Tag Archives: score supplemental 1989

CFL, NFL, ufl

Hairston, Carl ‘Big Daddy’

Cards: ProSet 1991 Legends, Score Supplemental 1989
Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o Home
Sent: 10/20   Received: 10/27   (7 days)

During the Jurassic Period of football, there were some absolute beasts of defenders that took the league by storm in the 70s. One of them was Carl Hairston, a little known defensive lineman prospect out of UMES or (University of Maryland Eastern Shore). He played on some terrible teams during college, which allowed him to really hone his game. Hairston was named to the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference team 3 times. In his final year with the team, he posted 147 tackles and 15 sacks, good enough to get noticed by the Philadelphia Eagles, who selected Carl in the 7th round of the 1976 draft. 

He’d make the squad and in fact lead the NFL in sacks in 1979 (unofficially) with 15. Then in 1980, he’d help champion the defense that got the Eagles to Super Bowl XV.  Injuries began to slow Hairston down in 1983, and soon thereafter he’d be traded to the Cleveland Browns, where he’d be a mainstay on the line until 1989. He’d finish his career in Phoenix the following season. 

Carl has an extensive coaching resume at the Pro level, and has seen stops in the NFL (Phoenix, KC, St Louis, and Green Bay), UFL (Florida, Omaha), and CFL (British Columbia). He earned a Super Bowl ring as the defensive line coach for the St. Louis Rams (Super Bowl XXXIV). 

Carl is another one of these players who should probably be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A dominant lineman during his time, unofficially he has 1,141 tackles and 94 sacks to his name in 184 starts. 

Both of these are really nice cards of Carl. I almost feel like they are nods to him out of respect- like these card companies knew he was long in the tooth but they still wanted to pay him respects with their brand of card. The ProSet Legends 1991 card is an absolute gem. Merv Corning can make a player standing on the sideline look exciting, and this highly detailed image is no different with its nicks and bumps. It’s a fine card with excellent minimal design- which screams classy. The Score Supplemental 1989 had always been floating around my doubles box, so I had been kicking around the idea of getting it autographed for sometime. It’s unique because it’s obviously a special teams shot, but he’s just sort of popping up in a sea of helmets.

G/GSTACSACFUMINTYDSAVGTDLG
224/184114194.0N/A14040.0040

NFL, University of Texas, usfl

Millard, Bryan

Cards: ProSet 1989, Score Supplemental 1989, ProSet 1990, Topps Stadium Club 1992
Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o Work
Sent: 5/4   Received: 6/4  (30 days)
Failure: TTM 2017, C/o Home

Bryan Millard is regarded as one of the greatest Seahawks linemen ever, but it took him a while to get there, and still to this day he does not receive the respect and accolades he deserves.  He flies under the radar when it comes to great linemen, and even when retrospect sets come out, like the two University of Texas sets from both Upper Deck and Panini, Millard is conspicuously left out.

Bryan played college ball at the University of Texas from 1979-1982. While playing for the Longhorns, Millard honed his skills at both Guard and Tackle- winning All-SWC recognition for the latter in 1982. Surprisingly, he went undrafted in 1983 by the NFL, but the upstart USFL took a flyer on Bryan in the 12th round with the New Jersey Generals. He’d block upfront for the next two seasons for both Herschel Walker and Maurice Carthon helping pave the way for the Generals vaunted rushing attack.

With the league beginning to implode by 1984, Millard headed to the West Coast and joined the Seattle Seahawks, but did not join the starting lineup until midway through the 1985 season. Bryan saw action at both tackle positions before settling on the right guard spot- a position he’d anchor down for roughly the next 6 seasons. Durable, dependable, and strong (a weightlifting advocate who could bench press some 550 pounds), Millard somehow flew underthe radar while opening up holes for Curt Warner and John L Williams. Most notable about Bryan was that despite his size (6’5″, 282), he was nimble enough to trap on the off-side while also being able to take on the larger bull rushers of the era.  He earned one ProBowl nomination in 1988. Thanks in part to injuries, Bryan was forced to retire after the 1991 season.

Bryan lives in the Austin, Texas area. After dabbling in commercial real estate and pharmaceutical sales, he is now a full time real estate broker. I tried sending a few cards out last year, but they were RTS, so I attempted a new address and struck paydirt. Among Bryan’s other hobbies is actually collecting football cards, however I am not sure if he still partakes in the hobby since it has changed so much over the years from the 5 and dime, stick of gum.

NFL

Golic, Mike ‘Big Mike’


Cards: Topps 1992, Score 1991, Score Supplemental 1989, GameDay 1992
Acquired: TTM 2017. C/o ESPN
Sent: 12/16           Received: 1/6       (20 days)

Mike Golic was prized for his size, technique, and flexibility that allowed defensive coordinators to use him at any position along the defensive line.  He also comes from strong bloodlines. His father played in the CFL and his brother Bob played for the Raiders. After a solid college career at Notre Dame, Big Mike was selected by the Houston Oilers in the 10th round of the 1985 draft.  After sitting out his rookie year due to injury, Mike turned on the juice in 1986, starting half the slate of games for the Oilers with 66 tackles, 1 sack, and 2 forced fumbles. Surprisingly Mike found himself on the street in 1987 after 2 games and before the players’ strike. The Eagles wisely scooped him up.

Under Buddy Ryan, Mike was part of a rotation on the line that kept him fresh off the bench. He played the next 5 years with the Eagles. Golic’s best seasons came back to back in 1991 and 1992 when he put together 2 72 tackle seasons. He joined the Dolphins in 1993, but did not find the same success in Miami, as Mike played injured for most of the season on a torn knee ligament.

Infamously, he  learned the hard way about business in the NFL when he was cut on the eve of minicamp in ’94. Mike had off season surgery, and well knowing the team had drafted 2 defensive players to beef up the line, he was out to prove that he could still motor on that healing knee. The conundrum was that in order to get out onto the field, the trainer told Mike he’d have to sign a paper indicating his knee was fine. Eventually Mike relented, and the moment he attempted to leave the trainer’s office, he was confronted by the turk, who told Golic that the GM wanted to see him. You see by signing that piece of paper, he waived his own rights. The team couldn’t cut him due to injury and owe him a salary, but since he was 100%- Mike lost some $650K by his count. Just cut throat.

Well Mike was lucky. He had a fallback. It just so happened that he was quite natural on the microphone- a talent he started honing back in Philly. A long time radio and TV personality, Golic has been a staple on ESPN programming since the turn of the century. It didn’t take much time at all to get Mike’s autograph on these 4 cards which feature a pretty decent selection of photos from his playing days.

G/GS   115/49      TAC     254           SAC 11.5             FUM 3
INT  3      YDS  48         AVG 16.0         TD 0       LG  23