Tag Archives: Minnesota Vikings

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Woodson, Shawn

pset91wlaf woodsonCard: ProSet WLAF 1991
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Work
Sent:  1/29   Received: 2/8  (10 days)

Shawn Woodson played linebacker for tiny James Madison University from 1985 to 1988. He finished his career at the I-AA school with 341 tackles and 15 sacks, and as a senior earned second team All-American Honors. Shawn was tabbed by the Minnesota Vikings in the 12th round of the monstrous 1989 NFL draft. Although he didn’t make the roster, he signed with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL, and saw action in one game. Released in the preseason again by the Vikings the following year, Woodson was then taken by the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks in the second round of the linebacker portion of the 1991 WLAF draft. He’d room with defensive stalwarts Jon Carter and Patrick McGuirk while with the Skyhawks.

The Skyhawks set a record for futility going 0-10 that season, -translating to the defensive unit getting plenty of time on the field. Woodson was second on the team with 3.5 sacks, 65 tackles, and 3 quarterback hurries. After the season, the Skyhawks were disbursed by the league- perhaps mercifully.

He’s married now with 2 kids and lives in Virginia, where he owns a PostNet location. Google came to the rescue again, as Shawn has a pretty unique name and university combination, helping me knock out another member of the elusive Skyhawks brand.

Tac 65            Sac 3.5         Fum 0         Int 0      Yds 0     Avg -.-       Td 0        Lg -.-

Arena, CFL, NFL, WLAF

Fears, Willie

jo93 fearsCards: Wild Card WLAF 1992, Jogo 1995
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent: 1/7       Received: 1/16    (9 days)

Willie Fears took a strange,winding, inspiring route, to his dreams of being a professional football player and coach. Undrafted out of Northwestern Louisiana St in 1985, Willie played 5 games for the Ottawa Rough Riders in the CFL.  Invited to the Miami Dolphins minicamp, he showed up admittedly out of shape and had to put his career on hold.  He became a corrections officer at the Arkansas State Maximum Security Prison, but along came the NFL Players Strike in 1987. At 6’4″, 280, Fears had the frame to still play, and probably had the greatest vacation time ever from work, spending 3 weeks as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals. Afterwards he went back to the CFL, playing for both Ottawa and Toronto in 1988 and 1989, before returning again to the NFL in 1990 as a member of the Minnesota Vikings.

Willie was then drafted by the WLAF San Antonio Riders in 1992. Willie’s technical precision, skillset, and size, allowed the team to shift him into any of the 3 places on the line, which was invaluable to the Riders 3-4 alignment. An experienced force on the line, he proved difficult for offensive linemen to handle, and helped the Riders be one of the staunchest defenses in the league.  After the league went on hiatus, Willie begun a career playing in the Arena Football League. He’d sign with the Cleveland Thunderbolts and played for them through the 1993 season, before hopping back into the CFL with the Sacramento Gold Miners. In 1994 the Gold Miners moved to San Antonio and became the Texans. He’d join them there back in his old stomping grounds. Afterwards, Fears joined the AFL again, playing in 1996 for the Tampa Bay Storm, and then in 1997 for the Nashville Katz.

wcwlaf92 fearsHe then continued his dream by becoming a football coach.  In the ArenaFootball2 league, he’d coach with the Arkansas Twisters for 3 seasons, before joining Jay Gruden on the Predators to coach the linemen. Ironically, later Pat O’Hara, joined the staff replacing Gruden as head coach. Pat was a member of the Ohio Glory and probably felt Willie breathing down his neck more than once during the Riders 17-0 stomping of the Glory back in 1992. Fears remained with the Predators through 2011. Currently he lives in Arkansas. My first success from the Meiselman 2014 list, I had been looking for Willie for quite sometime, and had been unable to locate him since his stint ended with the Predators. He was kind enough to not only sign the Wild Card WLAF 1992 card I enclosed, but like Billy Hess also enclosed one of his own from the Jogo 1995 set. Unfortunately both of the autographs were smudged as he signed with an overhead Vis-A-Vis instead of a Sharpie. The Riders card was smudged beyond recognition, so I resent it back out with a team photo of him and the other linemen for Willie to keep. He sent it back in about 2 weeks signed with the marker I gave him.

AFL    Tac  46     Sac 9    FF 2    Int  0   Yds   0   Avg  -.-   Td 0   Lg -.-
WLAF  Tac   N/a    Sac   2   FF  0    Int 0   Yds 0   Avg -.-   Td 0  Lg -.-
NFL  2     Tac  N/a    Sac 0   FF 0   Int  0  Yds 0   Avg -.-   Td 0  Lg -.-
CFL  N/a

 

NFL

Nance, Martin

Card: Bowman 2006
Acquired: 2012, Target Authentic Autograph Memorabilia

Martin Nance played wide receiver alongside future Steeler quarterback Ben Rothlisberger at the University of Miami, Ohio. At 6’3″, 213 Nance virtually towered over the smaller defensive backs of the MAC. In his Sophomore season (2003,) Nance absolutely dominated competition posting 90 catches for 1,498 yards and 11 touchdowns. While his junior season was marred by a knee injury, Martin returned his Senior season and posted another 80 receptions, 1,107 yards and 14 TDs. He ran a 4.58 40 and struggled at the combine. Martin was signed by the Buffalo Bills to a free agent contract in 2006, but did not make the squad. The Vikings snapped him up soon thereafter, and he remained on their practice squad through the 2007 season.  During this period Martin logged 4 receptions for 33 yards. He’d be reunited with Rothlisberger in Pittsburgh in 2008, winning a Super Bowl and staying with the Steelers through 2009.