Cards: Wild Card WLAF 1992, Ultimate WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent: 8/4 Received: 9/8 (35 days)
*donation enclosed
Ronnie Williams played college ball for the Oklahoma State Cowboys from 1984-1987. Originally a quarterback, he’d be converted to wide receiver by his senior year. Over his time at OSU Ronnie completed 264 of 349 passes, and as a Senior caught 26 passes for 304 yards and 2 TDs.
He’d sign with the San Diego Chargers as a free agent in 1988. After not being able to latch on with a team over the next few seasons, Ronnie decided to give the WLAF a shot.
Ronnie was selected in the first round of the WLAF positional draft in 1991 by the San Antonio Riders. The Riders loved the tools that Ronnie had to work with, and as the team’s offense matured, featured Williams frequently split out as a wide out to expose defensive mismatches. He’d lead the team in receptions with 30 catches, and 4th in 321 yards. In 1992 Ronnie had 20 receptions for 216 yards and 4 TDs. Although the Riders finished with a 7-3 record, they were left looking in on the playoffs. During the ‘Do or Die’ game against the Sacramento Surge, Ronnie caught a short TD during the second quarter.
Like the rest of the WLAF, the Riders were dissolved with the league after the season concluded. Ronnie is notable as he is the franchise’s career leader in receptions with 50.
Ronnie became one of the WLAF success stories. After the 1992 season, he signed with the Miami Dolphins. He didn’t see the field in 1993 and was primarily used as a 3rd TE and blocker by the Dolphins over his career. Perhaps his most memorable moment was catching his first professional TD pass, a 1 yard sneaky grab from Dan Marino during the 1994 playoffs in a win over the Chiefs (27-17). He played for the team through 1995, joining the Seattle Seahawks in 1996. Ronnie caught his only regular season TD from Rick Mirer that year. After the season he’d retire.
Ronnie had two amazing WLAF cards that were not widely available until after the 1992 season, and I always wanted to get them signed. Plus he was a Rider. I had just barely missed him on two or three occasions, but finally got a hold of him. I agreed to send a donation to his kids program and updated him on the status of many of his teammates.
WLAF REC 50 YDS 537 AVG 10.7 TD 4
NFL 55/5 REC 10 YDS 79 AVG 7.9 TD 1
After Chad built an impressive resume at Michigan as a 4 year starter, he was selected in the second round of the 2008 draft by the Miami Dolphins. The heir to the throne of Chad Pennington, he played sparingly his rookie year, appearing in 3 games in mop up duty. Chad took over the gig full time in 2009 (after a shoulder injury to Pennington) and in 14 starts, compiled a 7-6 record as a starter, throwing for almost 2900 yards and 12 TDs. He again returned as starter in 2010, completing 301 of 490 attempts with 15 TDs. Chad could not hold onto the starting quarterback job in 2011, fighting Matt Moore the entire season.
The Dolphins decided to go in another direction at quarterback in 2012, drafting former Texas A&M signal caller Ryan Tannehill. In the meantime, Henne was the odd man out and signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Initially he’d be Blaine Gabbert’s backup, but as the team continued to struggle, Chad was thrust into the lineup. He’d post 11 TDs on 308 attempts, averaging a bit over 208 yards a game. Henne was the anointed starter of the Jaguars in 2013. He’d throw a career high 503 times for 3241 yards and 13 touchdowns. (The Jaguars would sweep the Texans for the first time in- a very long time that year.)
The Jaguars decided to start over again at the quarterback position in 2014, selecting 
Retiring from play after the 72 season, LeBeau immediately jumped into coaching, working as a special teams coach for the Eagles from 1973-1975. From there he honed his skills as a positional coach with the defensive backs for the Packers (1976-1979) and Bengals (1980-1983). Dick was promoted to defensive coordinator for Cincinnati in 1984- a position he held until 1991. In 1992 he joined the Steelers as a defensive backs coach, and in 1995 was elevated to defensive coordinator. LeBeau returned to the Bengals in 1997 and was head coach for the franchise from 2000-2002. After a brief stay on the Bills in 2003 LeBeau returned to the Steelers as their defensive coordinator from 2004-2014, and then off to the Tennessee Titans as their coordinator where he coaches to this day (2017). LeBeau was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Pride of the Lions in 2010.