NFL, WLAF

Moorer, Patrick “Hitman”

ult92 moorerCard: Ultimate WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2013, C/o Louisville
Sent: 7/15    Received: 8/15   (30 days)

A four year starter who walked onto the Florida Gators, Pat Moorer led the squad in tackles in both his junior and senior seasons at inside linebacker, earning the apt nickname ‘Hitman’, and finishing with an even 300 career tackles.  Signed by the San Diego Chargers as a free agent in 1990, Pat did not make the squad, but instead went on to greater glory playing in the WLAF. During the WLAF positional draft in 1991, the Hitman was taken in the second round by the Frankfurt Galaxy which employed a 3-4 defense. His rookie season with the squad, Pat recorded 29 total tackles and 2.5 sacks. He’d play with the league another year before returning back to college to pursue his degree in Health and Human Performance from Florida in 1992. He then moved into the assistant role at the college until he was hired at Illinois in 1997, and then South Carolina in 1999 as the director of strength and conditioning. There he began to garner a great reputation as the personal trainer to RB Emmitt Smith. Patrick later was proudly awarded what amounts to a Masters in the field of Strength and Conditioning in 2006. In 2010, he joined the staff at Louisville, where as of 2013 he continues in this capacity.

WLAF    Tac  N/a    Sac 2.5    Fum 0    Int 0     Yds 0    Avg -.-   Td 0    Lg -.-

NFL, University of Texas

Williams, Aaron

udut11 a williamsCards: Upper Deck 2011, UT Upper Deck 2011
Acquired: 2/16/2013, Longhorn Neighborhood Foundation Bowling Tournament

The #4 rated cornerback prospect coming into the draft, Aaron Williams was the 2nd round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 2011. Posting pretty solid numbers, Williams ran a 4.4 40 on his Pro Day, and finished his rookie season with 32 tackles, 5 pass defensed, 1 forced fumble, and 1 pick in 6 starts. In 2012 Williams had 10 starts and notched 32 more tackles, and 7 pass defensed.

The mercurial Williams went to school locallyud11 awilliams in Austin, and then to the University of Texas in 2008. UT is frequently known in circles as ‘DB U’ because it produces more defensive backs that are NFL ready than nearly any other school in the nation. He appeared in 37 games for the Longhorns, including 23 starts at CB. Williams was also an outstanding special teams player, known for his knack to block and return kicks. Williams recorded 106 tackles, 12 TFL, 3 sacks, 4 picks, 6 forced fumbles, and 5 blocked punts during his time at UT. He declared after his Junior season for the NFL.

Williams, along with Keenan Robinson, and James Kirkendoll all sat at a table with me and ate lunch. I did not realize who each was (outside of J-Kirk), but later got their autographs on their respective cards. I had an extra that I let Chuck from the Zone get autographed for himself since he went to High School with Williams. Aaron is a skilled bowler and was tearing up the lanes at Highland during the LNF Bowling Tournament.

NFL, NFLE, Super Bowl MVP, ufl, usfl

Williams, Doug

sco89 dwilliamsCard: Score 1989
Acquired: Trade 2013
Failure: TTM 2010, C/o The Buccaneers

One of the first Super Bowls I vividly remember watching was Super Bowl XXII between the Denver Broncos and the Washington Redskins. After spotting John Elway and the Broncos 10 points, Doug Williams came onto the field and guided the Redskins to 42 unanswered points. It was the first time a black quarterback had started in the Super Bowl, -and people were making a big deal about it, but as a kid this didn’t really seem to be the biggest storyline. The best thing to me about the game was Williams’ receivers, Clark, Monk, and Sanders who had really great celebrations. I wasn’t really aware of what Williams had been through to that point to get him to the Super Bowl, little less win and become its MVP. Really it’s pretty legendary.

Well, Doug Williams’ career started way, way back in 1978 when he was drafted out of Grambling State by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he was under the tutelage of offensive coordinator Joe Gibbs for that one season. Although his numbers were pretty atrocious, especially his completion percentage early on, Doug showed marked improvement every season from 37.6 in 1978, to 53.2 in 1982. As the team progressed into the playoffs for the first two times in the team’s history, Williams got embroiled in a contract dispute with owner Hugh Culverhouse after the 1982 season.  Unable to reach terms with the Bucs, Doug bolted for the upstart USFL in 1983. Some would say that the Buccaneers were cursed after Williams left, as they slipped into the doldrums of the NFC Central where they’d languish for nearly 15 years going through a revolving door of quarterbacks (13) that included names such as Steve DeBerg, Vinny Testaverde, Craig Erickson, Chris Chandler, Steve Young, and Trent Dilfer, before they got it right and then later won the Super Bowl in 2001. (Note that both Young and Dilfer also won the Super Bowl after leaving Tampa, and Young was also MVP. Ironically Chandler and DeBerg showed up on the same team but did not win for the Falcons.)

Doug was selected by the Oklahoma Outlaws. He then moved on to play for Arizona when it merged with Oklahoma as the USFL began imploding the next season.  The team didn’t make the playoffs either season, and Williams’ penchant for being an inconsistent passer began to take hold in the media once again. He finished his career in the USFL and it appeared that Williams career was at a standstill as a starter, but an old friend had a roster spot for him on the Washington Redskins- Joe Gibbs.

With Joe Theismann’s career winding down in Washington, the Redskins needed new blood behind Jay Schroeder at quarterback. Familiar with Doug all the way back from his brief stay in Tampa, Gibbs nabbed Williams off the street in 1986. While Doug didn’t really see any playing time that season, it’d be in 1987 that he’d cement his legacy as a historical quarterback of the modern era. Taking over for the injured Schroeder that season, Williams commanded the team and the offense with 11 touchdowns to only 5 picks. He’d also set a then NFL record with the most yards passing in the Redskins’ Super Bowl victory over the Broncos, a game that he won MVP honors for. With Schroeder leaving the Redskins the following season for the Raiders, Doug took over as uncontested starter for the Redskins, but unfortunately Doug could not stay injury free. Instead, he became backup to the next quarterback to win a Super Bowl for the Redskins, Mark Rypien. He retired after the 1989 season, due to lingering back issues. Despite his limited playing time for the Redskins, and 5-9 starting record, Doug is considered legendary by many of the Washington faithful. He was inducted into the Washington Redskins Ring of Fame, and was named one of the team’s 80 greatest players.

Williams jumped into coaching and front office roles with equal vigor, enjoying stops at the US Naval Academy (1994), Scottish Claymores (1995), Jacksonville Jaguars (1995-1996), Morehouse College (1997), Grambling (1998-2003), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2004-2010), Virginia Destroyers (2010-2011), and then returned to become head coach at Grambling where he has remained through 2012.  It’s very easy to say that Williams legacy as the first black starting quarterback in the modern era cemented leadership roles for future players such as Warren Moon and Randall Cunningham and on into the modern era of quarterbacks today.

G/Gs 88/81   Att 2501     Comp 1240    Yds 16998     Pct 49.5      Td  100    Int 93     Rat 69.4  |
Rush 220     Yds 884      Avg  4.0       Td  15    Lg 29

 

 

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