Tag Archives: ttm football autograph

WLAF

Trainor, Kendall John

Card: Ultimate WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o Home
Sent:  6/11     Received: 8/21          (71 days)

Kendall Trainor was a well-practiced kicker for the Arkansas Razorbacks from 1985-1988. During that period he set a few school records and tied a few others- going 5 of 5 twice (A&M and TCU) and 4 of 4 (HOU) in 1988 in field goals made. He holds the school record for most field goals made in a season at 24 (27 attempts) and his career mark of .889 stands as a school record as well. Named an All-American in 1988, Trainor was part of the legendary 1989 NFL Draft- selected in the 9th round by the Phoenix Cardinals. 

Kendall was selected as the first overall kicker in the WLAF Player Draft in 1991 by the Sacramento Surge. He’d go 4/6 on PATs and 8/13 on field goals while pulling double duty with 29 punts for 946 yards and a 56 yard long.
  
Later he’d sign with the New York- New Jersey Knights going 8 of 8 on extra points and 1 of 3 on field goals and finish with 39 total points ranking 5th in the league amongst kickers.

In 1992, Kendall won the kicking job outright in NY-NJ and finished 22 of 25 on extra points and 6 of 11 on field goals. He’d hit 4 of 7 from 40-49 yards including a career long 48 yarder. Kendall had a terrible game against the Ohio Glory missing 2 extra points and 2 field goals. He’d be cut the next day ending his NFL career.

These WLAF guys are getting harder and harder to track down over the years, but when you receive thank-you letters like I did from Kendall it makes it all worth it. Kendall returned home to Arkansas and worked for the Walmart Corporate offices for many years. He currently runs his own business specializing in information technology.

WLAFPATFGPCTLGPTS
34/3915/27.5554879
NFL, Super Bowl MVP

Rypien, Mark (2)

Card: Action Packed 1990
Acquired: TTM 2016, C/o Home
Sent: 12/12/16    Received:  1/3/17  (22  days)
See Also:  Mark Rypien

The first success I got in calendar 2017, Mark Rypien was kind enough to sign 1 of 3 cards I sent him. He inscribed the one card with Super Bowl XXVI MVP, which I thought was still cool.  Rypien’s family drips with athleticism.  His daughter has carried on in his footsteps and is a quarterback in the Lingerie Football League, while his Nephew, Brett is a starting quarterback for Boise St.

In 2014 the Washington Redskins inducted Mark into their Ring of Fame. Rypien spent eight seasons with the Redskins. From 1986 to 1993 he started 72 games for the Redskins, completing 1,244 passes for 15,928 yards and 101 touchdowns. Modestly, Rypien dedicated his enshrinement to his teammates and the 55,000 or so fans that showed up every week to cheer on the team during his magical 1991 Super Bowl and MVP run.

NFL

Lipps, Louis

Cards: ProSet 1989, ProSet 1990, GameDay 1992
Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o Home
Sent: 7/8    Received: 7/18   (10 days)*
* Fee enclosed

Louis Lipps is a highly reliable TTM respondent, provided you insert his very nominal fee. He’s got a great signature with two very nice loops in it, which accentuates these cards very nicely. Once ProSet and Score came out, a bevy of really nice action shots popped up of him. Among my favorites are these Proset entries and the Gameday card I got autographed. I always hesitated getting Lipps- much like many members of the Steelers, because of the rivalry that they shared during the late eighties and early nineties with the rise of the Oilers.  He always seemed to bring his best games against the shoddy secondary of the Oilers there for a while, until Cris Dishman and Darryll Lewis stepped up.

Louis Lipps slipped onto the NFL radar and into the first round of the 1984 draft. Selected by the Steelers out of powerhouse Southern Mississippi, Louis had a stellar rookie season, under the tutelage of grizzled veteran John Stallworth. Louis went on to become NFL rookie of the year, with 656 yards in punt return yardage, to go along with 856 yards on 45 passes and 9 TDs. He also earned a Pro Bowl berth and AP honors. His best season as a receiver came the following year, when he posted 59 catches for 1,134 yards and 12 TDs. A solid barn-burning option, Louis had 4 seasons over his career where he averaged 18.9 or more yards a click. While he’d never crack the 1,000 yard plateau over the rest of his career, Louis twice peaked at over 900 yards with 973 in 1988, and 944 in 1989- a year in which he was named team MVP.  He finished his career taking a flyer with the Saints for 2 games in 1992, in an otherwise unremarkable season.

 Thanks in part to playing during the highly forgettable era of the mid to late 80s (for Steeler fans), and a swath of unheralded quarterbacks, Lipps largely is ignored for his contributions and numbers in the Steelers stat books. He also was surrounded by talent from other eras such Lynn Swann, the aforementioned John Stallworth, and then in the current era by guys like Antonio Brown. Louis currently lives in the Pittsburgh area.

G/GS 110/98     REC 359     YDS   6019    AVG   16.8     TD 39    LG  89T
PR  112     YDS  1234     AVG  11.0     TD  3     LG   76T