Tag Archives: indianapolis colts

NFL

Bentley, Albert

pset89 bentleypset90 bentleypset91 bentleyap90 bentley

Cards: ProSet 1989, ProSet 1990, ProSet 1991, ActionPacked 1990
Acquired: TTM 2013, C/o Home
Sent:  6/6   Received: 6/22    (16 days)

To most fans, Albert Bentley achieved fame for the Indianapolis Colts as Eric Dickerson‘s teammate during the late 1980s. In fact, early versions of the Nintendo game Tecmo Bowl featured Eric Dickerson initially as the starting runningback, as Tecmo was unaware that he was not a member of the NFLPA. In later production releases of the game, Dickerson was replaced by Bentley in the lineup with the same rushing abilities. Obviously when I played the Jack Trudeau led Colts, I relied heavily on Bentley screaming at my friends,” Here comes the Bentley!,” Referring of course to the luxury car brand by the same name.

An amazing transformation from walk on to starter, Albert helped Miami win its first national championship, scoring the winning touchdown in the 1983 Orange Bowl against Nebraska.   Going undrafted, Albert, (like his Miami teammate Jim Kelly,) elected to join the USFL in 1984, signing with the Michigan Panthers. The very next season the team merged with the Oakland Invaders and after injuries decimated the squad, Bentley moved to fullback. He’d champion the ground game with 1,020 yards, in an offense that featured such future NFL players as Anthony Carter and Bobby Herbert. As the USFL collapsed the NFL held a supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players. The Colts grabbed Albert’s rights in the second round with the 36th pick. The slasher-back became a jack of all trades for the Colts, averaging well over 1,000 all-purpose yards from 1985-1990. Eric Dickerson joined the squad in 1987,  and he and Eric went on to become the first pair of Colts runningbacks to each surpass 1,000 yards from scrimmage in the same season. He finished second in the league with 1,578 yards from scrimmage.  After he emerged as the Colts fulltime fullback in 1989, Bentley, Bill Brooks, and Andre Rison became the first trio of Colts to combine for 50 or more catches in a season that year. Albert checked in with 52 of them and  he’d follow this up in 1990 with a career high 72. An injury riddled 1991 ended Bentley’s season just after 1 game though. He’d sign with the Steelers in 1992 but not see any significant playing time, retiring after the season. Looking back at his time with the Colts, it was obvious that Bentley was one of the toughest and finest conditioned athletes on the team. His 7,775 all-purpose yards rank 7th all time in Colts history. Versatile and difficult for linebackers to cover one on one out of the backfield, Bentley is one of seven Colts backs to amass more than 200 receptions in their career.

Inducted into the Miami Hurricanes Sports Hall of Fame, Albert currently lives in Florida where he works in finance and investing.

G/Gs 90/33    Rush  526   Yds   2355   Avg  4.5    Td 19    Lg 70  |    Rec  226   Yds 2245   Avg  9.9    Td 8  Lg 73
Kr  149    Yds  3192   Avg 21.4   Td 0  Lg 48

NFL

Majkowski, Don “Majik Man”

sc92 majkowskipset89 majkowski

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cards: Pro Set 1989, Pro Set 1990, Score Hot Gun 1990, Action Packed 1990, Fleer 1990, Fleer 1991, Stadium Club 1992
Acquired: TTM 2013, C/o Home
Sent: 5/29     Received:  6/10  (12 days)
Failure: TTM 2011, C/o Home

Don Majkowski was the offensive signal flare that went up briefly in the night to herald the return of the long dormant Green Bay Packer franchise before its current era of consistent playoff and Superbowl dominance. A long suffering franchise ever since its two Super Bowl victories in the 60s, the Packers had been fighting for respect in the NFC Central against the Bears, Lions, Vikings, and Buccaneers. The Packers only made the playoffs twice from 1968-1992, illustrating how bad things were in Packerland, as they were the laughing stock of the NFC. Majkowski was the bridge from those years of struggle that transformed into years of stability under Favre, and recently into the current era of prominence under Aaron Rodgers.

flr91 majkowskiNot really very many people paid attention by the 10th round of the 1987 draft, when the Virginia Cavaliers all time leading passer, Don Majkowski was selected by the Green Bay Packers. He immediately stepped into the backup job behind Randy Wright, and began to apply pressure to start. During his rookie season he threw for 323 yards in a 34-33 win over the Detroit Lions. Don would be the first Packers’ rookie QB to throw for over 300 yards in a game. He’d finish with 875 yards passing and 5 touchdowns that season. In 1988, Lindy Infante- an offensive mastermind, became head coach of the team. He’d give Majkowski more slack on the reins as the lead in the quarterback derby, and Don began to mature as a starter.

It’d be in 1989 that Majkowski put together an incredible run virtually out of nowhere, leading the NFL in passing yards (4,318) completions (353), and attempts (599). His 27 TD performance that season ranked second, and for his efforts Don was named to the Pro Bowl. He’d finish second to Joe Montana in the MVP balloting that year as well. Majkowski was a feared rusher as well that learnedap90 majkowski how to tear teams apart with his scrambling ability, buying needed time in the pocket for Sterling Sharpe and Perry Kemp to get open, or on the ground stumbling for 358 yards and 5 TDs. The team became known as the ‘Cardiac Pack’. Majkowski set an NFL record with 4 1 point victories, including a controversial one against the Bears. At 10-6 though, the team was left looking in on the playoffs- despite even beating the future NFL Champion 49ers. Still it appeared as though the sky was the limit for the team, and already people were crowning them the new kid on the block.

So 1990 came as a disappointment and shock to the Packer fan base. Disaster struck as Don held out missing the first game. and then later, a shoulder injury that was not diagnosed until later as a torn rotator cuff. This cost him the final 6 games of the season and the team collapsed down the stretch. After a 6-5 start, Green Bay lost their final 5 games to finish 6-10.

Don’s struggles continued in 1991 where he’d be replaced by free agent signee Mike Tomczak in the lineup. He finished with 3 TDs to 8pset90 majkowski picks that year and 1,362 yards. At the end of the season, Infante was fired, and with a new regime in place with GM Ron Wolf, the team started looking at bringing in other options.  New head coach Mike Holmgren gave Don the green light as starter for the 1992 season, but barely 3 games in, Majkowski tore a ligament in his lower leg. His backup, took the field and thus the Brett Favre era began in Green Bay. After the season, Don signed as a free agent with the Indianapolis Colts and began the journeyman phase of his career.

Majik backed up Jeff George in Indianapolis in 1993, and then Jim Harbaugh in 1994. During the 1994 season he’d see his first meaningful playing time as a starter since he left the Packers finishing with a shade above 1000 yards and 6 TDs to 7 interceptions. He’d then depart for the Motor City. In Detroit, the Lions were rebuilding as usual. Majik backed up Scott Mitchell at quarterback for the next two seasons, -even providing some occasional flashes of brilliance, and again sparking controversy at the #1 spot, but in the end of the 1996 season Don retired.

flr90 majkowskiWith his trendy blond mullet and his incredible 1989 season, Majik is well regarded by Packer fans and was inducted into the Packers HoF in 2005, where he still ranks in the top 5 in many passer categories for the storied franchise. While injuries have taken their toll on Don over the years, he still manages to get to a game here and there for the Pack, and enjoys coaching kids football.

I had written Don a year or two ago, but had no luck, so I decided to give him another shot since I had a recent RTS from another player. I enclosed a few extra cards for him to keep, but was surprised to open the return envelope from him and see that he had signed everything and kept only 2 for himself, leaving me with a grand total of 7 signed Don Majkowski cards!

There were some great shots of Majkowski from back in the day. Again Pro Set delivers with their 1989 and 1990 releases while the 92 Stadium Club provides some amazing clarity near the end of Don’s Packer career. The Score Hot Gun set, -while admittedly, a humorous oddity at the time, has become one of my favorite cardsco90 majkowski HG subsets of all time. Some great Photo montage is used with the clouds and player photo to really give an even more exciting shot. Nowadays, people tend to take things like Photoshop for granted, but back then, this was gold.

G/Gs 93/57    Att 1905     Comp 1056     Yds  12700   Td 66
Int 67     Rat  72.9  |
Rush  248    Yds 1114    Avg  3.5    Td 12   Lg 33

NFL, ufl

Gray, Keith

tnt11-grayCard: TNT UFL 2011
Acquired: TTM 2013, C/o Home
Sent: 6/22    Received: 6/27   (5 days)

A physical offensive lineman who played collegiality at Connecticut from 2005-2008, Keith Gray was a free agent signee of the Carolina Panthers in 2009, and on the practice squad of the Indianapolis Colts in 2010. He joined the Florida Tuskers of the UFL in 2010, and was then traded to the Hartford Colonials (formerly the New York Sentinels) in exchange for defensive tackle Bryan Save in the league’s first ever trade that year.  With the flexibility to play both guard and center, Gray was a valued contributor to the Colonials offense helping pave the way for the offense led by quarterback Josh McNown, and bruising runningbacks Lorenzo Booker and Andre Dixon. All in all Hartford rolled up 2593 yards in 2010, with 903 of it coming on the ground and an additional 1690 through the air, and a lot of credit up front with their prolific offense should go to the guys in the trenches, like Keith. Things were definitely moving in a positive direction for the team, but the organization as a whole- that being the UFL- was not. Bills had not been paid, and the rent was sky high at the Colonials facility. Head coach Chris Palmer, broke ranks with the league as soon as he could and landed a job back in the NFL as the offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans. In the meantime, Jerry Glanville was brought in to replace Palmer under much fanfare, but the Colonials, -under the most financial duress, -folded, and Keith was a free agent.

Keith moved to Texas and focused on family life. In the meantime I had tracked him down through Facebook and offered him a card, but I honestly had a lot of things that went off the rails for me personally, along with a player who had agreed to respond to me after I sent him my customs, that never did.  It made me really gun shy about the project. A few weeks ago though I finally buckled down and got back to the UFL and AFL cards that I had done, and with a few extra dollars in my pocket, went ahead and printed a few for my portfolio. I also remembered Keith and my promise and sent him some to keep. In a short 5 days he responded, writing me a touching note discussing about how he was a trading card collector as a kid, thanking me for the cards, how they are a great keepsake, and how they’ve sparked a fire in him to keep going.

For all the Peyton Manning’s and Brett Favre’s I get TTM, it’s these types of responses in the end, that mean more than anything I could ever wish for.