Tag Archives: San Diego Chargers

NFL

Lofton, James (2)

to03 hof lofton udldg97 lofton ap92 lofton pset90 loftonud97 mm lofton

Cards: Action Packed 1991, ProSet Update 1990, Topps HoF 2003, Upper Deck Legends 1997, Upper Deck Legends 1997 Marquee Matchups
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home*
Sent: 12/5   Received: 12/12   (7 days)
*Donation Enclosed of $30.00
See Also: James Lofton

James Lofton has a great reputation as a fabulous TTM signer. His normal cost is $10.00 per flat, but like many players, he will sign for as little as $5.00 a card. After I had gotten James many years ago in person at Dallas Cowboys’ training camp, I had piled up a significant number of really nice cards of the Hall of Fame player. The big incentive was this really nice Upper Deck Marquee Matchups card that I had previously gotten signed by Drew Pearson in person.
Spurred on by the number of responses I was seeing, I decided to go ahead and shoot a few cards out with a donation. It didn’t take but a week for the Hall of Famer to respond signing all 4 of my cards, throwing in the additional Hall of Fame card. Lofton’s autograph is slightly different from his 1992 signature. It is missing the star in the loop of the ‘J’ and the number 80 inside the ‘L’. He was also kind enough to inscribe each card with his Hall of Fame year. Still it looks legitimate enough that I believe it is from him and not a ghost signer.

CFL, NFL

Christie, Steve

pset90 christieCards: Score Supplemental 1990, ProSet 1990, GameDay 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent: 4/1    Received: 4/17   (16 days)

Steve Christie left William & Mary as the school’s All-Time leading scorer in 1989 with 279 points. He was signed as a free agent by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1990. The Bucs had a solid kicking game with Donald Igwebuike, but Christie beat him head to head in camp and won the job outright. Through Week 7 of the 1990 season Christie was the leading scorer in the NFL with 57 points and hit all of his XP, and was 14 of 16 of field goals.  By the end of the season Steve was named All-Rookie by the UPI, as he finished second in the NFC with a .852 field goal percentage.  After another solid season in 1991 with the Bucs, Christie was left unprotected by the team, controversially after he made promises not to leave the team.

The Buffalo Bills had finally decided that it was time for longtime kicker Scott Norwood to go. They offered Steve twice the salary he was making in Tampa to come to Buffalo.  Christie didn’t look back. scosup90 christieHe’d later cite that the ‘lack of winning tradition’ in Tampa as factoring into making his decision easier, because, “You get quite depressed only winning 3 games a season.”
Christie distinguished himself with the Bills almost immediately. and played with the franchise through the 2000 season, erasing many of the previous kicking marks held by Norwood. Steve set the franchise records that he set were the longest field goal (59 yards), the longest field goal in playoff history (54 yards), and the most career field goals in the playoffs (9). Steve is the franchise’s All-time leading scorer with 1,011 points, and set a franchise record with 14o points in a single season (1998).

In 2001, Steve signed with the San Diego Chargers after a somewhat contentious divorce from the Bills. A preseason injury forced the Bills to offer Christie an injury settlement- an offer that he rejected. So the team with no real choice at that point placed him on injured reserve, and then finally granted his unconditional release a few weeks later. He played with the Chargers through the 2003 season. From there he spent some time with thegday92 christie Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants in 2004.

Christie then entered a period of semi-retirement. He briefly played for the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL in 2007 as a favor to general manager Mike Clemons- a teammate from William & Mary. Afterwards he signed a one day contract with the Buffalo Bills to officially retire as a member of the franchise in 2008.  He’s done some football commentary since then and has worked in the CFL as a player agent. As of 2014, Steve’s 1,476 points ranks 16th in NFL history and his 336 field goals rank 13th.

In this day and age, kickers have become more interchangable between franchises, but the best clutch kickers such as Christie, Stenerud, Anderson, and Andersen, have just become more and more rare, especially when they were able to pull of long stints with one team.

G  229           XPA 473         XPM 468         PCT  98.9
FGA 431         FGM 336         PCT  78.0          PTS 1476

 

 

 

NFL

Bernstine, Rod

ap92 bernstineCard: Action Packed 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent: 7/1 Received: 7/17 (16 days)

I had been looking to get Rod Bernstine for some time. One of the ‘big backs’ of the late 1980s and early 90s, Rod certainly punished would be tacklers with his aggressive running style. Drafted by the San Diego Chargers out of Texas A&M in 1987, Rod battled fellow bang back Marion Butts for the starting role throughout much of his time in San Diego. An accomplished receiver as well, the Chargers couldn’t really settle on Rod’s role early in his career there, as he went back and forth from runningback to tight end officially on the roster. The classification of ‘H-back’ makes sense, but Rod ran with the ball too much to be considered one. Eventually by 1990 the team had settled on him at runningback, and Bernstine responded with 589 yards and 4 touchdowns in 124 carries. Starting 8 games in 1991, Rod had 766 yards and 8 touchdowns for the Chargers. He’d play one more season with the team, before leaping over to Denver for the 1993 season.

Rod started 14 games that year, en route to rushing for 816 yards and 4 touchdowns. He’d also record a career high 44 receptions for 372 yards. He’d retire after the 1995 campaign after two back to back brutally injured seasons. I loved playing Rod on Tecmo. I dominated with him and won a comeback Hail Mary game against Josh by just utilizing Rod as a one man offense for Denver 17-10. Rod does not sign often, but signed one of two cards for me via the mail.

G/Gs 84/45 Rush 670 Yds 2990 Avg 4.5 Td 22 Lg 63 |
Rec 149 Yds 1384 Avg 9.3 Td 2 Lg 59