CARDS: Gameday 1992, Pacific 1991 ACQUIRED: TTM 2023, C/o Home SENT: RECEIVED: 9/16/23 FAILURE: TTM 2023, C/o Home
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Played college football for Maryland but was not selected in the 1981 NFL Draft.
He’d join the Seahawks as a free agent, primarily used on special teams and as a blocking TE.
Over the next 8 seasons, became a seldom used fan favorite.
After a one year stint in Washington (’89), returned to Seattle for the next two years.
Played for the Vikings in 1992-’93, and a final season in ’95.
Moved into coaching almost immediately as a positional coach for the Vikings in ’96.
Named the Vikings’ interim head coach in 2001.
Officially retained as head coach in 2002 and remained head coach through the 2006 season.
Team reached the pinnacle of offensive production setting modern NFL records for total yards in 2003, after leading the NFL in offensive yards in 2002.
Wasn’t retained following the 2005 season.
Has served a variety of assistant coach and positional coaching jobs with the Jaguars (2006-09), Bears (2010-12), Falcons (2014), and Raiders (2015-17).
NOTES:
I thought Mike might make a good fit for the XFL, but he seems content to stay semi-retired. I needed Mike for the Gameday 1992 set, but I figured I might as well toss in the Pacific card, since it was from his Seattle days. A good signer TTM, he had moved and my cards were RTS but I got the golden forwarding address.
Mike must have a great personality as he seemed beloved in both Seattle and Minnesota.
CARDS: Topps XFL 2020, Sage 2015, Panini Prestige 2015 ACQUIRED: TTM 2022, C/o The Washington Commanders SENT: 8/22/22 RECEIVED: 4/1/23 (222 days) FAILURE: TTM 2020, C/o The Washington Football Club
No clue as to why I didn’t get the cards I sent out in 2020 back from Taylor. He was signing at a really good click and I guess that’s the luck of the draw right? I reloaded and waited until a better time- which appeared in 2022. He became sort of a folk hero for the Commanders over the last few years, but the team opted not to resign him after the ’22 season, so he packed his bags and headed out for Atlanta. I figured these cards were lost as well but eventually they made their way back to me.
Taylor has seen stops with the Texans, Panthers and Washington since his time as a rookie in Minnesota. In 2020 he joined the XFL and was widely expected to be a star in the young league, but got beat to the punch by Jordan Ta’Amu. Despite not seeing almost any playing time in the XFL 20, Taylor is considered one of the more ‘famous’ success stories of that league.
Jim Marshall played DE for the Ohio State Buckeyes from 1957-58.
Generational player who helped Buckeyes win by scoring all 14 points (interception, blocked punt, and kicked 2 xp) in a game against Purdue in 1958.
Left school to play in the CFL for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1959.
In a rare transaction at the time, was swapped from the CFL-NFL trade to the Cleveland Browns, in exchange for Bob Ptacek.
Played the 1960 season with Cleveland, before being traded to the Minnesota Vikings along with a few other players for 2 draft picks.
Went on to play in an improbable 282 games over his 19 season career for the Vikings (starting 270 consecutively)- at the time NFL records.
Member of the famed Purple People Eaters, played in all 4 of the Vikings Super Bowl appearances.
At time of retirement in 1979, had played in every game in Vikings club history.
Finished with 130 sacks- second on the franchise’s record books.
ACCOLADES:
#70 retired- Vikings
Record- Most career fumble recoveries (30)
Record- Most seasons played by a defensive player (20)
Record- Most consecutive games played by a defensive player (289)
Minnesota Vikings 25th Anniversary Team
Minnesota Vikings 40th Anniversary Team
50 Greatest Vikings
Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor
Pro Bowl 1968, ’69
Second Team All-Pro 1964, ’68, ’69
NOTES:
Despite Jim’s resume, and being the ultimate iron man, he’s only been considered a finalist for the HoF. I’ve always considered him a HoFer in my book, and found a card that I finally wanted to get signed after I scraped up the small fee. It’s a nice autograph… a bit smudged, but I’ll take it over the crazy prices they wanted online for a certified.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.