Tag Archives: Birmingham Fire

Bell, Kenny ‘Ken’

Pro Set World League 1991, #44

CARD: ProSet World League 1991
ACQUIRED: TTM 2022, C/o Home
SENT: 2/28 RECEIVED: 3/25 (25 DAYS)
FAILURE: TTM C/o Home, 2013, 2015, 2019

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Outstanding speedster out of Boston College, joined the Broncos as a Free Agent in 1986.
  • Quickly became a coach and fan favorite used almost exclusively as a return man.
  • By the end of the ’89 campaign, was ranked first in Bronco history with 104 career KO returns, while his 2218 career return yards was 3rd.
  • Spent a season out of football as a late training camp casualty in 1990.
  • Joined the Birmingham Fire of the WLAF as a free agent signing in 1991.
  • Ended up becoming a part of a devastating 2 headed runningback rotation with Elroy Harris.
  • Displayed exceptional vision and skill catching passes out of the backfield, leading the team with 40 receptions.
  • Caught league’s first fake punt play TD, a 65 yarder from punter Kirk Maggio against the New York/ New Jersey Knights.

    NOTES:

    Son, Kenny Bell played for the Salt Lake City Stallions of the AAF. I packed my WLAF card of Ken just in case I ran into him, but no such luck! The reason being was at one point Ken was living a city over near a day camp I used to go to. I tried in vain to get his autograph on 3 previous occasions, but thanks to one of my fellow collectors, Rick, I got an updated address early in the year and took a stab. With Ken’s autograph, I’ve closed out the Pro Set World League Birmingham Fire team set’s autographs.

Jones, Eric (2)

Ultimate WLAF 1992, #20

Card: Ultimate WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o Home
Sent: 7/3 Received: 7/11 (8 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

NOTES:

I had been after Eric Jones forever and a day on this card, but due to the commonality of his name, I was unable to locate him. I had done some research that led me down a rabbit hole that he was working for a medical device manufacturer, but the trail went cold- so I gave up. Thankfully Mark, of Mark’s Signing Bonus came to the rescue. He shot me a line and I was able to get Eric on this card. He also included a nice note thanking me for being a fan. Unfortunately, I do not believe that Mark ever got his autograph back from Eric… And since that point the address has grown cold.

Norseth, Mike (2)

Ultimate 1992 World League Promo

CARD: Ultimate World League 1992 Promo
ACQUIRED: TTM 2020, C/o Home
SENT: 8/17 RECEIVED: 8/24 (7 DAYS)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

NOTES:

Years after I hauled in Mike on a few of his cards, I found the complete promo sets of the Ultimate World League cards floating around EBay. I knew I needed to go ahead and get one more of his signed. This card is an almost exact match of his base card in the set minus the team name running down the righthand margin of the card, and the team helmet that for some reason is in white. Although these cards are fairly rare, there’s no demand for them so they remain without value on the open market.