Tag Archives: proset 1991

College Football HoF, NFL, Pro Football HoF

Smith, Bruce


Cards:Action Packed Rookies 1992, ProSet 1991 League Leader
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Pro Football Hall of Fame
Sent: 3/21  Received: 4/16  (26 days)

One of the most dominant and complete defensive ends in NFL history, Bruce Smith holds the NFL career record for sacks with a flat 200 playing in 19 seasons for the Bills and Redskins. He is though most remembered as a key player for the Buffalo Bills tremendous SuperBowl runs during the 1990s and part of a stalwart defensive alignment that included Cornelius Bennett, Darryl Talley, and Shane Conlan. An 11 time Pro Bowl selection, 9 time first team all pro, a member of both the 1980s and 1990s All-Decade Team, Defensive Player of the year 1990 and 1996, and 1987 Pro Bowl MVP, Bruce amassed a tremendous amount of accolades over his playing time.
Highly decorated coming out of college at Virginia Tech, Bruce Smith was a shoe in #1 pick being named the Outland Trophy winner in 1984 and a 2 time All American in 1983, and 1984. Drafted by the Buffalo Bills, Bruce quickly established himself as an outside rushing force and within 5 seasons had become the all time sack leader of the franchise. In 1990 he made 19 sacks, and was named NFL defensive MVP. Bruce would lose his 1991 season to a knee injury but would return in full force by 1992. He would transition from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense successfully under then defensive coordinator Wade Phillips later in 1995, where he again would be named defensive MVP in 1996. He would be allowed to sign via Free Agency in 1999 where he became more of a designated pass rusher, and passed up Reggie White for the record in his final season in 2003. In 13 of his 19 seasons he made double digit sacks. Bruce was enshrined into the NFL HoF in his first year of eligibility in 2008 and also to the Bills Wall of Fame that same year. A member of the College Football Hall of Fame as well, he spends a good deal of his time working for charities.

I had heard that Bruce was a great TTM signer, but I couldn’t believe it till I tried it since he was the NFL’s career sack leader. He responded in very little time via the Pro Football HoF (Canton,OH) roughly in 30 days.  Always well represented in Tecmo Super Bowls, Bruce when he was in excellent condition would dominate any offensive lineman and on occasion was so fast could cover wide receivers down the field, and 9 times out of 10 his quickness allowed him to be around any play with the computer.

G/Gs 279/267    Tac 1225      Sac 200    Fum 43    Int 2    Yds 0   Avg -.-   Td 0

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Garrett, Jason

Cards: Pro Set 1991, Pro Set WLAF 1991
Acquired: In Person 1993, 1994, Dallas Cowboys Training Camp
Failure:  TTM 2010, C/o Dallas Cowboys
See Also: Jason Garrett (2)

A free agent signee of the New Orleans Saints back in 1989, Jason Garrett would hang on with the team through the 1990 season.

The WLAF San Antonio Riders would draft Garrett to be their starting quarterback but he’d separate his shoulder in the season opener against the Orlando Thunder and within a few weeks Mike Johnson would be firmly entrenched as the starter. (While Garrett would return to start games 7 and 8, Johnson would end the season as the San Antonio Riders encumbent, winning all their games as a starter going 4-2 for the team.)  Jason would not return to the WLAF after the season, and finish his career there with a 71 quarterback rating.

After a brief stint in the CFL for the Ottawa Roughriders, Garrett would be signed by the Dallas Cowboys where he would back up Troy Aikman. Initially a 3rd stringer, I was not high on the move by the team, however he performed well for the Cowboys over the next 8 seasons. During his time on the Cowboys, I’d get his autograph on these two ProSet WLAF cards. He’d be a premium backup policy through the rest of his career, seeing stints with the Giants (2000-03), Buccaneers and Dolphins (2004) before retiring.

Garrett is a student of the game and was immediately in demand as a quarterbacks coach. He quickly transitioned into the role for the Dolphins and served there for two seasons through 2006. Jason would return to Dallas (where clan Garrett is based now), and became offensive coordinator scaling the ranks of the organization. He was named interim head coach in 2010 after Wade Phillips was dismissed midway through the season, and at the conclusion of the season had the tag removed to become Dallas’ 8th head coach.

I sent off for all of clan Garrett (Jason, Judd, and John) last season, but did not hear back from them. As Jason only has 1 card (Ultimate WLAF 1992) that I do not have an his autograph on, I may try this again at a later date. Listed below are his WLAF statistics:

G/Gp  5/3    Att  113      Comp  66         Yds  609             Pct 58.9         Td  3      Int 3          Rat  71.0

NFL

Offerdahl, John


Cards: ProSet 1989, ProSet 1990 PB, ProSet 1991 AP, TheGoal.com
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent: 4/2   Received 4/12  (10 days)

John Offerdahl was a legendary Tecmo Bowl player on the Nintendo. The Dolphins could light up the sky with Dan Marino but outside of Offerdahl, the team had a very weak defense. The other problem was, most offenses were set up to have run plays that never allowed John to get free, thus you had to break through the blockers on run plays to get to the runningback.

A tackling machine at Western Michigan University, John Offerdahl would be selected in the second round (57th pick) of the 1986 draft by Don Shula‘s Dolphins. He’d step right into the starting lineup for the team, starting 15 games, 2 sacks and a pick, and a bazillion tackles. He’d be a lock for the ProBowl over the next 5 seasons recognized across the league for his solid tackling, nose for the ball, and flexibility to play all 4 positions at linebacker in the 3-4.  His 1990 would culminate in being named All Pro after the season, however injuries over the next 3 seasons would limit his mobility and by 1994, he would retire. It’s probably not going to happen for John and the Hall of Fame even if he hadn’t had such an injury plagued finale- strictly because he was a tackling machine. As efficient as he was, tackles are such an unglamorous statistic, and with a long line of defensive talent and sack masters waiting- I doubt John will ever receive his due.

John since retirement is quite a businessman and cook, owning a series of cafe’s (Offerdahl’s Cafe & Grill) and while selling his bagel franchises. He’s also quite a popular personality on the ‘grilling circuit’ as well going by “The Gridiron Griller!” (www.gridirongriller.com)  It probably is only a matter of time before he shows up on Food Network.

I sent John a few cards to sign along with some others to have. (-At this point in my life, it’s a good way to get rid of those cards and duplicates and my girlfriend is thankful for it.)  Well, the rumors are true, and John is a generous signer as I got this one back in the mail in about 10 days flat. He signed 3 and included a card from TheGoal.com as well. It included on the back a religious scripture from Ephesians 1:18:

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people.”

G/Gs  89/86     Tac  N/a    Sac 9.5     Fum  1     Int 4    Yds 44    Avg 11.o  Td 0  Lg  28