Category Archives: Arena

Arena, NFL

Del Greco, Al

Cards: Topps Traded 1989, Upper Deck 1992
Acquired: In Person, Houston Oilers Training Camp 1992, CGA Youth Golf Tournament 1993.

The Oilers were searching for the replacement to Tony Zendejas whom they lost in Plan B to the Los Angeles Rams. Passing by established names such as Mike Lansford and Raul Allegre, the Oilers brought Teddy Garcia into camp. Unimpressed, the Oilers sent out an APB for a replacement, and found the feel good story of the year in Ian Howfield who won the job with an impressive preseason, but after 9 games it was obvious that he was not the answer, missing 4 extra points and quite a few field goals.  The Oilers called up Al Del Greco, who had lost the kicking job in Phoenix earlier that year. He had a decent enough resume and was the starting kicker for Green Bay (after Jan Stenerud) from 1984-1987 and Phoenix from 1987-1990. (He was also ironically replaced by another Zendejas in Green Bay.)

Del Greco would win the job outright in Houston, (and at that time I wasn’t really impressed,)  providing the Oilers with the consistency and clutch kicking that the team direly needed. He played for the Oilers the next 6 seasons, two for the Tennessee Oilers and then his final two seasons with the Titans- retiring after 2000 and 17 seasons. Del Greco currently stands at number 14 on the all time scoring list with 1592 points (as of 2010).

Al has since been inducted into the Alabama sports Hall of Fame. He briefly got into coaching and was a kicking coach in the AFL for the Birmingham Steeldogs as well, and does some radio and motivational speaking on the side. Del Greco is quite the golfer I hear, and was the winner of the CGA tournament that I went to way back in 1993.

G 248    XPA  543       XPM  551       FGA 449      FGM 347    PCT 77.3%

Arena, NFL, WLAF

Hunter, Arthur ‘ART’

Card: ProSet WLAF 1991
Acquired: In Person 1992, San Antonio Riders v. Birmingham Fire

Signed as a free agent by the Seattle Seahawks in 1990, Arthur Hunter didn’t make the final roster. Undeterred from playing football, he was drafted by the Birmingham Fire of the WLAF in the 10th round of the league’s initial positional draft. Art ended up leading the secondary with his aggressive play, pulling down 6 interceptions and scoring a touchdown. (The Fire ended up finishing second in the league in interceptions.) Despite Hunter’s impressive stats, including 61 tackles and two fumbles, he was not selected to the league’s All-World Team. In 1992, he’d add another 2 picks (and a second touchdown) to bring his career total to 8 interceptions before the league suspended operations.

In both seasons, Hunter was an unheralded member of the Birmingham Fire’s staunch defense, that formed the backbone of those playoff teams.

When I found Arthur that evening, he and the other defensive backs were leaving through the stands after the game. They all patiently stopped and signed my cards and laughed at their photos on the back.

Since then Hunter played some time in the Arena Football and lives in Ohio.

G/Gs 20/20     Tac N/a     Sac N/a     Fum N/a
Int 8    Yds 115    Avg 14.4     Td 2    Lg 37T

Arena, CFL, NFL, WLAF

Pease, Brent

Cards: Proset 1991, Wild Card WLAF 1992.
Acquired: TTM 2010, C/o Boise State University
Sent:  4/28    Received: 5/13  (15 days)

Small town Brent Pease was born in Moscow, Idaho, and was a starting quarterback for the Montana Grizzlies. In 1987, he was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings in the 11th round, but did not make the final roster. He was quickly picked up by the Houston Oilers and started 3 games during the NFL strike that year going a respectable 2-1 and throwing for 3 touchdowns.  After the strike shortened season, Pease would earn his roster spot but would quickly get bumped to 3rd string after a disastrous 1988 campaign that saw him post a 0 quarterback rating. Still he’d contribute to the Oilers, replacing punter Greg Montgomery during the season as holder for Tony Zendejas‘ kicks. In 1989 would sign with the Miami Dolphins and then he’d see time in the CFL in 1990, where he was signed by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and finally come back to the Chicago Bears that year. He’d be drafted in the inaugural WLAF allocation draft by the Birmingham Fire in 1991, where he’d play for a season before going to the New York- New Jersey Knights in 1992.

In the WLAF for the Fire, he played well enough to steward the team to the playoffs until he was replaced by Eric Jones in the lineup. He’d then get bumped around in the quarterback shuffle in New York behind Reggie Slack and Doug Pedersen in 1992. Pease would then play for the Cincinnati Rockers of the AFL in 1993 and then retire.

Since football Pease has jumped into coaching where he has quickly climbed the college ranks. Returning to his alma matter Montana he grew quickly into the offensive coordinator job helping the college establish itself as one of the stronger passing programs at the I-AA level. After brief stints at Northern Arizona,  Kentucky, and Baylor, where all the teams offenses experienced prolific growth under his tutelage. Brent would return to his home state of Idaho where he currently serves as assistant head coach and wide receivers coach.

Utilizing the power of the internet, I located Brent quite quickly and sent off to him after I found his cards. Brent’s name has generated a lot of buzz as Boise State has remained a stalwart contender over the last few years and numerous internet reports have been linking Pease to college head coaching jobs around the country.

Games N/a   Att  210  Comp  99   Pct  47.1%   Yds 1076
Td 5   Int  9   Rat 52.8