Cards: Topps 1992, Topps Stadium Club 1992
Acquired: TTM 2013, C/o Home
Sent: 12/16 Received: 12/31 (15 days)
Bo Orlando was drafted by the Houston Oilers in the 6th round of the 1990 NFL draft. A co-captain of the West Virginia Mountaineer team that went undefeated and played for the National Championship in 1988, He made the squad primarily as a special teams guy and filled in a bit at safety for aging Terry Kinard. The team in 1991 made a concerted effort to draft defensive backs. Exposed in the playoffs and burned with regularity, the Oilers drafted Darryll Lewis, Mike Dumas, Steve Jackson, and Marcus Robertson that year, but it was Orlando surprisingly who made the biggest noise for the team in the secondary. After winning the starting free safety job in camp, he’d rack up 56 tackles and 4 interceptions in 1991. An injury shortened ’92, the emergence of Marcus Robertson at the position, and new defensive coordinator Buddy Ryan in 1993 meant Orlando wasn’t seeing much playing time, but still off the bench starting in 3 contests Bo still managed to make 3 interceptions.
In 1995, Bo was left unprotected and signed with the San Diego Chargers. He’d step in and record 69 tackles and a forced fumble, in his first full season of action since 1991. Again left exposed, Orlando signed with Cincinnati in 1996 and recorded a career high 72 tackles playing for the Bengals. He’d finish his career in 1998 with his homestate Pittsburgh Steelers, retiring after the season.
Injury ravaged during his career, Orlando is a great example of one of the lesser unsung players who really layed their bodies on the line week in and week out for our entertainment. While he has enjoyed a career as a high school football coach in Bethlehem, Pa, and been inducted into the Mountaineer Sports Hall of Fame, his body has certainly taken a toll from the abuse inflicted on it from his 9 seasons in the league.
G/Gs 129/55 Tac 267 Sac 2.0 Fum 4 Int 10 Yds 126 Avg 12.6 Td 1 Lg 38t
Robb Thomas was a class member of the super draft of 1989. Drafted near the top of the 6th round by the Kansas City Chiefs, he’d be a nice acquisition for the team with 4.55 speed. (The wide receiver class statistical output quickly drops off after him, with New Orleans Saints WR Floyd Turner being the only notable blip on the radar after Thomas.) After a weak rookie season, in which Robb spent half the season on IR, he’d make 8 receptions for 58 yards and 2 touchdowns while adjusting to 
Thomas would sign with the Seahawks in 1992 where he provided depth to the team and would start only 1 game over 3 seasons. In 1995, Robb would start 2 games and make 12 receptions for 239 yards and a career high 19.9 yards a reception. In 1996 Robb would sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and play for rookie head coach Tony Dungy. Back in the lineup for his most solid playing time since 1991, he’d make 33 receptions for 427 yards and 2 touchdowns in 8 starts. He’d return to the bench in 1997, before returning again briefly in 1998, to help out the Buccaneers devastated wide receiver corps and ironically make the longest reception of his career, and then retire soon thereafter.
Topps in 1992 finally started seeing the light and the majority of their cards matched this respectable quality card of Robb that they put out. The Stadium Club card, (which was their premier line,) was unique, had higher quality imagery, and the back of the cards had the player’s first card appearance and “The Sporting News” rating system. It was an obvious step up. Fleer on the other hand fumbled the ball right out of the gate. After a decent debut in 1990, Fleer decided in 1991 to release 2 lines as well, but it was gallingly apparent that the 1991 regular was retooled so that it was an even lower quality, imagery, and design than the previous year’s offering. The 1991 Fleer Ultra set was a disaster in itself. I really disagree with squeezing so many type faces into the player information area and the silver seems too strong and almost unnecessary to the design space. The back of this card is even more ghastly, with simple usage of the selection tool to isolate player figures that have arbitrary body parts cut off and a centered picture isolated in a NFL logo mask. An absolute travesty. It was a struggle in approach and feel to even reach the quality of their debut set. The Score 1991 card is a great action shot of Robb, and while they seem to have clearly lost a step, it’s just not as obvious a loss in design as Fleer displays or as much as Topps and its Stadium Club line gained.
Robb was a Tecmo Super Bowl veteran on an offense that largely relied on the ground game of 
