Category Archives: Arena

Arena, CFL, NFL, usfl, WIFL, WLAF

Davis, Darrell “Mouse”

Card: ProSet 1991, ProSet WLAF 1991, ProSet WLAF 1991 Helmet card
Acquired: TTM 1992, C/o The New York-New Jersey Knights, TTM 2011, C/o The University of Hawaii Warriors
Sent: 2/14/11     Received: 3/10/11   (24 days)

Mouse Davis is nothing short of an innovator and a career coach with an extensive offensive coaching tree full of acolytes at every stop. Considered of great importance to the evolution of the Run and Shoot offense(- a passing offense that employs four wide receiver sets, no tight ends and a single running back,) the offense itself is also treated as the forerunner to the modern day spread offense. At every stop from the high school level to the professional level, Davis’ offenses have lit up the scoreboard and set team and league records. In college Mouse coached tiny Portland State to explosive levels (guided by future NFL quarterback Neil Lomax and June Jones). Portland State would set 20 NCAA records, and Mouse would briefly make a stop at Berkley before going on to be offensive coordinator of the Toronto Argonauts in the CFL in 1982. In 1984 he’d move to the USFL and be offensive coordinator under coach Jack Pardee and the Houston Gamblers with Jim Kelly, Richard Johnson and Ricky Sanders. His ‘Mouseketeers’ would dominate the offensive scoreboard and Johnson and Sanders would be the first 100 reception tandem in football history on the same team. 1985 would see his first pro head coaching gig, guiding the Denver Gold to the playoffs before the league folded. Soon thereafter Davis was named head coach of the St. Louis Lightning of the WIFL, but the league disbanded before it even took the field. After the failure of the USFL and WIFL, Davis was head coach of the New York-New Jersey Knights of the WLAF where the team in its first season had the league’s leading rusher in Eric Wilkerson and made the playoffs. In one notable game in 1991 the team set a football record for most faked punts in a game, but also set the record for futility in special teams as well. In the 1992 season under Davis’ guidance, quarterback Reggie Slack was the number 2 rated passer in the league with a 6-4 record before it folded.

Mouse has made numerous pitstops in the NFL as well, most notably when he was an assistant with the Detroit Lions during the late 80s – early 90’s building the “Silver Stretch Offense” and also spent time with the Atlanta Falcons. He was influential with Jack Pardee who adopted the Run and Shoot from him utilizing it with both the Houston Cougars to epic proportions in the NCAA level, the Houston Oilers in the NFL, and the Birmingham Barracudas in the CFL.

Davis returned to the college ranks after his stints in the NFL and WLAF. He currently serves with the Hawaii Warriors as their wide recievers coach and was inducted into the Portland State HoF. I sent off for his autograph while he was coaching the Knights in 1992 and then just this year while he was with the Warriors and he responded in under 30 days. His WLAF statistics are below.

W 11   L 9   T 0  Pct .555

Arena, NFL

Humphrey, Bobby

Cards: ProSet 1989, Score 1990, Action Packed Rookies 1992
Acquired: TTM 2010, C/o Home
Sent:  10/15   Received:  11/12    (27 days)

Okay now Bobby I had been after for a while and the Harvey Meiselman list hit the spot on this one for me. Bobby has some fabulous cards, -most notably the ProSet 1989 and Score Ground Force 1990 were exceptional. (He also had a great ProSet 1990 as well as a Topps 1000 yard club card among others but I didn’t want to overdo it.) Anyway Bobby was the recipient of one of the most vivid hits I ever remember in sports history from linebacker Gary Reasons of the New York Giants on a cold and snowy day in Denver way back in 1990 or 1991. The hit even made a card or two and was featured as Gary Reasons’ Action Packed card for 1990.

Bobby Humphrey was an immense talent coming out of Alabama where he’d set many rushing records for the Crimson Tide during his tenure there. The Broncos would make him their #1 supplemental draft choice in 1989, – a wise choice considering Bobby fit right into the Broncos offensive game plan as he was a  great ‘slasher’ runningback which is ideal in a zone blocking system. He’d rush for 1151 yards, and if not for Barry Sanders outstanding rookie year, probably would have won the award himself. Humphrey was a machine and followed up his 1989 debut with a 1200 yard performace in 1990, but seeking more money in 1991 he’d hold out. The Broncos, unwilling to play games with Bobby refused to bargain and went with another option (Gaston Green) until Humphery showed up in week 14. The Broncos would trade Bobby to Miami in the offseason straight up for troubled Sammie Smith, in 1992. He’d respond with almost 1,000 yards from scrimmage (471 rushing, 507 receiving) but being that Miami at that time was still the place were ‘runningbacks went to die’, his 1993 season would be spent on injured reserve and he’d retire.

After football Humphrey has dabbled in coaching at one point being head coach of the Birmingham SteelDogs of the AFL for 5 seasons.  Bobby Humphrey, the runningback, should not be confused with former New York Jet and San Antonio Rider  Bobby Humphery who played in relatively the same era.

G/Gs  51/27     Rush 695     Yds 2857     Avg 4.1     Td 15   lg 40     |     Rec 100    Yds 815    Avg 8.2   Td 2  Lg 26

Arena, NFL, XFL

Sabb, Dwayne “Big Saab”

Card: StarPics 1992
Acquired: Patriots Blitz 1993

Drafted out of tiny New Hampshire in the 5th round of the 1992 draft by the New England Patriots to play linebacker, Dwayne Sabb has had quite an interesting and lively career. He’d play for the Patriots initially through the 1996 season. A good backup for the team, he’d start 24 games over 5 seasons making 7 sacks, 3 picks, 92 tackles and 3 fumbles. After he left New England he’d sign with the Chargers for the 1997 season, but not make the squad. In 1998 he signed with Buffalo and had the same result.

Sabb would sit out a few seasons until the XFL arrived. He’d sign with the New York/New Jersey Hitmen in 2001 and would be one of the league’s leaders in sacks before it folded at the end of the season. He’d finish the season with 26 tackles and 4 sacks for the team. Dwayne afterwards would spend the remainder of his career in the Arena leagues playing fullback and linebacker for the New Jersey Gladiators in 2001 and 2002. After a moderately successful time there, he’d play one season for the Buffalo Destroyers (2003) and Philadelphia Soul in 2004 before retiring.