Tag Archives: CFL MOP 1985

Fernandez, Mervyn ‘Swervin’ (2)

Cards: Action Packed 1990, Score Supplemental 1989, Topps 1990 1,000 yard club, ProSet 1989
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent: 1/23     Received: 4/14   (83 days)
See Also: ‘Swervin’ Mervyn Fernandez

Ah, Mervyn Fernandez, such an underrated receiver. After proving his worth in the CFL for the BC Lions, Fernandez showed up to the NFL in 1987.  A shrewd selection by Al Davis in the loaded 1983 draft, Fernandez was picked by the Raiders in the 10th round.  After a few years with the Raiders, he returned to the BC Lions to finish out his career in 1994.  Always well remembered by the CFL, he’s received numerous accolades from the league since retirement.

Fernandez has some great cards. His Score 1989 Supplemental is really nice. The color on this card is outstanding, even without adjustment.  The Action Packed 1990 card was a really solid shot of Mervyn. It’s a dynamic action shot of him although the framing was typical of most cards of that era with the color framing in gold.  The ProSet 1989 was really the card set that blew the doors off of Topps stranglehold on the market. It’s a great card through and through however it suffers from the offset cutting issues that plagued ProSet throughout most of its print cycle. Topps inserted a nice glossy 1000 yard club card at the top of every pack which all had solid action shots of their players. After I ran out of Action Packed cards to buy at the 7-11 everyday after school, I’d slowly soak in the Topps cards. Mervyn’s autograph certainly stuck out nicely on this canvas.

Fernandez, “Swervin’” Mervyn

Card: Fleer 1990
Acquired: Dallas Cowboys Training Camp 1992

Mervyn Fernandez got a better offer so he packed his bags and headed to the Great White North of the CFL, where he became the poster child for the British Columbia Lions in 1982 winning the Western Division’s honor for the most outstanding rookie. He’d help the team win the Grey Cup in 1985 finishing a monster season up with 1727 yards and won the Most Oustanding Player award that season. In 1987 Al Davis would convince him to join the Raiders organization, where he’d play for the next 6 seasons and the burner would lead the NFL with a monster 26 yard average per catch in 1988. In 1989 he’d follow that up with 1069 yards on 57 receptions. In 1992 I’d get Swervin’ Mervyn’s autograph at Cowboys training camp along autograph alley when the Raiders came to town. He’d then head back up north in 1994 and rejoin the BC Lions for one final season and retire.

Mervyn since retirement has amassed a long line of awards from his time in the CFL, being inducted into the British Columbia Lions Wall of Fame, the Lions All-Time Dream Team and named in 2006 as one of the CFL’s Top 50 players of the modern era. Surprisingly Fernandez has not been inducted into the CFL HoF, but hopefully his time will come soon. Listed below are his Raiders statistics.

Games 86    Rec 209      Yds 3764       Avg 18.0       Td  19      Lg 85T