Category Archives: NFL

Holmes, Darryl

wcwlaf92 dholmesultwlaf92 dholmesCards: Ultimate WLAF 1992, Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: 2015, C/o Home
Sent: 2/9   Received: 2/17   (8 days)

Fort Valley State is a small school pipeline for NFL talent producing over the years such names as Eddie Anderson, Greg Lloyd, Nick Harper, Rayfield Wright, and Tyrone Poole.  Darryl Holmes appeared in between Lloyd and Anderson playing for Wildcats during the mid 80s. Going undrafted, Holmes joined the New England Patriots in 1987 playing in 15 games.  As an extra safety in the formidable Patriots secondary, Holmes made his living as a special teams burner. He played 3 seasons in the NFL recording 1 interception for 4 yards and 2 fumbles.

After sitting out a season, Darryl was drafted by the Montreal Machine of the WLAF in 1991.  During the 1991 season, Holmes recorded 59 tackles and an interception. He returned to the team for the 1992 season and contributed another 2 interceptions for 28 yards.

Holmes has been involved in numerous NFL Play Football initiatives and football camps since retirement around his home town.

NFL G/Gs  44/3   Tac   N/a    Sac 0   Fum 2
Int  1   Yds 4   Avg 4.0   Td 0    Lg 4

WLAF  Tac   N/a   Sac  N/a   Fum N/a
Int 3   Yds  28    Avg 9.3   Td 0   Lg 22

Ware, Andre ‘Air Ware’ (2)

pset90 wareCards: Pro Set 1990, Upper Deck College Legends 2011
Acquired: 4/30/15, Houston Texans Draft Party
See Also: Andre Ware ‘Air Ware’

Lance and I arrived at the 2015 Houston Texans Draft Party with high hopes, but were ultimately disappointed when we didn’t have cards of the Ambassadors who showed up, and the players I did have a card of were only taking photo ops. Queue the Astrodome air raid siren, because Andre Ware came to the rescue.

As Lance and I made our way towards the photo op booth, I heard a familiar voice on TV. Andre Ware was being interviewed on Fox Spots Southwest. Recognizing that the broadcast was taking place in the stadium, I walked over to one of the people working at the stadium and asked them where Andre was. The stadium employees identified it as being at radio row where only the VIP fans were allowed. We got as close as the elevator, and after borrowing a pen and waiting for about 15 minutes, Lance and I decided to locate the ground floor exit of the VIP area to get a better vantage point.  We walked for about 5 minutes, and emerging out of the crowd from the other direction, wasudlgd11 ware Andre Ware. Kudos to Andre for cheerfully signing 2 cards for me and Lance, even though he had his hands full with two kids by his side and all their stuff.

I can’t encourage collectors enough to build out a compact and expanded box of cards that covers the full gamut of players, former players, and sports personalities. With Andre covering the Texans on the radio as a color commentator and also being  a local legend, it made sense to have a few extras on the off chance he did make an appearance.  Otherwise  these are great cards of Ware, and leaves me with only a handful of extras that I would love to have autographed for my collection.

McGwire, Dan (2)

aprks92 mcgwirepset91 mcgwireflr93ult mcgwireflrult91 mcgwire
Cards: Fleer Ultra 1993, Fleer Ultra 1991, Action Packed Rookies 1992, ProSet 1991.
Acquired: Canton Acquisition 2012, TTM 2014, C/o Home.
Sent: 6/2       Received:  6/14   (12 days)
See Also: Dan McGwire

Dan McGwire was rumored to be the top pick of the Patriots in the 1991 NFL draft, with ProSet even going so far as to making a test card of him. Instead he slid all the way to the Seahawks at 17, who were trying to end the Dave Krieg era in Seattle. He’d be the first of many quarterbacks that the team employed behind the depleted offensive line over a very short period.

I sent out 4 cards to Dan, but he only signed his Seahawk cards, skipping out on his Upper Deck 1991 Star Rookie issue and his 1991 Star Pics. Both were of him in his Aztecs uniform, but still I was happy to get him on his Action Packed card that I had wanted to get autographed since it was issued.

These others here came to me care of a collector who was exiting the market for a while. I really like the Topps Stadium Club entry. It’s a very nice action shot from the line of sight of a receiver. The others- particularly the Fleer Ultras were absolute throwaways both in photo and in set.