Acquired: In Person, 6/10/12, 610 Houston Fan Fest III
Kasey Studdard had a strong career blocking for the Texas Longhorns from 2003-2006, earning all Big 12 Honors, and Team Captain along the way. The gritty offensive guard was taken by his hometown Houston Texans with their 6th round pick of the 2007 draft and inserted into their ZBS. Forced into action due to an injury to Ironman Chester Pitts, Studdard started 14 games for the team in 2009. He’d continue to play for the Texans through 2011, but an injury ended his season and the team opted to not resign him. Restless without football for 2011, Studdard did his time rehabbing and working out to stay in football shape. The Texans called him up before training camp and resigned him to the squad during 2012, but he’d be cut after the third preseason game. He is quite recognizable to Texans’ fans because of his mangy beard that he has grown out that he claims keeps him cool during the warmer times of the year. (I claim it makes him look like a white version of MMA fighter Kimbo Slice.)
Along with a host of other players at the 610 Fan Fest, I got Kasey and James Kirkendoll without ever setting foot at their table because they were walking around the floor among the crowd. A savvy fan pointed him out, and I was able to go over and score his autograph saving me precious time. I liked this picture of Studdard. They never made a card of him, but I thought this picture captured him in all his glory and grit, and would be perfect for him if they ever did. A popular member of the Longhorns squad, Kasey is considered the model of aggression and grit that fans love from offensive linemen. I am very surprised that Upper Deck didn’t make a Longhorn card of Studdard, but I guess that will have to wait for the ‘second edition’.
Cards: Pro Set 1990 Heisman Winner, Pro Set 1991 Heisman Hero, Score 1990, Action Packed Rookies 1990
Acquired: TTM 2012, C/o Home
Sent: 9/7 Received: 12/12 (96 days)
Way back in the days of the SWC (SouthWestern Conference) the Houston Cougars were continually struggling for attention under the heels of the traditional powerhouses of the conference. While peppering occasional league titles and bowl appearances, the team went some 10 years without a top 25 finish from the late 70s through the mid-late 80s. It’d be with the arrival of Jack Pardee that the team experienced a renaissance, and return to the national stage. Andre Ware stepped up at quarterback to command Pardee’s Run ‘N Shoot offense in 1989. Despite being under pressure from NCAA sanctions limiting scholarships, and a bowl and TV ban, the Coogs posted a 9-2 record. Ware lit the offensive record books on fire, including a 95-21 drubbing of SMU, where Andre threw 6 TDs in one quarter. Andre went on to set 13 NCAA records, including most yards passing in a season (4,699), while his 46 TD passes fell one short of Jim McMahon‘s record. Ware won the Heisman in 1989 after the season during 4th closest vote- ahead of RB Anthony Thompson (Indiana), QB Major Harris (West Virginia), and QB Tony Rice (Notre Dame). Initially Ware intended to stay for his Senior season at UH, but with Jack Pardee bolting for the Houston Oilers down the street- Andre changed his mind and declared for the 1990 NFL draft.
When the draft rolled around I had hoped the Oilers would take Ware to become quarterback Warren Moon‘s heir apparent but Andre did not last long enough for the Houston to nab him. The Lions took Ware at #7. (The Oilers later in the round took another UH alum instead- linebacker Lamar Lathon.)
The Lions ran the ‘Silver Stretch’ Run ‘N Shoot variant under head coach Wayne Fontes, and offensive coordinator Mouse Davis. At quarterback the team had Rodney Peete, and Bob Gagliano, but the Lions were truly built to run with Barry Sanders in the backfield. Ware only started 1 game over the next two seasons rarely getting a chance behind Peete and later Erik Kramer. He was rumored to have alienated players and coaches with his attitude, but Ware, just wanted to play. The Oilers in the meantime attempted to trade Cody Carlson on two occasions to the Lions for Ware, but failed.
After the 1994 season, Andre began the journeyman phase of his career. Over the next few years, Ware saw offseason stops with the Vikings, Raiders, and expansion Jaguars, before finally landing in the CFL with the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1995. Later he signed with the BC Lions in 1996, and then found himself backing up Doug Flutie on the Grey Cup Championship winning Toronto Argos in 1997.
Andre last played football in 1999 for the Berlin Thunder in the NFLE, finally retiring after the season due to a fractured shoulder.
Andre has kept to his hometown area, working in the Houston media. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2004, and the Texas Sports Hall of Fame in 2012. He currently works for the Houston Texans as a radio color analyst.
Ware marks another in a long line of players that I really wanted on their cards. With an abundance of amazing shots, it is easy to notice that many of the companies had Andre tabbed as one of the next big superstars and did not want to have their set left in the cold. I had previously attempted to get Andre through my Houston Texans connection, but that obviously failed when he was cut. It took me some time but with some responses popping up occasionally through sports collectors, I jumped at the opportunity to sign the former Cougars’ signal caller. I really couldn’t decide which cards to send to him. His ProSet 1990 Lions card, and Andre’s Score 1990 Supplemental card also deserved some mention along with these 4. Even his Pacific entry had a nice, dynamic look to it. Feeling guilty about sending these four cards, I sent a check for the autographs, but Andre voided the check, and signed and inscribed all of them, in a bit under 100 days.
G/Gs 14/6 Att 161 Comp 83 Yds 1116 Pct 51.6
Td 5 Int 8 Rat 79.4 | Rush 38 Yds 217 Avg 5.7 Td 0 Lg 32
CFL 29 Att 252 Comp 134 Yds 1542 Pct 53.1 Td 10 Int 10 |
Rush 40 Yds 316 Avg 7.9 Td 1 Lg 39
WLAF Att 121 Comp 54 Yds 715 Pct 44.6
Td 4 Int 4 Rat 61.1
Rush 16 Yds 170 Avg 10.6 Td 2 Lg 45
The dominant color green was chosen by the ownership group, thanks in part because they knew what color dragons were.
BACKGROUND:
The Barcelona Dragons enjoyed some of the best stability throughout the history WLAF/ NFL Europe with the longest tenured coaches in the league. Over the entire lifetime of the Dragons, Jack Bicknell was the only head coach the team knew. Andrew Brandt served as the team’s primary GM with Terry McDunough as Director of Player Personnel. Future Galaxy head coach Dick Curl served as OC/ QBs and receivers coach for the team, while future SeaDevils coach Vince Martino worked with the offensive line. At defensive coordinator Red Kelin, was Jack Bicknell’s partner in crime. He stayed with Jack throughout nearly the whole tenure of the franchise as well.
Barcelona has long been interested in American Football. From its roots in 1987, the sport then took off in neighboring Spain, with Barcelona’s team being known as, “The Drags”. When the WLAF was establishing franchises, prominent real estate developer Josep Figueras and president of the city’s Chamber of Commerce, acquired ownership of the franchise.
The Dragons was the name the ownership group wanted from the beginning. It was the design that took some time. The logo was designed by Los Angeles artist Jayme Odgen, who paints with a strong Picasso influence. It took 27 iterations to get to this final design, and while it is Picasso influenced- it comes off as being more Aztec. Originally blue, gold, and red were selected as the color combinations- but since the ownership group felt that they knew what color dragons were, green needed to be the dominant color.
The Dragons played at Estadi Olimpic de Montejuic stadium in Barcelona which had been renovated in 1989 to a 55,000 capacity stadium. An all-purpose stadium that functioned primarily as a soccer arena, Montejuic was given a nice facelift in anticipation of the Summer Olympics coming to the city. The Dragons were embraced warmly by the city, and players relied on home grown Operation Discovery player Xisco Marcos to show them around town. Marcos, despite never getting on the field, was the most popular player on the team.
1991:
The Dragons had strong depth across the board that allowed them to appear at World Bowl I in 1991. Despite losing their starting quarterback Scott Erney and starting runningback Paul Palmer to injuries at different points of the season, the team found other ways under Bicknell’s clever clock management, good line play, and aggressive defense to win games.
The Dragons were the second least sacked team in the league behind their division rival Monarchs. Gene Taylor led the way at WR with 35 receptions for 745 yards, a cornerback killing 21.3 YPC, and 6 TDs. Mr. Irrelevant 1990, Demetrius Davis made mincemeat of zone defenses at TE catching 34 balls for 461 yards and 3 touchdowns. Tim Edgerton (27 receptions, 336 yards) and Thomas Woods (20 receptions, 223 yards) rounded out a sound receiving corps.
At runningback, Paul Palmer (former Chiefs, Cowboys runningback,) created all the buzz, but it was Jim Bell in the end with 367 yards, as unhearlded fullback Lydell Carr cleared the path for no matter who was running behind him.
Quarterback Scott Erney (1186 yds, 8TD, 2INT), was an accountable clock manager for Barcelona, while backup Tony Rice stepped in and electrified the offense with his fleet feet (210 yards rushing, 2 td).
The defense hammered opponents, and had former #1 NFL pick Bruce Clark at defensive end. He paced the team with linebacker Eric Naposki at 7 sacks. Naposki, Goetz, (team lead in interceptions with 4,) and Eric Lindstrom (4 sacks) were the strength of the team at linebacker for the tenacious defense. In fact the most amount of points the team allowed in 1991 was 22 in a 22-14 loss to the Monarchs. Anthony Greene was the team’s #1 defensive back, recording 3 picks on the season.
Among other notables from the 1991 season were punter Louie Aguilar, who went onto greater glory in the NFL for the Chiefs, and Jay Gruden- (older brother of Jon Gruden,) who became one of the most prolific passers in Arena Football History and head coach of the Washington Redskins.
The team cruised through the 1991 season, losing only to the Monarchs, and a 10-3 yawner to Frankfurt in Week 9 of the season. This made the standings uncomfortable for the Dragons, and in fact left them looking in on the playoffs, but with the Galaxy blowing a season finale to the lowly Surge, Barcelona was in.
The Dragons dispatched with Birmingham to advance to the World Bowl and face their rival Monarchs again, but after playing a close contest early on, the Dragons buckled and fell 21-7.
1992:
1992 opened up with a 17-0 loss to Frankfurt, but the team responded winning the next 5 contests in a row over the Knights, Monarchs (x2), Galaxy, and Glory, before dropping their next 5 contests to back into the playoffs with a 5-5 record.
The team suffered offensively in year two, being blanked 3 times by opponents (Galaxy, Riders, and Knights). Paul Palmer and Scott Erney both returned to champion the offense, but the line suffered offensive line woes, giving up 3.8 sacks a game.
It was at receiver that the team really stepped up in 1992. Thomas Woods led the team with 51 receptions for 546 yards and a blazing 86 yard score. Tony Moss (40 rec, 421 yards, 2 td) and Demetrius Davis (34 rec, 374 yards, 2 TDs) really helped keep the team moving when the run game stalled out.
On defense, Clark was back with newcomer Brent White (7 sacks), but the team was much more reliant on their back 8. Goetz (3 picks, 2 sacks), Lindstrom (7 sacks), and Naposki (4 sacks) again made up the difference at linebacker, but it was Greene in the secondary (3 picks) and Adrian Jones who really came alive (9 int, TD) to help rescue the team’s season from disaster.
Among the other notable players on the roster of the Dragons in 1992, was former Oilers kicker Teddy Garcia.
Somehow at 5-5 the Dragons made the playoffs, this time as the European Division Champions. They’d put up a spirited fight against the eventual World Bowl II Champion Sacramento Surge, but lose 17-15 in the first round. The team would go into hibernation for the next few years until it returned in 1995.
NOTES:
Odd stories about the league seemed to come from Barcelona. The funniest of them was that the players couldn’t find beds big enough or long enough to sleep in so they frequently squished two together.
It was obvious from the beginning that American fan interest circled around former Notre Dame QB Tony Rice, however the most popular player turned out to be Xisco Marcos- a local who had made the team through Operation Discovery.
Among the franchises the Dragons seem to be the most snake bitten, as both offensive lineman Barry Voorhess, Scott Adams and TE Dementrius Davis have already passed away.
Newspaper image clipping courtesy Eric Naposki
LEGACY:
With the return of the WLAF in 1995 to a purely European format, Barcelona was welcomed back, along with London and Frankfurt, and a few new European franchises to boot. Much of the roster had moved on by now, but a few holdovers decided to give the league another shot. The team had some interesting names on it. Former San Antonio wonder back from 1991, Ricky Blake led the way at runningback with 398 yards on 98 carries. He’d be joined by Lindsey Chapman (289 yards) and QB Jay Walker (204 yards). Walker was the team’s leading passer with 7 TDs and 7 picks. Former Heisman Winner Casey Weldon and Tony Sacca backed him up at quarterback. Barcelona finished at a flat .500.
In 1996, future Cleveland Brown Kelly Holcomb took the reins at QB finishing second in the league in passing with 2,382 yards passing. Charles Thompson ranked 3rd in the league with 410 yards. Mainstay Demetrius Davis ranked 5th in the league with 43 receptions. Barcelona again managed to break even with a 5-5 record- 4-1 at home and 1-4 on the road.
With the 1997 season, the Dragons finally had a breakthrough. While again finishing at 5-5, Barcelona blew through the playoffs to win their first World Bowl title 38-24 over the Rhein Fire. Future Seahawks QB Jon Kitna guided the team with his 3 receivers Tyree Davis (43), Sheddrick Wilson (41), and Bryce Burnett (35) finishing three, four, and five in the receiving standings. Terry Wilburn finished 5th in the league with 429 yards rushing.
After a subpar 1998 season at 4-6, the Dragons again returned to the World Bowl in 1999, behind Lawrence Phillips (1031 rushing yards) and Todd Bouman throwing to Brian Finneran. The Dragons came in with the league’s best record of 7-3 but lost to Frankfurt 38-24.
In 2000, the team finished again at 5-5. About the only highlight was Jeremaine Copeland leading the lead in receiving with 74 catches.
2001 again saw the Dragons put up a league leading 8-2 record. Mike Green led the league in rushing with 1,057 yards breaking Lawrence Phillips rushing record. Trevor Insley finished second with 61 catches.
In 2002, the Dragons finally fell on hard times with a 2-8 record and while the team rebounded in 2003 with a 5-5 record, Barcelona’s attendance figures were suffering. The league decided to shuffle the franchise to Germany where it became known as the Cologne Centurions in 2004.
Barcelona finished its tenure at 59-55 overall in the different incarnations of the World League.
Thanks to the generous donations of @CFLfan_inPhilly I have been able to begin work on expanding the shrine to the World League, by adding members of the league’s spiritual successor, NFLE/Europa through their various card sets from Playoff Contenders NFLE 2000.
These players appeared later with the Dragons from 1995-2003.
QB- Tony Graziani, Cory Sauter, Casey Weldon RB- Jesse Haynes WR- Jermaine Copeland, Sean Morey TE- Damian Vaughn
At this time I am still missing autographs on these cards from:
Pro Set WLAF 1991- Barry Voorhees (DEC)
Ultimate WLAF 1992- Demetrius Davis (DEC) Mike Hinnant
Wild Card WLAF 1992- Glenn Cobb Brad Henke Tony Moss Demetrius Davis (DEC)
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
Acquired: In Person, 6/10/12, 610 Houston Fan Fest III
