Category Archives: usfl

NFL, usfl

Landeta, Sean

to89 landeta tosc91 landeta sco90 landetaud90 landeta

Cards:  Stadium Club 1991, Topps 1989, Upper Deck 1991, Score 1990
Acquired: Canton Acquisition, 2012.

Sean Landeta is considered a legend when it comes to Tecmo Super Bowl lore. He is the last person to retire from not only the original game but also the sequels that followed that he also appeared in. The iconic mustache and sometimes mullet he sported alongside his single bar punter helmet lasted until 2006 amazingly for the Rams, after he started his career eons ago in 1983 in the USFL for the Philadelphia Stars.

Punters for the most part, go undrafted, and Landeta was like all the others after graduating from Townson State. A division II star at punter, Landeta was a first team All-American in 1980. He played with the Philadelphia Stars from 83-84, and then the Baltimore Stars the following year.  He’d earn USFL All-Star Honors both years and earn recognition on their All time team.

It’d be after his stint in the USFL that Sean would make his iconic appearance playing for the New York Giants in 1985, where it seemed like he’d stay forever. Landeta remained with the Giants from through 1993, making appearances on Tecmo Bowl and Tecmo Super Bowl with the Giants. It’d be there that he’d establish a penchant for long, booming punts, finishing his career at New York with 526 punts and 22806 yards (43.4 average).  He earned All-Pro nominations for his 1986 and 1990 seasons, and Pro Bowl honors for those years as well as in 1989. In 1993 he’d split the season with the Giants and ultimately end up on the Los Angeles Rams. He’d transition with the team to St. Louis in 1995 and remain with the franchise through 1996. After a one year stint with the Bucs in 1997 and Green Bay in 1998, Sean played the next 4 seasons in Philadelphia from 1999-2002 and have a career high 107 punts in 1999. It’d be confusing following Landeta the next few seasons, with him playing in St. Louis again in 2003 and 2004, and then a final season in 2005 with the Eagles.

In 2006 he retired from football on the 25th Anniversary of the USFL, after signing a one day contract with the New York Giants. He became the last member of a USFL team to retire from the league, and also was the longest tenured member of the original Tecmo Bowl to retire as well.

G 284    P  1401    Yds  60707      Avg 43.3    Lg  74   Blk 6

NFL, Pro Football HoF, usfl, WLAF

Kelly, Jim (QB)

sky92 kelly

Cards: Action Packed Rookies 1992, Skybox 1992
Acquired: TTM 2013, C/o Hunter’s Hope Foundation*
Sent: 3/18    Received: 5/13    (56 days)
* $50 donation requested

Great cards and great find! Okay, I really think that $50.00 is way too much to pay for a player’s autograph, but for two, and the fact that it goes to charity, makes it sting a lot less. (I normally draw a hard line at $10 per card.) That was the strategy I took for the former AP quarterback, and after a long wait, it paid off. I really liked both of these releases, especially his SkyBox 1992 card, which is a sports photo masterpiece. His Action Packed is really more of a grab for a set that I like, but still it is of Jim doing something else other than cocking it back and making a throw. Over the years I’ve realized I like the offensive player photography where they are more or less alone in the frame. On defense, it’s typically the moment of impact, a big play, or looking intimidating that does it for me.

So Jim Kelly finished with (a very pedestrian looking by today’s standards) 376/676  for 5228 yards 33 touchdowns to 28 picks in 44 games for the Miami Hurricanes. Kelly led a revival of the U’s program, and coming off his 1981 season everybody expected bigger and brighter things, but instead he ended up having a disastrous shoulder injury 3 games into his senior season. Still he is remembered fondly by the school and was inducted into the Miami Hall of Fame in 1992. He is considered one of the famed ‘QB class of 1983 ‘ that consisted of: Dan Marino, Todd Blackledge, John Elway, Tony Eason, and even guys like Babe Laufenberg, and Gary Kubiak.

aprks92 kellyAt the draft, in 1983, the Bills made the choice on the signal caller, but he opted instead to sign with the rival USFL.  You see, Kelly’s rights were originally held by the Chicago Blitz, but they felt that Kelly should play where ever he wanted, so the USFL could build a stable of star quarterbacks. He went on a whirlwind tour of the league and eventually chose the climate controlled Astrodome in Houston, with head coach Jack Pardee and their groundbreaking offense.

Under Pardee, the team was noteworthy for bringing the Run N Shoot to Pro Football, and Pardee went out and hired Mouse Davis as offensive coordinator to make it happen. The offensive fireworks that the team brought were nothing short of spectacular. In his first full season under center for the Gamblers Kelly threw for 5219 yards on 370 completions to go along with 44 touchdowns, earning rookie and player of the year honors from the USFL. The next year, the Gamblers became the first pro football team to utilize the No Huddle Offense. He had some great receivers too, in the names of: Gerald McNeil, Clarence Verdin, Ricky Sanders, and Richard Johnson. In Jim Kelly’s hot hands, the Gamblers made the playoffs in both years. Unfortunately a shift to a fall schedule before the second season (to compete directly with the NFL) doomed the fledgling league. After the season, the Gamblers were merged with the New Jersey Generals. What would have been was an incredible offense of Jim Kelly and Herschel Walker– but it never came to pass as the league folded.

The NFL held a special supplemental draft, but as Jim’s rights were already held by the Buffalo Bills, he tried to engineer a trade. Eventually, Jim signed with Buffalo in 1986, pressed on by his father who wanted to live a dream of tailgating to his son’s games in Upper NY- a stone’s throw from where they lived. Although Jim lamented the outdoor cold weather of Buffalo, he proved himself wrong, by really turning the team around and becoming the centerpiece to the Bills attack. Kelly quickly became adept at the Bills No Huddle Offense, – nicknamed the ‘K-Gun’. Few teams’ defenses could keep up with the Bills no huddle attack, and by 1988 (with the final addition of Thurman Thomas,) the Buffalo Bills were the premiere team in the AFC. Jim had some awesome weapons in Andre Reed and later also, James Lofton, but among the ones that was overlooked the most was his center- Kent Hull who played with Jim (technically) since Kelly’s days with the Generals. With Jim at the helm the Bills won 4 AFC titles in a row from 1990- 1993, but never won a Super Bowl title. Still Kelly earned a heaping of accolades and All Pro awards until his retirement after the 1996 season. His number has also been retired by the Bills and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002. He also dabbled in broadcasting briefly, handling WLAF color commentary for the USA Network back in 1991 and 1992. Combining Jim’s USFL #s with his NFL numbers gives him well over 45,000 career passing yards and 320 passing touchdowns. His number has also been retired by the Bills.

Jim has spent a great deal of his time giving back to the community, as his son tragically passed away from Krabbe Disease, in 2005. He also spends much time working football camps for children in Upper NY and is dedicated to keeping the Bills in Buffalo. You can write him courtesy of Hunter’s Hope Foundation with a donation for his autograph.

USFL    36/36   Att 1154   Comp 730  Yds 9842   Pct 63.3   Td 83   Int 45
NFL/GP  160/160   Att  4779    Comp  2874    Yds 35467    Pct 60.1     Td  237   Int 175   Rat 84.4   |  Rush 304   Yds 1049  Avg 3.5  Td 7   Lg 3.5

Arena, NFL, usfl

Bentley, Ray

Card: Score 1991
Acquired: Canton Acquisition 2012

After finishing college at Central Michigan in 1983, Bentley went undrafted by the NFL and was taken by the Michigan Panthers in the USFL Territorial Draft. He’d play for the Panthers over the next two seasons, helping them win the USFL Championship, as the connection from Bobby Herbert to Anthony Carter on offense was almost unstoppable. Bentley played with the Oakland Invaders in 1985, which had merged with the Michigan Panthers, and reached the championship again, but the league folded after the season. As one of the quieter names in the league in an unglamorous position, Bentley again was not selected in the draft- this time being the 1984 NFL Supplemental Draft of USFL and CFL players. He signed a free agent contract with the Buffalo Bills in ’86.

An excellent find by the Bills, Bentley worked well in the team’s 3-4 alignment, alongside starters Cornelius Bennett, Shane Conlan, and Darryl Talley, plugging right into the lineup at right inside linebacker. A menacing run stopper, Ray relayed the play calls from the coaches to the team and made adjustments at the line of scrimmage for the defense.  An intimidating run stopper, Bentley was fond of using eye black and streaking it down his cheeks as though they were tears. After playing in Buffalo for 6 years, Ray finished up his career with one final season playing for the Bengals, recording his first professional touchdown on a fumble he returned 75 yards.

Ray has been a very active guy since his days in the NFL ended. He’s done a series of children’s books including “Darby the Dinosaur” and has spent a lot of his time in color commentary for the Arena Football League and Bills radio broadcasts. He’s considered a member of the ‘New’ USFL advisory board, and also spends time coaching high school football.

G/Gs  87/53   Tac  N/a    Sac 2.0    Fum 3     Int 3    Yds 71     Avg 23.6     Td  0    Lg  58