Tag Archives: denver gold

NFL, usfl

Gagliano, Bob ‘Goose’

to90 lionsCards: Topps 1990 Lions, Score 1990, Fleer 1990
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Work
Sent: 10/22/14     Received: 1/23/15 (90 days)
Failure: 2011, C/o Home

The Goose, as Gagliano is affectionately known by the Detroit Lions, earned his nickname during the team’s late season surge in 1989 under head coach Wayne Fontes. The Lions were bad – very bad, and the 1989 season started out like any other with 1 win in 9 games, but things changed in week 10.  The team rallied and won 6 of their next 7 contests. Gagliano was a big part of that going 4-3 as a starter, replacing the oft injured Rodney Peete. Sure his numbers were not all that sexy, throwing twice as much interceptions as touchdowns in the Silver Stretch Offense of the Run ‘N Shoot. When Gagliano was on though, the Lions won in exciting fashion, but when he wasn’t Bob failed to post above a 60 QB rating.

flr90 gaglianoIn 1990, Bob continued to battle Peete at quarterback for the starting job, frequently coming in as a change of pace. He’d start 9 games that season and throw for a career high 10 touchdowns. Gagliano was allowed to sign via free agency with the Chargers in 1991, starting game in 1992.  For the next three seasons Bob served as an insurance policy for the Falcons (1993), 49ers (1994) and Packers (1995).

sco90 gaglianoBefore the Goose’s time in Detroit, he was originally a 12th round pick of the Kansas City Chiefs in 1982. After getting no traction on the roster through 2 seasons, He then played for the rival USFL Denver Gold in 1984 and 1985. Gagliano returned to the NFL in 1986. He was signed by the San Fransisco 49ers and started one game as a scab player.  In 1988 he also spent time on the rosters of the Houston Oilers and Indianapolis Colts.

Bob Gagliano is a great piece of NFL trivia.  He is one of only three starting quarterbacks to play for the San Fransisco 49ers during the 1980s- alongside Joe Montana and Steve Young.  That’s some great company to be in!

G/Gs 32/13   Att 486   Comp 289    Yds 3431    Pct  51.2    Td 17     Int 27    Rat 62.7 |
Rush 93     Yds 352    Avg 3.8   Td  4   lg 22

Arena, CFL, NFL, usfl, WIFL, WLAF

Davis, Darrell “Mouse”

Card: ProSet 1991, ProSet WLAF 1991, ProSet WLAF 1991 Helmet card
Acquired: TTM 1992, C/o The New York-New Jersey Knights, TTM 2011, C/o The University of Hawaii Warriors
Sent: 2/14/11     Received: 3/10/11   (24 days)

Mouse Davis is nothing short of an innovator and a career coach with an extensive offensive coaching tree full of acolytes at every stop. Considered of great importance to the evolution of the Run and Shoot offense(- a passing offense that employs four wide receiver sets, no tight ends and a single running back,) the offense itself is also treated as the forerunner to the modern day spread offense. At every stop from the high school level to the professional level, Davis’ offenses have lit up the scoreboard and set team and league records. In college Mouse coached tiny Portland State to explosive levels (guided by future NFL quarterback Neil Lomax and June Jones). Portland State would set 20 NCAA records, and Mouse would briefly make a stop at Berkley before going on to be offensive coordinator of the Toronto Argonauts in the CFL in 1982. In 1984 he’d move to the USFL and be offensive coordinator under coach Jack Pardee and the Houston Gamblers with Jim Kelly, Richard Johnson and Ricky Sanders. His ‘Mouseketeers’ would dominate the offensive scoreboard and Johnson and Sanders would be the first 100 reception tandem in football history on the same team. 1985 would see his first pro head coaching gig, guiding the Denver Gold to the playoffs before the league folded. Soon thereafter Davis was named head coach of the St. Louis Lightning of the WIFL, but the league disbanded before it even took the field. After the failure of the USFL and WIFL, Davis was head coach of the New York-New Jersey Knights of the WLAF where the team in its first season had the league’s leading rusher in Eric Wilkerson and made the playoffs. In one notable game in 1991 the team set a football record for most faked punts in a game, but also set the record for futility in special teams as well. In the 1992 season under Davis’ guidance, quarterback Reggie Slack was the number 2 rated passer in the league with a 6-4 record before it folded.

Mouse has made numerous pitstops in the NFL as well, most notably when he was an assistant with the Detroit Lions during the late 80s – early 90’s building the “Silver Stretch Offense” and also spent time with the Atlanta Falcons. He was influential with Jack Pardee who adopted the Run and Shoot from him utilizing it with both the Houston Cougars to epic proportions in the NCAA level, the Houston Oilers in the NFL, and the Birmingham Barracudas in the CFL.

Davis returned to the college ranks after his stints in the NFL and WLAF. He currently serves with the Hawaii Warriors as their wide recievers coach and was inducted into the Portland State HoF. I sent off for his autograph while he was coaching the Knights in 1992 and then just this year while he was with the Warriors and he responded in under 30 days. His WLAF statistics are below.

W 11   L 9   T 0  Pct .555