Tag Archives: San Diego Chargers

NFL

Brown, Gary “Tecmo Man” (1969-2022)


Card: Upper Deck Collector’s Choice 1994
Acquired: In Person 1994, Houston Oilers Training Camp
Failure: TTM 2013, C/o The Cleveland Browns

Gary Brown of Penn State originally played at safety. I remember vividly watching Gary in the Holiday Bowl stripping the ball from Ty Detmer in spectacular fashion and running 53 yards the other direction for a touchdown.

The Houston Oilers drafted Gary Brown in 1991 and converted the defensive back to runningback. He’d back up Allen Pinkett and Lorenzo White in 1991 and see mop up duty in his first season cleaning up the Los Angeles Raiders in the 4th quarter of the first game, running for 60 yards and a touchdown on only 5 carries. Once I saw his performance I was very comfortable with Brown- and at 5’11”, 230 was impressed by his perfect balance of power, explosiveness, and speed.

He’d get some more playtime in 1992, where he’d again show up in mop up duty, this time squarely behind Lorenzo White, rushing for almost 100 yards on the season, however 1993- that would be Brown’s long awaited coming out party.

Gary Brown did what few runningbacks had done before him, galloping for 1000 yards starting 8 games subbing for injured starter Lorenzo White that season. Brown helped the Oilers pull of their best record in Oiler history at 12-4.  He’d rush for 166 yards in a 38-3 victory over the Bengals and then follow that up with 194 yards over the Browns. Later in the season he’d post 100+ yard efforts against Cleveland (again), Pittsburgh, and San Fransisco,  just clearing 1000 yards by 2, and averaging 5.1 yards a carry. Unfortunately nicks and tears caught up with Brown, and injuries increasingly took their toll on him in 1994 and 1995.

By 1996 Gary was out of football, but returned in 1997 to play for the Chargers. He’d fit in well with the Chargers, running for 945 yards in 14 games. (He’d lose comeback player of the year honors to Jerome Bettis.) Brown kept running and sign as a free agent with the New York Giants for 1998. He’d endear himself to Giants fans with his churning style, rushing for a career high 1063 yards. (The 4 seasons between 1000 yard efforts was for a while an NFL record.) He’d play 2 games into 1999 for the Giants before losing the rest of the season on injured reserve, where he’d subsequently retire.

Gary Brown is rumored to have earned the nickname “Tecmo Man” for his obsessive playing of the game Tecmo Super Bowl. The game did not really do him justice in the 1991 incarnation, but the Super Nintendo one honored his power and speed making him a fun runningback to pilot. 

After retirement he went into coaching and worked his way up from the high school level and into college where he coached runningbacks at Rutgers in 2008. In 2009 he moved on to the Browns where he worked on the coaching staff as their runningbacks coach- a role he held through 2012. He’d then join the Cowboys in 2013 in the same capacity, holding that role through 2019. After a battle with cancer, Gary decided to coach again, this time at Wisconsin in 2021.

I tried him TTM back in 2013 when he was coaching with the Browns, but no dice. He stopped signing essentially in 2009 and never looked back.

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4/10/22 UPDATE:

Gary Brown, who spent this past year coaching running backs at Wisconsin, passed away tonight. He was in hospice for the last couple of weeks at in hometown in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Gary- was 52.

NFL, usfl

Fuller, William

Card: SkyBox Impact 1992
Acquired: In Person 1993, Houston Oilers Training Camp

Defensive end William Fuller would leap to the NFL after playing two note worthy seasons for the Baltimore Stars of the USFL. After leaving the USFL he would report to the Rams, but they subsequently traded his rights to the Houston Oilers as part of the trade that sent Jim Everett to Los Angeles. At first it appeared that the Rams got the better end of the deal, as while Jim Everett passed for good numbers and established himself as a top end quarterback Fuller’s sack numbers were slow to increase. Despite his slow production by 1988, Fuller tied for a team high with 8.5 sacks under coach Jerry Glanville. His 1989 and 1990 seasons would also show marked improvement.  1991 would be his best season as a pro as Fuller would finish 2nd in the NFL in sacks with 15, and be named to the ProBowl for the first time. After a down year in 1992, Fuller would return to double digit form again in 1993 making 10 sacks but Bud Adams made good on breaking up the Oilers, and let the venerable defensive lineman go via free agency to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1994.

William would pick up where he left off, making 35.5 and 7 fumble recoveries over the next 3 seasons for the Eagles. Each season he’d also be named to the Pro Bowl, but after 1996 he’d leave via free agency again for the San Diego Chargers, and retire after the 1998 season.  At the time of his retirement his 100.5 sacks ranked him top 25 all time.

Since retirement Fuller has been named to UNC’s sports HoF, the 50th Anniversiary team, and has is active in programs to help prevent diabetes.  He has donated time to coach at the local high school in Virginia Beach and is a real estate developer.

SkyBox too attempted to create a premium line of football cards in 1992. While Stadium Club was impressive, and Fleer was lowering the bar, Skybox’s Impact was just- well confusing. You just didn’t get which brand was actually the premium brand of SkyBox’s football line with a Primetime and Impact line that were both pretty nice looking. The real problem was Skybox didn’t trade for a year or two before they came out with a the premium line, so the market just got muddled down. While their team MVP cards and special mini poster insert cards were amazing, Skybox’s general design for their Primetime cards left much to be desired- much as in the William Fuller card above. It’s strictly okay by design standards with a generic shadow on a gray-silver plane, but what is up with the | | | | in the background? Skybox also had this penchant for gigantically displaying their logo on their cards, which was equally distracting, especially with the background isolated in a single color. The team name “Oilers” goes up the side on the right which is a complete design gaffe. Take one moment to look at your DVD collection. Do you notice on the spine of every DVD the type goes down the right?  It’s just easier to read that way and it has always been sort of an unspoken standard for many years. I like how they added the number, but it’s turned into a disastrous tangent with his fist slightly obscuring the 9 on the 95. William’s name is tracked out, which is maybe a bit much, but the other tangent as his name almost taps the top of his helmet is equally annoying. I wasn’t a big fan of this line of Skybox cards in the end, but the “Impact” series that they debuted earlier that year was cutting edge at the time.

G/Gs  194/160   Tac  483    Sac  100.5   Fum 19   Int  2     Yds 9     Avg 4.5   Lg 9   Td 0

NFL

Dishman, Cris “Dish”

Cards: Game Day 1992, SkyBox 1992
Acquired: TTM 1993, C/o The Houston Oilers
See also: http://n8d.flywheelsites.com/2011/dishman-cris-2/

A Jerry Glanville apostle, Cris Dishman was a fiery and noisy defensive back out of Purdue. Drafted in the 5th round of the 1988 draft, Dishman was considered the Cortland Finnegan of his time-  a trash talking annoyance and dirty player to opposing wide receivers.  Playing both corner and special teams in his rookie season, he  recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown from teammate Eugene Seale.  In 1989, Dishman began to develop making 4 interceptions and blocked 2 punts and a field goal, however Dish had a penchant for self-destructive behavior and personal fouls. Unable to tolerate this behavior from the team and its failure to advance further into the playoffs,  owner Bud Adams fired coach Jerry Glanville. In comes straight laced, no nonsense coach Jack Pardee who converts the defense to a 4-3. These would begin the years of Dishman’s redemption and rebirth.

Dishman would make 4 more interceptions in 1990 and would score 62 tackles along with it, but 1991 would be his year. Named AP and to the Pro Bowl, Dishman would have a streak of 7 games with a turnover. His season totals would be 6 picks, 3 fumble recoveries and 66 tackles.  1992 statistically would be a down year marred by a contract hold out, but he’d again mount another 6 interception season while forcing 4 fumbles in 1993 under defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan.  He was robbed by not receiving a Pro Bowl nod. In 94 as the team would sink, Dishman would return his first interception for a touchdown. He’d notch 4 in 94 and 3 in 95.  The Oilers were eager to resign him, and made him their franchise player, but with frustration mounting Cris would not have a good season in 1996 only pulling down a pick. The Oilers would not opt to resign Dishman after the 1996 season and would sign via free agency with the Washington Redskins.

In 1997, Cris would be named to the Pro Bowl as an alternate. He made 4 picks and 2 fumbles, one of which he’d return for a touchdown.  Dishman would play one more season with the Redskins before moving on to play for the Chiefs for 1999. Dishman would have another good season with 5 interceptions and 3 fumble recoveries. He’d return a pick and a fumble improbably against the Raiders for a touchdown in the same game, but the Chiefs would inexplicably not resign the veteran.  Cris would sign with the Vikings and start 9 games making one pick before retiring in 2000.

Dishman has gone into coaching, working his way up from college and currently assists defensive backs with the San Diego Chargers. Definitely most remembered for his time during the third heyday of the Houston Oilers and their twilight years, Dishman was a high risk/ reward corner over his career.  He recorded 8 touchdowns, 43 interceptions, 15 FF and 16 FR over his career.

G/Gs  199/165      Tac  668       Sac 1.5      Fum 15   Int  43      Yds  550        Avg  12.8     Td  3    Lg 49