Tag Archives: new orleans saints

NFL

Wattelet, Frank

Card: Top Notch School of the Legends 2011-12
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent: 12/14  Received: 12/24 (10 days)

Frank is a really cool player that I met through School of the Legends. After talking with him for a bit, it hit me to send him a card of his. I thought,  “Maybe he had a Topps card floating around somehwere,” but surprisingly Frank did not,(-outside of a McDonald’s oversize Happy Meal card from 1985,) so I set out to make one for him.

Embracing the SotL brand look, I gave the card a nice background featuring the city and added a vignette of a shield for his action shot to be composed in. After receiving multiple photos from him to work with, I had Frank’s helmet pop from the top of the shield to give the card more depth. I also used various color adjustment layers and other Photoshop and Illustrator techniques to bring it all together and complete out the card.  Frank got his card from me and was stoked, since he had never had a card before. He asked me for my address and popped a few in the mail for me. They came in right before the new year which made it all the more nice.

A headhunting Safety out of Kansas who played alongside speedster Leroy Irvin, Frank Wattelet was not drafted coming out of the 1981 draft, signing with the New Orleans Saints, who had just hired former Houston Oiler Bum Phillips as head coach.  Wattelet stepped into the lineup in 1981 and started 3 games, but played primarily on special teams. Still he’d manage to rake in 3 picks. In 1982 his true home would be found at Free Safety starting beside Dave Waymer in 9 games and making a fumble recovery.  In 1984 he’d return a pick and a fumble in consecutive weeks for touchdowns- A team mark for the Saints. As the upback in the Saints special teams set, he’d also occasionally see a few fakes come his way completing 1 pass for 14 yards against the Colts in 1986, and 42 yards in 1985 on 2 scampers.  Considered one of the Saints best free agent finds, Wattelet would play for the Saints from 1981-1987 starting 78 contests.  Frank was reunited with Leroy Irvin (from his days on the Jayhawks) on the Rams in 1987, and retired following the 1988 season.  Still an avid football fan, Frank lives with his family in Joplin, Mo where he cheers on the Jayhawks- win or lose each week, beside the Saints.

G/Gs 98/78      Tac  N/a      Sac  1.0     Fum 10   Int 12   Yds 135     Avg 11.3    Td  1     Lg 35

 

NFL, University of Texas

Erxleben, Russell


 

Card: UT Upper Deck 2011, UT Upper Deck 2011 AA
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent: 11/30   Received: 12/10  (10 days)

Russell Erxleben was an amazing kicker and punter in college for the University of Texas kicking an NCAA record 67 yard field goal in 1977.  He’d be named All American 1976-1978 and also set a Texas single season record, averaging 46.6 yards a punt.  After graduating from UT, the New Orleans Saints made Russell their #1 pick in 1979 where he’d play double duty again as a punter and kicker. Oddly the team utilized him sparingly as a kicker over his career but he averaged a bit over 40 yards a punt in his 5 seasons with the Saints punting 279 times, including a club record 89 in 1980. In 1982 Erxleben had a career high 43.0 yard average on 46 punts. He’d be cut in 1983, and play as a scab in 1987 on the Lions for one contest, but subsequently retire after the season.

Unfortunately Russell’s name has never been able to shake his lofty draft status, since he was the second highest drafted kicker in NFL history. Erxleben was also convicted of securities fraud in 1999, and but was released in 2005. He currently is retired and living near Dripping Springs, Texas, and enjoys watching his son follow in his footsteps as a kicking specialist with- Texas Tech.

Somebody was cutting corners on these cards with that weak blur in the background of Erxleben’s set card. Didn’t you guys learn how to make proper masks in Photoshop? As far as autographs go, Russell has a fairly pedestrian one, as it lacks the boldness of an autograph but belies the subtlety of a signature. I rubbed the film significantly on the surface of the card so that it could take the autograph better, and it appears for the most part that it worked as there is only a little ink loss from the bubbling. Erxleben makes the first TTM success from the UT Upper Deck 2011 set, signing these 2 cards in 10 days. I look forward to many more in the future and this is a great way to get fans interested and aligned with particular college interests.

 

NFL, XFL

Williams, James “J-Roc”

Cards: Fleer 1995, Topps XFL 2001
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent: 11/11  Received: 12/5  (24 days)

Small bit of trivia here, as James Williams is one of a handful of players (if not the only player) to play for 3 expansion franchises, being the: Jacksonville Jaguars, (the reborn) Cleveland Browns, and the (XFL) San Fransisco Demons.

Drafted back in 1990 by the New Orleans Saints in the 6th round of the draft out of Mississippi State, Williams would be a nice find for the franchise and would spend his first 5 years with NO. He’d come in and sub nicely when one of the Dome Patrol needed a break during their twilight years together even starting 4 games in 1991, recording his first career sack against Chicago, along with 29 tackles and a fumble recovery. In 1993 J-Roc would start 9 games at left inside linebacker for injured Sam Mills and respond with a solid performance (89 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 FF).  With free agency in full effect by 1994, Williams again started for the Saints but this time at RILB, garnering 54 tackles, 2 picks and his first career touchdown.

Left exposed after the season for the 1995 Panthers/ Jaguars expansion draft, – James was selected by the Jacksonville Jaguars with the 49th pick. Williams started 6 games again, recording 2 more interceptions, 2 FF and 47 tackles but injuries cost him half of 1995 and all of 1996. He’d sign with the 49ers and be on the roster of the team through 1998.  He’d close out his NFL career in 1999 with the Browns with 2 FR and 11 tackles.

Williams’ career did not end there. He’d be drafted by the San Fransisco Demons of the XFL in 2001. Making the jump to play for the Demons he’d help the team earn a berth in the XFL’s Million Dollar Game leading the team with 43 tackles and 2 sacks. The XFL though, -a joint venture between the WWE and NBC died on the operating table that season due to bad ratings. Williams would retire after that season.

These were some really nice cards of J-Roc, and despite how people really tore them up the XFL had some really nice underpinnings to its design, hearkening back to classic college cards of the 50s and 60s. Just really inspiring! Sure the barbed wire effect is hilarious and dated even by those years standards, bloating the production value, but I couldn’t help but have a soft spot for them. The Fleer 1995 cards were also really nice, and this served as part of their 1st season of Jacksonville Jaguars cards.  Below are J-Roc’s NFL statistics.

G/Gs   137/26     Tac  254       Sac  3.0       Fum 4        Int  4     Yds  61      Avg       TD  1    lg 33