Tag Archives: action packed rookies 1990

NFL

Calloway, Chris

Cards: Action Packed Rookies 1990, Topps Metal 1996
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent:  9/2  Received: 10/7   (35 days*)
*Slight delay. Forwarded from old address.

Chris Calloway is another receiver from the Great Blue of Michigan, who played opposite of blue chip prospect Greg McMurtry, finishing with 8 touchdown receptions.  At 5’10”, 189 it was thought that the speedster may have been a bit small, but the Steelers pulled the trigger on him in the 4th round of the 1990 draft.  He’d make 10 receptions his rookie season and 15 in 1991, but would find himself on the street in 1992.

Calloway would find a home with the New York Giants who liked his speed, route running, and willingness to do the dirty work. Calloway would continue to build slowly off of his previous seasons with 335 yards receiving, endearing him to Giants fans. Chris in fact his first 6 seasons saw career highs in receptions and yards every season.  After a slight dip in 1996- Chris would peak with 848 yards receiving and 8 touchdowns in 1997. 1998 was a career high in catches for Calloway with 62.  Chris signed with Atlanta in 1999 and start 6 games, making 314 yards receiving. He’d then play one final season in New England starting 2 games in 2000 before retiring in 2001.  At the end of his career, Chris ranked 7th on the Giants receptions list with 334 catches. Among receivers Chris reminds me a lot of former Houston Oilers wideout Curtis Duncan. Since retirement, Calloway has not forgotten about football and avidly wants to get into coaching or scouting. He lives in the Altanta area and is also a member of SotL.

Well this is the first one I got back TTM after moving with my forwarding address on it. I’m assuming it went back to my old address in California from Chris’ place in Georgia then came back to me here in Texas in a round about sort of way. Still I am happy to add him to my collection. Chris’ Action Packed Rookies card from 1990 was another example of Hi-Pro Marketing doing their due diligence at the time as this would be one of the earliest of his rookie cards by 4 or 5 years. His Topps Finest gives you a good idea of what the card industry was doing during the late 90s as it was losing traction and attempting to feel out its market. Using a similar metal process to Playoff, Topps produced this shiny metal format for a while, before returning to a much more flat style. I was surprised that the card also took the ink as well as it did.  Here are Chris’ final statistics:

G/Gs  158/96    Rec  386      Yds 5497       Avg 14.2       Td 30       Lg 68

NFL

Barnett, Harlon

 

Cards:  Action Packed Rookies 1990, GameDay 1992, Topps 1992.
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Michigan State University
Sent: 7/20   Received: 7/28  (8 days)

Harlon Barnett was a outstanding hard hitting defensive back  who served as a team captain for the Michigan State Spartans back in the late 1980s. At 5-11, 180 he was a bit undersized to play safety but converted to free safety his senior season and earned All American Honors recording 69 tackles, 3 picks, and 3 fumble recoveries.

The Browns would take a stab at their home state product, and nab Harlon in the 4th round of the 1990 draft. After missing the majority of his rookie season with a back injury, Barnett would return to the line up in 1991 as the team would reshuffle its secondary after the departure of Felix Wright to Minnesota and the drafting of Eric Turner. As injuries would continue to plague the Browns beleaguered secondary, Barnett would start 10 games, making a modest 60 tackles and 1 sack that season. After a lackluster 1992, Harlon would sign with the New England Patriots and play for them 2 seasons making 4 interceptions. In 1995 he’d head over to Minnesota and retire after the 1996 season. Barnett is an astute student of the game and headed into coaching with stops at LSU and Cincinnati. He is currently the defensive backs coach of Michigan State where I got his autograph on these 3 cards in a short 8 days.

Great cards here of Harlon, who was more of a role player and special teams star for the teams he was on. Action Packed once again had a stellar scouting team in place, and had a rookie card out before his rookie season really got underway. This Topps 1992 card was when they finally got the message that action shots were important to collectors. It’s a good shot of Harlon as well, and along with the GameDay cards, these represented the 3 cards I had in my collection of the former MSU star.

G/Gs  99/54     Tac  264    Sac  2.0    Fum 3      Int 4     Yds 91    Avg 22.7      Td 0       Lg 40
Barnett makes a pick against the ‘Canes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CB2sKwemGUM
Anthony Johnson takes it on the nose from Harlon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w53R0bikjjw&feature=related

Arena, NFL

Willis, Peter Tom

 

Cards: Action Packed Rookies 1990, ProSet 1990, Score 1990
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent: 5/4 Received: 7/2  (59 days)

A strong-armed, mobile quarterback with outstanding accuracy and touch, Peter Tom Willis served as backup on the Seminoles from 1987-1988 before he received his break to become a starter in 1989. In only his first true season as leader of Florida State’s offense, he threw for 3124 yards and 20 touchdowns. His 6 TD passes against Memphis State would set a school record and he would be voted MVP of the Fiesta Bowl when he threw for 422 yards and 5 touchdowns over Nebraska. At the time of his graduation, his 4291 career passing yards ranked 3rd on the school’s all-time list.

The Chicago Bears drafted Willis in the third round of the 1990 draft. He’d be the fourth quarterback off the board after Jeff George, Andre Ware, and Tommy Hodson. Expected to be the quarterback of the future, he sat on the bench behind Jim Harbaugh and Mike Tomczak seeing a little mop up action his rookie and sophomore seasons. In a 27-14 loss to Cleveland in 1992, Willis threw for two touchdown passes and 279 yards in relief of Harbaugh, however his 5 game performance and 0-2 record as a starter still meant the jury was out. In 1993 with new head coach Dave Wannstedt in place Peter Tom would see backup duty again throughout the season, in a lackluster performance against Tampa Bay.

In 1997, Willis resurfaced in the AFL with the Tampa Bay Storm playing 3 commendable seasons with the franchise.  In 1998 he’d throw for 70 Tds and only10 picks, and follow that up in 1999 with 65-8. He’d retire from the sport after the season and enter into the radio booth with the Seminoles where he did radio color commentary from 1998 to 2008. He currently resides in the Tampa area.

I sent to Peter about 2 months ago and where he signed these 3 cards. I was a bit disappointed in the signatures. They appear to be from a dried up sharpie. I don’t think it’s a stamp however because the the ink of the signature would pool recognizably on the Action Packed card.  Action Packed, Pro Set and Score were the 3 companies that I enjoyed collecting cards of back in the early 1990s. I especially like this Score card of Peter in his college uniform.  Below are Willis’ NFL statistics:

G/Gs   21/3    Att  183   Cmp 104   Yds 1261   Pct 56.8     Td   6     Int 15    Rat  54.9 |