Tag Archives: gameday 1992

NFL

Romanowski, Bill ‘Romo’

Cards: ProSet 1990, Action Packed 1992, GameDay 1992
Acquired: TTM 2016, C/o Work
Sent: 11/14/16  Received: 2/18/17   (96 days)
Failure: 2014, C/o Home

Ah now Bill Romanowski had some awesome cards. I mean he looked like a mean caveman who just had survived a knife fight. With tattered taped gloves and that war paint, he went from just being a linebacker to being a mean and nasty linebacker pretty quickly. His ProSet 1990 entry and Action Packed 1992 are among some of my favorites, and his GameDay card showcases his athletic ability as he gets up in the air, perfect for that tallboy card.

I really didn’t know who Bill Romanowski was at first when he popped onto the scene for the 49ers. Initially- you didn’t hear much about Bill. He was considered, I guess, a model citizen until he started having altercations on the Eagles- a clear 7 years into his career.  It’s not really clear about when he started abusing steroids while playing, but he admitted during a 60 Minutes interview that he was always cutting edge and staying one step ahead of the league.

As of 2017 he owns Nutrition 53 and also is involved in NASCAR.  Bill is a very outspoken and unfiltered guy, and his sometimes, lack of political correctness, has gotten him in trouble on social media. He also appeared on the cover of Midway Games’  Blitz: The League and as a prison guard in the remake of the movie The Longest Yard. In addition he’s done some coaching, and has expressed interest in returning to the NFL in that capacity.

During his career he was an easy plug-and-play linebacker. Instinctual, intelligent, and with solid coverage skills, by the time he hit his stride, Romanowski was not only one of the better linebackers in the league, he was a throwback to the gladiators of old, with that nasty streak.  He is also listed as the 5th dirtiest player in sports history by ESPN.

After playing for the 49ers through 1993 and winning 2 Superbowls, Bill joined the Eagles for the 1994 and 1995 seasons. He’d then head over to the Broncos and earn 2 more rings playing for them from 1996-2001. Afterwards he’d play 2 more seasons in the Raiders organization.  He earned 2 Pro Bowl nominations (1996, 1998) and posted a career high 104 tackles in 1993.

G/Gs  243/222         TAC  1116          SAC 39.5          FUM  16
INT 18       YDS  98       AVG  5.4         TD   1        LG   18

NFL

Dykes, Hart Lee (2)


Cards: Upper Deck 1991, ProSet 1989, GameDay 1992, Collegiate Collection 1991
Acquired: TTM 2016, C/o Home
Sent: 11/14/16    Received: 12/16/17     (397 days)
See Also:  Hart Lee Dykes

Hart Lee Dykes had some very nice cards during his heyday. Outside of his GameDay and his ProSet entries, there was his Score 1990 and his Action Packed 1990/91 that had solid action shots. Color me unimpressed by the warmup picture of him in his Upper Deck debut. (It is notable because it comes from a company that boasts about its quality action photography and poster cards.) The Collegiate Collection card is an OK photo but a terribly bland design. Why did I send those cards and not the Score 1990 or the Action Packed 1990? – I didn’t. He replaced my cards with these other ones.

In a rare move I traded the Upper Deck 1991 to D-Rock on Sportscollectors.net- ironically for another Patriot, Eugene Chung (Action Packed Rookies 1992) for a set need.

I then applied a remover to take the dedication to ‘Earl’ from the GameDay 1992 card. I don’t use removers, ever, but I made a special exemption here. I genuinely wanted that autographed card and to flip through the collection and see the name Earl in it would just drive me nuts. Again I do not like the idea of removing autographs/ dedications from cards. Typically that is a technique that is reserved for resale purposes, something I am strictly against.

I kept the sad looking Collegiate Connection card and the Pro Set 1989.  Hart Lee certainly had a very unique autograph. I mean I think he’s one of a handful of players who could get away with using a heart as the main part of his autograph.

Despite having a bevy of teams get caught with their hands in the cookie jar bidding for Dykes’ services, Hart Lee went on to have a prolific college career and still holds many of the Big 8 records today.

NFL

Ellard, Henry (2)

Cards: Fleer 1990, GameDay 1992
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Home
Sent: 3/13   Received: 3/26  (13 days)
See Also: Henry Ellard

Henry Ellard gets no respect. At the time of retirement the highly decorated wide receiver was ranked 3rd all time in NFL history with 814 receptions and 13,777 yards. To boot he also had 65 receiving TDs, 15,718 total yards from scrimmage, and cracked the 1K barrier receiving 7 times. Still thanks to a logger jam at the position – even from Ram receivers from a different generation (Torry Holt, Issac Bruce), Ellard has not gotten the nod that he deserves to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Henry enjoys coaching and has been doing it for sometime now at both the pro and at the high school level.

Great cards here of Henry.  I love the Fleer 1990 card of him leaning through the shot. Forget the fact that its obviously a warmup shot with his chinstrap undone. The yellow border helps frame the image well, and the ink of the autograph took to this card well. Ellard has a superb autograph with a unique ‘H’ and strong loops. It goes beyond saying that his signature also receives high marks for legibility and care.  The GameDay 1992 is a nice shot of Ellard going up for a grab. Graying out the background is a nice touch to get the subject to jump off the canvas. Now that takes all of 30 minutes and a mask to do in Photoshop, but back in the early 90s- it was still a creative feat.

After failing on Henry numerous times, I was able to track him down and knock him off on these two cards.  Other fans followed my initial request, with some abusing him for 8-10 autographs per request. As evidenced in the past, within a year he was returning mail and/or had moved on to a new location.