Category Archives: CFL

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Jones, Myron ‘Iron Myron’

ultwlaf92 mjones psetwlaf91 mjonesCards: Ultimate WLAF 1992, ProSet WLAF 1991
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Home
Sent:  7/30   Received: 8/27   (28 days)

Myron ran for 863 yards and scored 15 touchdowns as a Senior at Fresno State in 1989.  An 11th round pick of the then Los Angeles Raiders, he’d be cut in camp before the regular season, and join the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL. Released by the Ti-cats, Jones attracted attention of the WLAF and was selected in the first round (4th overall) of the positional draft by the Orlando Thunder.

A Run ‘N Shoot team coached by Don Matthews, the Thunder were predictably reliant on the pass. Although Iron was more of a fullback, he still managed to take the field on opening day and ended up as Orlando’s leading rusher in 1991 with 288 yards. His best games came against San Antonio, rushing for 85 yards on 15 carries. Myron later followed that up with a 14 carry 65 yard effort against the Birmingham Fire.

Myron currently lives in California where he is a Deputy Probation Officer for LA county.  He takes pride in helping juveniles get the help they need and become positive contributing members of society. Myron very much liked these cards and asked for a few extra. He is also friends with the ‘Fresno WLAF Connection’- in particular: Dwight Pickens, Andre Alexander, and Kevin Sweeney.

He inscribed two bible verses along with the autographs.

John 14:6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

Epheisians 6:11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.

Awesome. I love testaments. It really says a lot about the character of the former player, who they are, and what they stand for.

WLAF   Rush 68     Yds 288     Avg  4.2   Td  2
Rec  14    Yds 133    Avg 9.5    Td 0

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Tucker, Erroll

psetwlaf91 tucker LL
Card: Pro Set WLAF 1991
Acquired: 2014, EBay. TTM 2015, C/o Home.
Sent: 6/30     Received: 7/27   (27 days)
Failure: TTM 2010, TTM 2013, C/o Home

Well Erroll has been difficult for me to track down and since I had 2 failures, I thought I might as well acquire at least one autograph of him on the cheap through EBay. Anyway, I wasn’t too happy with this seller. After I scanned in the card, and added it into the WLAF book of autographs, I noticed something when it was lined up next to its sister cards: it had been trimmed. Also called shaving, trimming is a frowned upon practice that has gained notoriety as of late because of media attention after a Honus Wagner had its edges removed just ever so slightly to increase the value of the card. In this case a full 2 cm had been removed from the bottom of the card, and as I had doubles of Tucker’s card I could easily see that the height wasn’t consistent with the other cards. Such a pain as I still needed another autograph of him on his ProSet WLAF League Leader card. I decided to give Tucker a final shot in 2015, and it appears my persistence paid off as not only did I get Erroll on another  base card to replace the Ebay card, but also I got him on his league leader card.

psetwlaf91 tuckerA return specialist and speed merchant at Utah, Erroll Tucker led the nation in kick return (29.1) and punt return (24.3) averages in 1985. He was drafted in the 5th round by the Pittsburgh Steelers but did not see any playing time his rookie season. Tucker returned to the NFL in 1988 playing for the Bills (1988-1989)  and Patriots (1989).

Tucker was selected by the Orlando Thunder with the 8th overall pick in the defensive back portion of the WLAF draft in 1991. His 4.6 speed and previous NFL experience fit in well with Don Matthews man to man defense scheme.  Erroll made 2 interceptions in the league’s inaugural season but he was more dangerous on special teams returning 7 kickoffs for 257 yards and a 95 yard TD, in limited duty behind Carl Painter. On punt returns Tucker was equally dangerous returning 18 punts for 373 yards and a 66 yard TD. He earned All-World Honors after the season.

Tucker decided to keep playing and went right over to the CFL signing with the Calgary Stampeders. After winning the 80th Grey Cup, Tucker decided to retire.  He’s been involved with coaching at the college level and currently lives in California.

NFL 18
KR 38     Yds  746     Avg 19.6    TD 0     Lg 37
PR  29    Yds 245      Avg  8.4       TD 0    Lg 26
Tac N/a    Sac N/a     Fum 3
Int 0    Yds 0    Avg -.-   TD 0   Lg -.-

WLAF 10
KR 7      Yds 259    Avg  37.0    TD 1    Lg 95T
PR  18     Yds 373     Avg 20.7    TD 1  Lg 66T
Tac  39     Sac N/a      Fum N/a
Int 2      Yds  1     Avg .5      TD 0    Lg 1

CFL 19
KR   4       Yds 120    Avg 30.0     TD 0   Lg 51
PR 20      Yds 162    Avg 8.1        TD 0   Lg 62
Tac 58    Sac  0    Fum 0
Int  1      Yds 11     Avg 11.0      Td 0    Lg 11

CFL, NFL, University of Texas

Gardere, Peter ‘Peter the Great’

UTUD11 PGardereCards: UT Upper Deck 2011, UT Upper Deck ATA 2011
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Work, IP 9/19/15, UT Coop Fan Fest
Sent: 6/30     Received:  7/10     (10 days)

Pete Gardere is one of these dark horse Texas legends. I mean outside of Texas- if you weren’t a Longhorn fan, I’d be verily impressed if you knew who he was, and his contribution to the school. Pete played during the dying years of the SWC, when the way you got to watch games was on the Raycom Sports Network on that Fox affiliate- before it was Fox. Texas had David McWilliams at head coach, who was an acorn off of the Darrell Royal tree.

peter the greatGardere arrived at Texas and quickly assumed the starting quarterback duty as a true freshman.  Over his time at UT Gardere brought Texas painfully into the modern era of quarterbacking in a pro style offense. He also moonlighted as a punter. While playing for the school he set over 15 school records, which were broken and rewritten by the likes of Colt McCoy, Vince Young, James Brown, and Major Applewhite over the next 25 years.

The one record that still stands at this point- much to the chagrin of Sooners fans, is that Peter was 4-0 in the Red River Rivalry versus Oklahoma. In every contest, Gardere found a way to beat the Sooners, and even more impressive was that everytime the Longhorns were nationally unranked. Gardere finished with a record of 25-16 as a starter for the Longhorns.

UTUD11 PGardere ATADespite his resume, Pete was not drafted, however he was given an invitation to camp with the Seattle Seahawks in 1993. He’d be cut, but quickly scooped up by the CFL, and signed by the Sacramento Gold Miners. He’d be the team’s punter and serve as emergency quarterback from 1993 through 1994. In 1995, Pete was the punter for the Memphis Mad Dogs- but the team contracted after the season. Gardere then signed with the New Orleans Saints, but after he was cut in camp, elected to retire from football. Currently he lives in Austin. He served as a filming consultant for the quarterbacks on the movie Varsity Blues, and has been involved in real estate in the lucrative Central Texas market for many years.

I met him at the UT Coop Fan Fest in September where he penned two more cards for me. He then mused about how old he was because I could remember watching him as a kid on Raycom Sports Network during those dying days of the SWC.