Heisman Trophy Winner, NFL

Cappelletti, John

Card: Topps 2002 College All-American
Acquired: Canton Acquisition 2012

John Cappelletti played for the Penn State Nittany Lions from 1971-1973. Originally a defensive back, the coaches by his Sophomore season felt he was best suited to play runningback. From there John went on to have a storied career for Penn State, but at the same time his brother, Joey, was slowly losing his battle to Leukemia. As time was running out on Joey, John asked him if there was a wish he could grant for him. Joey asked John to score 4 touchdowns for him in the next game against West Virginia. John wasn’t sure he’d be able to do it, but in the end John granted his younger brother Joey his final wish. Cappelletti went on to win the Hesiman trophy in 1973, and had a remarkable cumulative 2,639 yards, 29 TDs, and a 5.1 YPC in  2 seasons by the time he graduated from Penn State that year. John also dedicated his Heisman to his brother Joey as well.

The Los Angeles Rams took him with the 11th overall pick of the 1974 draft where the Rams used him primarily as a short yardage back. He’d score a career high 6 TDs rushing in 1975, and 688 yards rushing in 1976. Cappelletti signed with the San Diego Chargers in 1980 where he finished his career in 1983.  In 1977 a made for TV movie called “Something for Joey” starring Marc Singer, was made based on John’s story. He currently lives in California.

G/Gs 105/52      Rush 824       Yds 2951       Avg   3.6        Td  24       Lg 46
Rec  135             Yds  1233             Avg  9.1           Td  4      Lg 37

Arena, NFL, WLAF

Wilkerson, Eric (2)

Cards: ProSet WLAF 1991 TD leader, ProSet WLAF 1991 Rushing leader, ProSet 1991 WLAF, Ultimate WLAF 1992, Ultimate WLAF 1992 LL, Wild Card WLAF 1992.
Acquired: TTM 2012, C/o Kent State Alumni Association*
Sent:  6/16    Received: 7/28  (34 days)
See Also: Eric Wilkerson
* Donation requested

The paid side of SportsCollectors.net has been really good to me, and I’ve been able to unearth some very nice gems recently out of there recently. Case in point: Eric Wilkerson. I had been looking for Eric for quite a while. After hearing he had been stabbed, I hadn’t been able to find anymore information on him, but combing the archives of SC I found a success for the elusive runningback by writing to him care of Kent State’s Alumni Association. Since I had reached a desperate level on him, and he is one of those players with a bunch of cards, I decided to give it a shot and throw in a donation, since I felt so guilty about sending so many cards. While reconciling my bank account statements, I noticed that he cashed the check out a few days earlier, and then crossed my fingers on the return.  I would not be disappointed as he signed all 6 cards, which represents the single highest haul from a player since probably – Stan Gelbaugh? With Eric’s autographs on his 3 ProSet WLAF 1991 cards, it officially puts me over the halfway mark on the set (76/150).  Among the cards is the really slick touchdown league leader card, that he split with Orlando Thunder receiver Byron Williams. Nearly all of these cards are just really great heroic images of Eric in action, with probably his regular base card from the Ultimate 1992 WLAF set being my favorite. He signed each one, and wrote 91/92 on either one indicating the year.

During his time at Kent State, Eric ran his way into the record books rushing for 3,380 yards from scrimmage, and crushing the Mid-American Conference’s combined yardage record with 5,974 all purpose yards. During his senior season he set a single season school record with 1,325 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Due to his diminutive size, and the small school he went to, Wilkerson went undrafted but signed with the Steelers in 1989, and the Lions in 1990.

The WLAF gave him a shot in 1991. He’d be the 8th runningback taken in the draft, by the New York New Jersey Knights, and lead the league in rushing in 1991 with 717 yards and 11 TDs.  While his 1992 season was not as successful, it was more about the Knights offense diversifying as much as anything else. Eric is unofficially the WLAF’s career leading rusher- since the league reorganized after the season and was not seen again until three years later in 1995.

NFL

Green, Ladarius

Card: SaGe Hit Low 12
Acquired: 4/27/11, Box Breaker.

At 6″6′, 238, the freakishly sized Ladarius Green was a late riser to the 2012 Draft, after playing at Louisiana- Lafayette.  In 2010, Ladarius had 44 receptions for 794 yards, an 18 yard average and 7 touchdowns.  On the biggest stage of his young career in 2011, Ladarius made 5 catches for 121 yards and a TD against San Diego State during the New Orleans Bowl in 2011. Green was a very productive pass-catching tight end and has displayed the type of athleticism that makes him a mismatch at the next level and the type of player a team could fall in love with. He’s a big tight end who understands how to get open and use his frame to be a good option for the quarterback in the short passing game and has good foot quickness, which he uses along with his frame to work against zone coverage and box out smaller defenders to secure the easy first-down catch. Green also possesses the body control that allows him to leap, torque and reach both high and low for poorly thrown balls, making him the type of red-zone option who can have his quarterback throw jump balls.  His career numbers are 149 receptions for 2201 yards, 14.8 YPR, and 22 touchdowns.

The San Diego Chargers grabbed Ladarius with their 4th round selection of the 2012 draft. Apparently they feel he will make a nice compliment to Antonio Gates.

Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.