Travis Feeney played college ball at Washington. He saw action in 51 games for the Huskies over 4 years at linebacker. His best year arguably came in 2015, when he notched 56 total tackles, 17.5 tackles for loss, 8 sacks, 2 pass deflections, and 1 fumble recovery. Sometimes deployed in coverage, Feeney recorded 11 career pass deflections, and 4 interceptions for 148 yards and a TD.
He was a 6th round pick of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and spent most of the season on their practice squad, before ending the year on the roster of the New Orleans Saints. Cut in mid 2017, Feeney kept in playing shape, and signed with the San Diego Fleet in 2018. He had a solid year during the AAF‘s short 8 game season, posting 28 tackles, and a pick.
Travis spent the next year in the CFL, first briefly with the Alouettes, and then the Argonauts- but with COVID striking down the CFL, Feeney opted out of his contract and decided to give The Spring League a shot, playing for the Jousters.
Bill Polian has a long and storied career as a football executive that spans across 4 leagues: The NFL, CFL, USFL, and the AAF.
After graduating from NYU in 1964, Polian began his careeer as a scout for the Chiefs in 1978. He also spent time with the Blue Bombers and Alouettes in the CFL as well working his way up to Personnel Director. A one year stint in the USFL Chicago Blitz in 1984, led Polian back to the NFL. He’d then begin a long and storied career with the Buffalo Bills later that year as the Pro Personnel Director. He’d help transform the Bills into an NFL powerhouse laying the foundation for the franchise to appear in 3 consecutive Super Bowls. He was released by the team after they lost their 3rd Super Bowl in 92.
A 3 year hiatus saw Polian return to the NFL with a vengeance as GM of the expansion Carolina Panthers. He was able to assemble enough talent that the franchise posted a expansion record 7 wins in 1995, and an even more impressive 12 wins in 1996. After a down year in 97, Bill joined the Indianapolis Colts as General Manager.
His first move was a no brainer: Selecting Peyton Manning with the first overall pick of the 1998 NFL Draft. Later he’d hire Tony Dungy to coach the franchise, and the rest is history. After the reorganization of the divisions in 2002, the Colts would dominate the South- winning 7 divisional titles under his watch. Indianapolis appeared in two Superbowls winning XLI. He’d not be retained after the 2011 season.
In the meantime he began to roll in the accolades, being inducted into the Buffalo Wall of Fame in 2012, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015, and the Colts Ring of Honor in 2017.
Bill felt the siren’s lure and resurfaced again in 2018, where he signed up to be Head of Football of the upstart Alliance of American Football, co founding it alongside Charlie Ebersol. The league was able to pull off 8 weeks of football before it collapsed due to financial strain. Bill Polian was greatly disappointed in the failure of the AAF and in chief financial cow Tom Dundon who pulled the plug.
I wrote to Bill after creating a dead on custom of the Topps AAF certified card. Thanks to COVID I had to find a new custom printer. The card quality was outstanding, but I didn’t prep the high gloss card, so the autograph didn’t stick properly to the card. He also signed this Panini HOF card for me as well.
Fabian Guerra played at Division II Fairmont University, where he set the standard at wide receiver for many of the school’s career statistical charts. Over his four years from 2013-2016, Fabian posted 233 catches for 2,805 receiving yards and 20 touchdowns. He was not selected in the 2017 NFL Draft, so he elected to join the National Arena League’s Carolina Cobras. He’d post 70 catches for 818 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns in his rookie year.
In 2018, Fabian joined the Memphis Express of the AAF. He’d make the final roster and start at receiver, but after an overall disastrous opener for the entire offense, he’d be cut. As the Express had offensive issues across the board, he’d be brought back late in the season, but finish with only one catch on the season.
His rights in the meantime had passed to the Arena Football League’s Columbus Destroyers in 2019. Fabian joined the league and earned Rookie of the Year Honors from the AFL, posting 61 receptions for 765 yards and 15 TDs. He also displayed a knack on returns posting 3 TDs on 39 returns (736 yards).
After the Arena Football League ended, Fabian was signed by the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League for the 2020 season, but ultimate due to the Covid pandemic- had his career put on hold as the CFL cancelled the season.
Fabian has a pretty active Twitter account and gave away a couple of his cards to his fans. I missed out on that one but thankfully Mark’s Signing Bonus came through again and helped me out with the address. Guerra signed his AAF card and dropped in his custom for me, and wrote me a nice handwritten note for being a fan.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
