Tag Archives: pittsburgh steelers

CFL, NFL

Zabransky, Jared

Card: Playoff Contenders 2007
Acquired: 2016, EBay

Jared Zabransky was a dual threat quarterback for Boise State, and helped bring the program national respect with their thrilling victory over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.  Over 4 years, Zabransky was 610/980 for 8256 yards, 58 TDs to 37 interceptions. He also contributed 863 yards and 31 TDs on the ground.

Scouts didn’t really think that Zabransky was going to fit in the NFL as a quarterback. In fact his situation graded out similar to Eric Crouch. Sure he was a talented athlete, but Jared’s arm strength and passing mechanics concerned teams. Certainly however Zabransky made up for it in intangibles: Leadership and always finding a way to win. He went unselected in the 2007 NFL draft.  Afterwards he signed with the Houston Texans, briefly appearing on their practice squad. He’d join the Steelers in 2008 but be cut before the regular season.

Jared wanted to keep playing QB so he went to the CFL, signing with the Edmonton Eskimos, seeing primarily backup and mopup duty over his career from 2009-2011. His best game came perhaps in 2010 for the Esks when Jared passed for 188 yards on 16 of 23 and 2 touchdowns.

As of 2016 he resides in The Woodlands, Texas, and is the director of sales of oil and gas for an OEM of oil drilling equipment.

I remember when the Texans signed Jared. The team had just jettisoned David Carr and handed the keys over to Matt Schaub. Sage Rosenfels had the inside track for second string QB, while Zabransky looked to nab the Practice Squad QB or the 3rd string spot. The Texans in the end elected not to carry 3 QBs however, and Zabransky was disappointingly cut.

NFL

Shell III, Rushel

Card: Panini Contenders 2017
Acquired: 2017, Box Breaker

After a prolific high school career as a runningback, Rushel Shell III, played a year with Pitt in 2013. As a true Freshman he ran for 641 yards on 141 carries and  4 touchdowns. He transferred to West Virginia and piled up  450 carries for 2,010 yards and 20 touchdowns in 35 games. He also displayed a knack for catching the ball out of the backfield with 58 career receptions. Shell was considered undersized (5’10”, 227) for the rigors of the NFL, and was not selected in the 2017 NFL Draft. He’d sign as a free agent with the Pittsburgh Steelers, eager to show off his physical running style. He went through minicamp, but was oft-injured, and was cut after about 6 weeks. Currently he’s a free agent.

NFL

Brister, Bubby

Cards: ProSet 1989, Fleer 1990, Topps 1990
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent: 12/23/17            Received: 1/2/18        (9 days)
Failure: TTM 2010, C/o Work

Bubby Brister is an interesting signer, as he only signs once at the end of the year. He’s been handling it this way for a few years now. If you are lucky you can get him in about 10 days flat. If you are not so lucky, you send in mid-January and wait until the end of the year. Still he is a reliable signer and he’s got some great cards out there in his Steelers uniform. Anything else feels a bit odd.

Bubby bounced around colleges before landing at NW Louisiana. This was thanks in part to committing to play baseball (Tigers) out of high school and not accepting a scholarship to Alabama (1981). He played 39 games in the Appalachian League for Bristol but decided to go back to college in 1982 to Tulane. He’d initiate the paperwork to transfer to NW Louisiana in 1983. Brister was the starter for one season in 1985.  He was 191 of 342 for 2,880 yards, and 17 TDs to 14 interceptions.

The Steelers felt that Brister was a good developmental prospect. He had the tools in order to make it at the pro level. Pittsburgh dropped a 3rd round pick on Bubby, and he’d play sparingly his first 2 seasons.  The Steelers had long suffered at the QB position after the retirement of Terry Bradshaw. This continued into the 1988 season, where Bubby finally showed signs of maturation. He threw for 11 TDs and 2,634 yards and showed some moves in the pocket rushing for an additional 6 more. I laughed at the Steelers at the beginning of the season, as Brister was inaccurate (47.5% completions and 14 interceptions), but he had the last laugh against the Houston Oilers in the playoffs. A gunslinger, Bubby had a strong arm and a penchant for the long bomb. He led the Steelers to an 8-6 mark and a 9-7 mark as a starter the following seasons.  During his 1990 season, Brister had a career high 2,725 yards and 20 TDs to only 14 interceptions.

Bubby was unable to completely duplicate his success in that 1990 season, as he’d be limited to only 8 games in 1991 due to a knee injury. He’d never start a full 16 game slate again. After playing for the Steelers through 1992-  Bill Cowher’s rookie head coaching season, Bubby was allowed to test the waters of free agency in 1993- as the team was comfortable with current starting quarterback Neil O’Donnell.  Thus began the journeyman phase of Brister’s career.

Bubby signed with the Eagles in 1993- where he’d back up oft injured Randall Cunningham. He’d post a 4-4 record in relief of Randall throwing 14 TDs to just 5 interceptions, and raising some eyebrows. Brister played one lone forgettable season for the Jets in 1995, and then hopped over to Broncos. In Denver, Bubby stayed for the next 4 seasons. Brister came on during the clutch posting a 4-0 record for the Broncos in relief of John Elway and helping the team win the Super Bowl in 1998. He’d retire after one final season in Minnesota (2000) and as of 2018 lives in his home state of Louisiana.

G/GS  99/75        ATT 2212         CPD 1207        YDS   14445
TD 81       INT 78       RAT 72.3

RUSH 191      YDS 546       AVG 2.9      TD 8       LG 38