Tag Archives: San Diego Chargers

AAF, NFL, usfl, WLAF, XFL

Riley, Mike (2)

CARD: Topps AAF 2019 Certified
ACQUIRED: Private Acquisition, 2022
FAILURE: TTM C/o Home 2019, 2020

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

NOTES:

Picking up where we left off, Mike ended up back at Oregon State, where he became the school’s most winning coach. In 2014, he’d be pried off the Beavers by Nebraska. After a difficult tenure at Nebraska, Mike was welcomed back to Corvallis with open arms as an assistant coach.

When the Alliance of American Football was announced, I knew he’d be at the top of their list. I was excited to see Mike return to SA (from his days with the Riders of the WLAF) to coach the team. He was excited to take a walk down memory lane with me when I showed up with my Riders hat on at the Commanders unveiling. The team very much resembled the Riders, and finished 5-3 during the AAF’s season.

I had narrowly missed getting Mike’s autograph on his Topps AAF card during pregame warmups against the Salt Lake City Stallions. I had sideline passes and thought that he’d be a shoe-in to get later TTM. Oddly though, he’s dodged my TTM requests since then.

After the AAF folded, much to everyone’s dismay, Mike was hired on to be the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Dragons of the XFL in 2020- just because it wasn’t more local to Texas.

Recently it was brought to my attention that Mike and head coach Jim Zorn had a disagreement about who should be starting quarterback. The row was so bad between the two that Mike left the team for the first 3 games of the season.

He joined the new USFL as head coach of the New Jersey Generals, and led the team to a 9-1 record in 2022. The team zoomed out to a 2-1 record in 2023, before dropping their next 5, en route to a 3-7 record.

When the XFL and the USFL combined to form the new UFL, the Generals were not retained for 2024.

CFL, NFL, usfl

Anderson, Gary (RB) (2)

Gameday 1992, #51
Action Packed 1991, #261
Skybox Premium 1993, #206

CARDS: Pro Set 1989, Skybox Premium 1993, Gameday 1992, Action Packed 1991
ACQUIRED: TTM 2022, C/o Home
SENT: 5/31 RECEIVED: 6/14 (14 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

NOTES:

Gary had some great cards from back in the day. The Razorback stuck around just long enough to get into Pro Set, Action Packed, and Gameday sets, as well as Skybox. He had some really great action shots too. -It had been roughly 5 or 6 years since I had gotten him last so I had to come back and grab him on a few more.

Pro Set 1989, #356
NFL, usfl

Plummer, Gary

Gameday 1992, #89

CARDS: Action Packed 1990, Skybox Impact 1992, Gameday 1992
ACQUIRED: TTM 2021, C/o Home
SENT: 1/2/21 RECEIVED: 1/29/21 (27 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Gary Plummer played junior college ball before transferring over to Cal where he played NT.
  • After going undrafted in 1983, played for the Oakland Invaders of the USFL.
  • The Invaders decided Plummer’s best fit would be at LB- a position he’d play for the remainder of his pro career.
  • Gary played in 53 USFL contests over his career, lodging 2 sacks, and 6 picks.
  • Still, Gary was not selected during the 1984 USFL Supplemental Player Draft, so he’d be a free agent after the league folded following the ’85 season.
  • Signed by the San Diego Chargers, Gary quickly became a starter for the team, as he had strong versatility at the position.
  • Over his career in the league, Gary started nearly every LB position in 3-4 or 4-3 alignments.
  • He played the next 8 seasons there in SD, racking up 792 tackles.
  • At the grand old age of 35, he signed with the 49ers in 1995.
  • After winning a Super Bowl against his former team, Plummer went on to play for the ‘9ers through the 1997 season.
Action Packed 1990, #237
Skybox 1992, #113

NOTES:

A member of Tecmo Super Bowl, with some great cards, I thought it was fine time to add Gary to my collection. He has a very nice autograph. I really like the unique curvature of his signature, especially the ‘G’. I appreciate him taking the time to sign my cards, with apparently a pretty fresh sharpie.

USFL

TACSACFUMINTYDSAVGTDLG
N/a2.0N/a67712.8046

NFL

TACSACFUMINTYDSAVGTDLG
10294.596508.3038