Tag Archives: ttm autograph

NFL

Parcells, Bill ‘Big Tuna’

 


pset90 SBXXV BCards: ProSet 1990 Super Bowl Card, Action Packed 1991 All Madden Team
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Home
Sent: 11/12    Received: 12/3   (18 days)

Bill Parcells is one of the more memorable coaches in NFL history. Not only was he an excellent orchestrator of coaches and evaluator of talent, he was quite the personality during press conferences.

Bill Parcells was actually selected in the 7th Round of the 1964 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions, but he was cut before he played a single game, so he almost immediately hopped into coaching (at Hastings) after graduating from Wichita State. He coached linebackers at Hastings, Wichita State and then later at Army before being promoted to defensive coordinator at Army in 1968. In 1970 he returned to coaching linebackers with Florida State, and the later Vanderbilt and Texas Tech, before taking his first head coaching job with Air Force in 1978.

Parcells briefly took a job as the defensive coordinator for the Giants under Ray Perkins in ’79- but quit the job.  He returned to coaching the following year as linebacker coach for the Patriots in 1980. It wasn’t that long thereafter before he returned to the Giants as their defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 1981.  He converted the defensive alignment to a 3-4 and succeeded Ray Perkins as HC in 1983. After a bumpy start and being on the hot seat, Parcells righted the ship and led the Giants back to the playoffs. In 1986 the Giants won their first Superbowl (XXI), as New York posted their best franchise record (14-2) led by their stellar defense and Phil Simms. The NFC East at the time was the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, the Cardinals, and the Washington Redskins. While the Cowboys were in a steep decline and the Cardinals were rarely a threat, the Giants had a rough and tumble time with both the Redskins and Eagles. It took another 4 years, but in 1990 the Giants returned to the Super Bowl (XXV) in a game considered to be one of the most exciting in NFL history. The Giants defeated the Buffalo Bills 20-19 led by stellar defensive play and a plodding offense that soaked up the clock led by grizzled veteran RB Ottis Anderson. Parcells retired after the game, citing health reasons.

Briefly Bill did sportscasting with NBC from 1991-1992, but was chomping at the bit to return to the game. In this phase of his coaching career, Parcells became known as a rags to riches coach. He came in and immediately turned around the fortunes of the franchises he coached. It can be attributed to Parcells for fixing the Patriots, restoring the franchise to respectability, and beginning the dynasty that has lasted into today. He coached for the Patriots from 1993 to 1996, with the team appearing in Super Bowl XXI- a loss to the Green Bay Packers. The following season Bill joined the New York Jets thanks in part to disagreements with the Patriots owner Robert Kraft over front office decisions. The Jets had to pay the Patriots a king’s ransom in draft picks to get him in the end, but Bill proved to be worth the price, turning around the moribund Jets. (In 1998 the Jets finished with a 12-4 record but lost in the AFC Championship.) He retired again from coaching in 1999.

Jerry Jones was desperate to fix the Dallas Cowboys who were beginning to become the laughing stock of the NFC East. Three consecutive 5-11 seasons were enough for Jones to approach Parcells hat in hand to lure him out of retirement. Bill’s price for Jones was steep: Head coach and general manager and no interference from Jones. The year was 2003. As with his previous stops, Bill had the magic touch leading the Cowboys to the playoffs, but over the next few years, he just couldn’t get Dallas over the hump. Before the 2007 season, Bill retired for the 3rd time.

He briefly did studio analysis for ESPN, but was lured out of retirement for a 4th time by the Miami Dolphins into an executive role at the end of 2007. As in the past, Bill fixed the Dolphins, cutting fan favorites, signing stacks of cheap free agents, firing coaches, bringing back into the fold mercurial RB Ricky Williams, and Miami responded with an 11-5 record. He retired, presumably for a final time in 2010.

Bill has an extensive coaching tree, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013.  He lives in Florida and does some volunteer consulting from time to time. Currently he is retired… or is he mulling another comeback?

W 183      L   138     T 1       PCT .570

NFL

Dykes, Hart Lee (2)


Cards: Upper Deck 1991, ProSet 1989, GameDay 1992, Collegiate Collection 1991
Acquired: TTM 2016, C/o Home
Sent: 11/14/16    Received: 12/16/17     (397 days)
See Also:  Hart Lee Dykes

Hart Lee Dykes had some very nice cards during his heyday. Outside of his GameDay and his ProSet entries, there was his Score 1990 and his Action Packed 1990/91 that had solid action shots. Color me unimpressed by the warmup picture of him in his Upper Deck debut. (It is notable because it comes from a company that boasts about its quality action photography and poster cards.) The Collegiate Collection card is an OK photo but a terribly bland design. Why did I send those cards and not the Score 1990 or the Action Packed 1990? – I didn’t. He replaced my cards with these other ones.

In a rare move I traded the Upper Deck 1991 to D-Rock on Sportscollectors.net- ironically for another Patriot, Eugene Chung (Action Packed Rookies 1992) for a set need.

I then applied a remover to take the dedication to ‘Earl’ from the GameDay 1992 card. I don’t use removers, ever, but I made a special exemption here. I genuinely wanted that autographed card and to flip through the collection and see the name Earl in it would just drive me nuts. Again I do not like the idea of removing autographs/ dedications from cards. Typically that is a technique that is reserved for resale purposes, something I am strictly against.

I kept the sad looking Collegiate Connection card and the Pro Set 1989.  Hart Lee certainly had a very unique autograph. I mean I think he’s one of a handful of players who could get away with using a heart as the main part of his autograph.

Despite having a bevy of teams get caught with their hands in the cookie jar bidding for Dykes’ services, Hart Lee went on to have a prolific college career and still holds many of the Big 8 records today.

NFL

Stewart, James

Cards: Atomic 2001, Upper Deck 2000
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent: 8/29     Received: 9/30  (32 days)

Tecmo Super Bowl on the Super Nintendo expanded upon the previous entries most notably updating the rosters and adding the Jaguars and the Panthers. I played the game, but not with the same fervor as I did the previous entries- as the Houston Oilers had been gutted due to the salary cap and Bud Adams meddling. The Jags showcased James Stewart as their main back. He was more of a powerback with high hitting power and low speed and provided somewhat of a challenge when he was in excellent condition.

James was selected in the first round of the 1995 draft by the Jacksonville Jaguars (19th overall). This draft had a pretty solid lineup of runningback talent headlined by the cursed Ki-Jana Carter. Other notables included Tyrone Wheatley, Napoleon Kaufman, Rashaan Salaam, Sherman Williams, Curtis Martin, and Terrell Davis. Stewart plodded away behind the Jaguars line for 5 seasons. His best year came in 1999 when he put up 931 yards on 249 carries, while rushing for 13 TDs.

In 2000, he was allowed to sign as a free agent with the Detroit Lions. The Lions had been looking for a replacement for Barry Sanders since his sudden retirement in 1999. While James was up to the task, it would’ve been impossible to replace the future Hall of Famer. Still, Stewart put together 1184 yards and 10 TDs in 2000, and 1021 yards and 4 TDs in 2002.  During the 2003 preseason, James’ shoulder was shattered. Unable to fully recover from the injury he retired at the conclusion of the season.

G/GS 101/69        Rush 1478       Yds  5841        Avg 4.0      TD 48     Lg 56
Rec 220       Yds 1715      Avg 7.8        TD 9        Lg 56