Tag Archives: Jacksonville Jaguars

NFL

Patrick, Allen

bow05 apatrickCard: Bowman Sterling 2008
Acquired: 2013, Box Breaker

Allen Patrick joined the Sooners in 2005 and quietly was converted into a runningback by Oklahoma. In 2006 Allen found himself in the national spotlight after incumbent runningback Adrian Peterson went down with a season ending shoulder injury. Patrick made the best of his opportunity, running for 766 yards and 4 touchdowns on 170 carries that year. After Peterson departed, Patrick took over the starting job for the Sooners, where he put up a very respectable 1009 yards on 173 carries splitting time with DeMarco Murray and Chris Brown.  At 6’0″, 190 Allen was considered a bit small by many of the draft pundits, and the 2008 draft was stocked with many, many quality RBs. Singled out for his excellent Special Teams play and considered an interesting change of pace back, Patrick was taken in the 7th round by the Baltimore Ravens. He’d spend his rookie season on the Browns practice squad though, before heading on to be a camp back for the Giants (2009), Jaguars (2009-2010), Colts (2010), and Rams (2010).

NFL, University of Texas

Shipley, Jordan (2)

mem shipleyAcquired: 2013, GMC NFL Texas Tour
See Also:  Jordan Shipley

I was not able to stay at the GMC event late on Saturday when Shipley was there, but because the sponsors of the show recognized me from the previous day, they asked me if I’d like an autograph. At first they offered me an additional Priest Holmes, but since I already had one they offered me any of the other players that were available that I’d like, so I took the Shipley as my prize. A great photo of Jordan here, it would do any receiver justice and make them proud. Just an absolutely exquisite action pose. For the GMC event, I was surprised that they spared no expense on these really nice Kodak photos. Remarkably they also are free of any logos or GMC promotional information on them.

Jordan was resigned, but did not make the roster of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2012. I think he’d still make a nice slot fit for the Texans offense, but it looks like Shipley is getting little to no nibbles on the wire outside of a tryout with the New England Patriots. He lives in Central Texas and is an avid hunter.

CFL, NFL

Christie, Steve

pset90 christieCards: Score Supplemental 1990, ProSet 1990, GameDay 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent: 4/1    Received: 4/17   (16 days)

Steve Christie left William & Mary as the school’s All-Time leading scorer in 1989 with 279 points. He was signed as a free agent by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1990. The Bucs had a solid kicking game with Donald Igwebuike, but Christie beat him head to head in camp and won the job outright. Through Week 7 of the 1990 season Christie was the leading scorer in the NFL with 57 points and hit all of his XP, and was 14 of 16 of field goals.  By the end of the season Steve was named All-Rookie by the UPI, as he finished second in the NFC with a .852 field goal percentage.  After another solid season in 1991 with the Bucs, Christie was left unprotected by the team, controversially after he made promises not to leave the team.

The Buffalo Bills had finally decided that it was time for longtime kicker Scott Norwood to go. They offered Steve twice the salary he was making in Tampa to come to Buffalo.  Christie didn’t look back. scosup90 christieHe’d later cite that the ‘lack of winning tradition’ in Tampa as factoring into making his decision easier, because, “You get quite depressed only winning 3 games a season.”
Christie distinguished himself with the Bills almost immediately. and played with the franchise through the 2000 season, erasing many of the previous kicking marks held by Norwood. Steve set the franchise records that he set were the longest field goal (59 yards), the longest field goal in playoff history (54 yards), and the most career field goals in the playoffs (9). Steve is the franchise’s All-time leading scorer with 1,011 points, and set a franchise record with 14o points in a single season (1998).

In 2001, Steve signed with the San Diego Chargers after a somewhat contentious divorce from the Bills. A preseason injury forced the Bills to offer Christie an injury settlement- an offer that he rejected. So the team with no real choice at that point placed him on injured reserve, and then finally granted his unconditional release a few weeks later. He played with the Chargers through the 2003 season. From there he spent some time with thegday92 christie Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants in 2004.

Christie then entered a period of semi-retirement. He briefly played for the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL in 2007 as a favor to general manager Mike Clemons- a teammate from William & Mary. Afterwards he signed a one day contract with the Buffalo Bills to officially retire as a member of the franchise in 2008.  He’s done some football commentary since then and has worked in the CFL as a player agent. As of 2014, Steve’s 1,476 points ranks 16th in NFL history and his 336 field goals rank 13th.

In this day and age, kickers have become more interchangable between franchises, but the best clutch kickers such as Christie, Stenerud, Anderson, and Andersen, have just become more and more rare, especially when they were able to pull of long stints with one team.

G  229           XPA 473         XPM 468         PCT  98.9
FGA 431         FGM 336         PCT  78.0          PTS 1476