AAFL, CFL, NFL, NFLE

Crouch, Eric

UFLTNT10 CrouchCards: TNT UFL 2011, Upper Deck MVP 2002
Acquired: TTM 2013, C/o Home
Sent: 5/22     Received: 5/31    (9 days)*
*Failure: RTS 2013, C/o Home

Eric Crouch is a hometown football hero, playing for the Nebraska Cornhuskers, and winning the 2002 Heisman Trophy. There he became as well known for his passing, as he was for his rushing, out of the wishbone offense. He set numerous records there including the career touchdown leader with 88, most TDs rushing by a QB with 59 (NCAA record), and the school’s career total offensive yardage leader with 7915 yards. He also became one of 3 quarterbacks to rush for over 3000 yards and pass for over 4000.

Draft pundits were unsure of the final position he should play, but overall he was generally regarded as a well rounded athlete.  The Rams drafted Eric in the 3rd round of the 2002 draft to play receiver, but with his heart not in the position change, Eric packed his bags. Later he’d resurface on the roster of the Packers from UDMVP02 Crouch2003-2004, and the Chiefs in 2005. Eric then took a stint to play in the NFLE with the Hamburg SeaDevils in 2005.  There he played free safety notching 25 tackles and 2 passes defensed.

Returning across the pond, Crouch went to play for the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL in 2006. There he’d finally be taken seriously as a quarterback, where he could hone his skills. He completed 6 of 13 passes, for 127 yards, and a pick.  The next season, Crouch was expected to compete for the second string job, but injuries derailed his CFL career, and he’d be released midway through the 2007 season.

A new league, the AAFL (All American Football League) appeared in 2008 with teams scheduled to play in 6 markets. The league hastily put a draft together, and Eric Crouch was the 3rd overall pick by Team Texas, coached by former UH coach John Jenkins. Unfortunately the AAFL never took to the field due to ‘softening financial markets’.

With Eric’s rights released, he decided to give an open tryout a shot with the UFL’s Omaha Nighthawks. He signed with the team in June of 2010, and played during the regular season, but in a September contest suffered a torn miniscus, ending his career.

He’s currently retired and lives in Nebraska with his wife and 2 children.

NFL

Fuller, Steve

Card: Topps 1985
Acquired: Canton Acquisition 2012

With Jack Thompson and Phil Simms off the board of the 1979 draft, the Kansas City Chiefs nabbed Steve Fuller at the bottom of  the first round. A quarterback with good legs at Clemson, Fuller rushed for 649 yards and 10 touchdowns on 153 carries and threw for 7 touchdowns to only 4 interceptions in his final season for the Tigers. During his time there he’d set 3 passing records for the school, accumulate 22 TDs and 4359 yards.

He’d spend the next 4 seasons with the Chiefs, and throw for 22 touchdowns. His best season came in 1980 when Fuller had 2250 yards and 10 touchdowns to rank 4th in the AFC. Fuller moved to the Rams as a backup in 1983 but saw no playing time, and then signed with the Bears in 1984 to back up oft injured Jim McMahon.  Fuller played a vital role in the offense during the 1985 season and guided the team to a 4-1 record in Jim’s absence. This allowed the Bears to reach Super Bowl XX with little fanfare in the NFC. (While he wasn’t the fanciest of passers, Steve managed to find the endzone 5 times during the season.)  He’d appear in the memorable “Super Bowl Shuffle” video along with most of the starting cast. Fuller played one final season in 1986 and retired to South Carolina soon thereafter.

G/Gs    90/42     Att 1066     Comp 605     Yds 7156      Pct 56.8%        Td 28    Int 41       Rat 70.1     |        Rush 186        Yds 908       Avg 4.9       Td  11       Lg  49

NFL

Sharper, Jamie

ud02tex sharperCard: Upper Deck Houston Texans 2002
Acquired: IP 9/1/2013, Houston Texans Kemah Boardwalk Kickoff
Failure: TTM 2010, C/o Home
See Also: Texans Ambassadors

After carving a great stint out at UVA and helping the team to an ACC title in 1995, the Baltimore Ravens selected Jamie Sharper with the 34th pick of the 2nd round in the 1997 NFL draft. An unsung, integral part to the Ravens 2000 title run Jamie’s defining moment with the franchise came in Super Bowl XXXV against the Giants (and former Virginia teammate Tiki Barber) when the historic Baltimore defense held New York without an offensive touchdown in the 35-7 rout.

In 2002, the Houston Texans were conducting their expansion draft from a pool of NFL veterans. Facing salary cap issues, the Ravens left Sharper exposed. In the weeks running up to the special draft for my newly adopted team, I had paid special attention to the list and pegged Sharper as the highest rated player available.  The Texans selected him with their 5th pick, and along with fellow teammate Jermaine Lewis, he joined the fledgling franchise.

Sharper fit well in the Texans’ 3-4 base alignment brought in by head coach Dom Capers. Slotted inside at RILB, Jamie was one of the better linebackers in the league, manhandling ball carriers and marauding for the occasional fumble. He’d help anchor the linebacking corps for the Texans for the next 3 seasons. Defensively the Texans were actually pretty good, but because the offense was so bad along the exterior of the line and quarterback David Carr was pressed into immediate duty, the team had few high points after surprising the Dallas Cowboys in their first regular season game 19-10. In 2003, Jamie led the NFL with a whopping 301 combined tackles, but in the meantime though, and after 3 seasons, most of the expansion players’ contracts matured like a ticking time bomb.  The Texans were pressed into immediate Salary Cap action. Purging nearly all the players from the expansion draft, the thought from the team was by going younger and faster at linebacker, they could also go cheaper and still remain competitive. I was blindsided and incensed. Jamie was given the option of seeking a trade, but because of his larger salary cap number, he eventually was cut and signed with the Seattle Seahawks. The Texans in the meantime were not competitive. They finished a dismal 2-14 and owner Bob McNair wisely cleaned house after the 2005 season. It was a blessing in disguise for Jamie.  In his final season in the NFL, he was a member of the Seahawks first Super Bowl appearance, but a knee injury ended his season after 136 straight NFL starts, and unfortunately his career.

sharperI had written Jamie back in 2010, but did not hear back from him. The Texans have an extremely active alumni association of local former players, (much to the organization’s credit,) that reaches out to fans throughout the year. Missing out on a few Academy appearances, since I just couldn’t justify driving 200+ miles for one autograph, I decided to go to the Texans 2013 Kickoff at Kemah- which is a team rally to get fans excited for the upcoming season. Knowing that 3 players were to make an appearance, I packed all my ambassador cards, and lucked out with Jamie. After surviving a blistering 3 hour wait in 100+ degree and 100% humidity, while fighting off a pack of line cutters, I eventually was able to get Jamie on this 2002 expansion franchise card from Upper Deck. He was also very impressed by my Jamie Sharper jersey (yes I am probably the only person who owns one) that I was wearing and offered to sign it, but I told him no, since I like to wear it and probably needed to wash it after waiting so long in the heat. (I think he was a bit disappointed though, so I may retire it with an autograph the next time, if I see him again.) When I asked him which ball carrier he hated or feared the most to tackle, he took a second to respond and told me, “Definitely Barry Sanders.”

G/Gs  136/135    Tac           Sac  25.5       Fum  13        Int   2      Yds  49     Avg    24.5     Td 0    Lg 45

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