Tag Archives: San Diego Chargers

Arena, NFL

Jenkins, Deron

Autograph Memorabilia
Stampede Inaugural Magazine Austin Wranglers
Acquired: Gift 2004

My cousin got me a game program full of autographs back in 2004, that I found recently when digging through some boxes.

Deron Jenkins was a defensive back with vast NFL experience that joined the Austin Wranglers in 2004 after taking 2 years off from football. He’d be inserted right into the starting lineup and record 63.5 tackles and 2 interceptions, returning one for a touchdown. The Wranglers in 2005 decided to overhaul their roster so Jenkins joined the Nashville Katz and had 85 tackles and 4 interceptions. After a short season in 2006 Jenkins would retire.

Originally a 2nd round choice of the Baltimore in 1996 out of Tennessee, Deron started 30 games recording 202 tackles and 2 interceptions for the Ravens over 4 seasons.  With great speed, a smooth backpedal and good man to man fundamentals, the knock on Jenkins was his run support skills and his size at 5’11”, 185.  Still regardless he was a long jump champion coming out of high school and he picked off a dozen passes in 3 years in college. He’d move over to the West Coast in 2000 and play for the Chargers, recording 55 tackles and a pick starting 14 games. As a free agent in 2001, Jenkins would play for the Titans starting 6 games and recording 41 tackles, before joining the Wranglers in 2004.

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Johnson, Mike (2)


Cards: Ultimate WLAF 1992, WildCard WLAF 1992
Acquired: In Person 2011, UCLA Fall Scrimmage
Failure: TTM 1994, 2010, C/o The BC Lions, C/o The San Fransisco 49ers
See Also: Mike Johnson

Finally, it’s over. I’ve been after Mike Johnson for years now. I’ve sent off for him twice: First in 1994 when he was on the roster of the BC Lions in the CFL and second in 2010 when he was offensive coordinator of the San Fransisco 49ers.  Last year after Mike Singeltary‘s staff was blown up, Mike traveled down the coast and was hired by the UCLA staff to run the offense, putting him literally 10 miles from me. I emailed him a few months ago trying to see if I could get his autograph that way. No response.  I then thought about showing up at UCLA and wandering around until I found him, but in the end learned of UCLAs Fall Scrimmage at Drake Stadium and planned around that instead.

The scrimmage was a lot of fun. I drug my girlfriend around with me to the event and was able to corner him, after Jerry Rice (whose son Jerry Rice Jr, plays for the Bruins) refused to sign cards for anybody. I was perfectly happy with getting his Mike’s autograph as he was really who I wanted the most. He signed the Wild Card and then had to do an interview. Afterwards he signed the additional Ultimate WLAF cards and took a photo with me.

He was surprised that I was a big fan of the Riders and told me that he remembered the infamous ‘hail storm’ game down in San Marcos. I gave him the extras I had, but I think I scared him because I let my geek hang out way too much.  Still that knocks off an elusive WLAF player that I had been after for some time.

 

NFL, WLAF

Graham, Jeff

Card: ProSet WLAF 1991
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Work
Sent: 7/20  Received: 7/27  (7 days)

At the time of his graduation from Cal State -Long Beach in 1989, quarterback Jeff Graham owned virtually all of the 49ers passing records with 8080 passing yards and 42 touchdown passes, along with a school single game 515 yards passing.  During the 1989 draft, Jeff would be taken by the Green Bay Packers in the 4th round.  He’d return in 1990 to finish his degree in criminology from his Alma Mater.
Scouring the free agent waiver wire for a quarterback to back up Todd Hammel in New York, the Knights would sign Jeff with just 10 days for him to prepare for the regular season. Graham, much like Stan Gelbaugh in London would come off the bench in game one and not relinquish the starting job for the remainder of the season. What was more amazing was the fact that Graham did this while constantly under fire suffering 62 sacks in only 10 games. (Prorated over an entire 16 game schedule, that would have been roughly 90 sacks.) In the end, Graham still posted an impressive season with 2407 yards and 8 touchdowns, while setting a league record with 414 passing yards against Montreal.  Jeff’s gaudy 15.3 YPC and 8.9 YPA would also lead the WLAF while he rushed for 6 touchdowns.  He would not return to the Knights for 1992, with Reggie Slack and Brent Pease in camp.

Graham signed with the Chargers in 1991, Seahawks 1992-1994, and Oakland in 1995, as an emergency quarterback. He would see no regular season playing time for any of the franchises and retire after his stint with the Raiders. Since that time Jeff returned to college earning his masters at Colorado State. In 2006, Graham was inducted into the California State Long Beach Hall of Fame and is currently practicing law in the LA area. Below are his WLAF statistics.

G 9/10    Att 272  Comp 157   Yds 2407   Pct 57.7    Td 8   Int 8   Rat 84.6  |
Rush 46   Yds 140   Avg 3.0   Td 6   Lg 24