of the "Greatest Show on Turf" with the St. Louis Rams. Torry Holt was a 7-time Pro Bowler and Super Bowl Champion (XXXIV). Holt was a staple with the Rams. He is 10th in the NFL in receiving yards with 13,382 and 13th in receptions with 920. During his time in St. Louis though, he would be overshadowed at times by Isaac Bruce. He still was considered one of the best of his era though and if you asked a lot of people if he played for any team other than the Rams, they might say no, but they would be wrong. Torry Holt actually played for the Jacksonville Jaguars and also was signed by the New England Patriots. He would only play for the Jaguars though. In his final year in 2009, he caught 51 passes for 722 yards and was held without a touchdown. After being released by Jacksonville, he did sign with the Patriots but would suffer a knee injury and be released before playing in a regular season contest. Pretty wild. So, in the card below, I tried to capture both of those teams with 1 card. Let me know how I did.

How was he acquired? On April 20, 2009, the Jacksonville Jaguars signed Torry Holt to a 3-year contract. On April 20, 2010, the New England Patriots signed Torry Holt to a 1-year contract.

2010 Score Torry Holt #138

When I think of Edgerrin James, I think of the Cardinals or the Colts. Edge would play in the NFL for 11 seasons. He won Rookie of the Year in 1999, was a 4-time Pro Bowler and led the NFl in rushing twice (1999, 2000). His 12,246 yards puts him at 11th all-time, and his 80 touchdowns ranks him at 15th. He still holds Colts franchise records for most career rushing yards, best career rushing yards per game average and most seasons with 1,000 yards rushing. In 2009, James' long-time girlfriend Andia Wilson passed away due to leukemia, and this led to his retirement from the NFL so he could focus on raising his children. The team he retired with that season, the Seattle Seahawks. James would be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2020.

How was he acquired? On August 25, 2009, the Seattle Seahawks signed Edgerrin James to a 1-year contract.

2009 Topps Mayo Edgerrin James #260

I am going to end with an NFL legend. Like, legit. Nicknamed "Johnny U" and "The Golden Arm". Johnny Unitas was someone older people in my family told me about when I was growing up. They also were quick to point out that he was from Pittsburgh. He was even drafted by the Steelers in the 9th round in 1955. The coach at the time (Walt Kiesling) thought Unitas was too dumb to QB and NFL team and was not given any snaps for the Steelers. He was eventually signed by the Baltimore Colts in 1956 after he worked construction in Pittsburgh the season before. Unitas wouldn't look back. During his illustrious 18-year career, Unitas was a Super Bowl champion (V), 3-time NFL Champion ('58, '59, '68), 3-time NFL MVP, NFL Man of the Year, 10-time Pro Bowler, led the NFL in passing and TD's 4 times and a 3-time passing rating leader. So, yeah, shame on you Steelers! Unitas would wrap up his career as a San Diego Charger in 1973 after spending the previous 17 seasons with Baltimore. In that final season, Unitas would look like a shell of himself, with 471 yards passing, 3 touchdowns and 7 interceptions in 4 games where the Chargers would receive 3 losses. Looks like Johnny U definitely knew when to hang them up. After his retirement, he spent some time as a color commentator and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1979. Units would pass away from a heart attack on September 11, 2002. RIP.

How was he acquired? On January 22, 1973, the Baltimore Colts traded Johnny Unitas to the San Diego Chargers for future considerations (which ended up being a cash payment of $150,000).

1973 Topps Johnny Unitas #455 (in Colts uniform - sorry I don't have the 1974)

Well, that's all I got for this installment. Good luck to my best buddy tomorrow. I hope you win your first and possibly only championship of your life. I'm very proud of you and love you very much! If you ever read this that is.

If you made it this far, thanks. for. reading.