Category Archives: College Football HoF

College Football HoF, NFL, Pro Football HoF

Eller, Carl ‘Moose’

Upper Deck Legends 1997, #102

Card: Upper Deck Legends 1997
Acquired: TTM 2021, C/o Home
Sent: 1/22 Received: 2/13 (22 days)
*Signing Fee Enclosed

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Defensive Tackle who played both ways while at college for the Minnesota Golden Gophers from 1961-1963.

  • Selected in the first round of the 1964 Draft by the Minnesota Vikings of the NFL and the Buffalo Bills of the AFL- but opted to sign with the Vikings where he was used at Defensive End.

  • Famed member of the Minnesota Vikings front four, “The Purple People Eaters”.

  • Had a career high 15 sacks in 1969 and 1977.

  • Had a run of 7 seasons with 10 or more sacks.

  • Finished his career in Minnesota as the franchises’ all-time leader in sacks with 130.5.

  • Played one final year in 1979 for the Seattle Seahawks, adding 3 more sacks to his career total.

  • Carl played in a total of 225 games (starting 209).

ACCOLADES:

  • NFL Pro Bowl 1968-1971, 1973, 1974

  • 1st Team All-Pro 1968-1971, 1973

  • 2nd Team All-Pro 1967, 1972

  • College Football Hall of Fame 2006
  • Pro Football Hall of Fame 2004

  • Vikings 40th Anniversary Team

  • Vikings 50th Anniversary Team

  • Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor

  • NFL Defensive Player of the Year 1971

  • North Carolina Sports HoF

NOTES:

Carl after football spent time as a substance abuse counselor and has worked championing human rights for people of color.

A simply beautiful card here of Carl proving there was no shortage of short supply of great sports action photography during the 70s. Instead of dropping $20-30 dollars on a certified autographed card, I opted to send directly through him instead for a fraction of the cost.

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N/a133.523111.001
AAF, College Football HoF, NFL

Erickson, Dennis

Card: Topps AAF 2019
Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o Home
Sent: 5/16 Received: 5/24 (8 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Dennis Erickson took over at Miami (FL) (after the departure of Jimmy Johnson) coaching the school to the National Title in 1989 and 1991.

  • He departed Miami (FL) in 1994 and was named head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.

  • Erickson compiled a 39-41 record with the Seahawks over the next 4 years.

  • After a successful stint at Oregon St, Dennis returned to the pros again, to coach with the San Fransisco 49ers in 2003.

  • He coached at Idaho and Arizona State after that and at Utah briefly as a positional coach, retiring in 2016.

  • Erickson compiled a 179-96-1 record as a college coach.

  • Dennis heard the siren’s call one last time, and was lured out of retirement by the Alliance of American Football in 2018, coaching the Salt Lake City Stallions to a 2-5 record before the league fell apart.

ACCOLADES:

  • State of Washington Hall of Fame 2017

  • NCAA National Champion   (89/91)

  • College Football Hall of Fame inductee

NOTES:

This is an absolutely terrible card of Dennis. They could have actually airbrushed his face a bit more, but instead he looks like a craggily zombie with that green filter. Dennis has a pretty interesting coaching tree under him that includes Jim Zorn, Tommy Tuberville, Dan Quinn, Ed Orgeron, and Jim Mora Jr.

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College Football HoF, NFL, XFL

Long, Chuck

Cards: Score 1989, ProSet 1989
Acquired: TTM 2020, C/o Work
Sent: 5/17 Received: 5/23 (7 days)

Chuck Long made his mark at Iowa. Playing for the Hawkeyes from 1981 to 1985, showing growth in every season as he cemented his name in Iowa lore. In 1983, he threw for 2434 yards- on a gaudy 10 yards per completion. Chuck would be named to the All Big 10 in ’84, passing for 2871 yards, completing an unheard of 67.1% of his passes (216/322) and throwing 22 TDs. He’d finish his final year in 1985, breaking his single season passing records again, passing for 2978 yards, 26 TDs, on 351 attempts, and 231 completions. Chuck Long left the school owning virtually nearly all the Hawkeye’s passing records, both for single season and career passing numbers. His impressive resume included 70 career TDs, 721 completions on 1111 attempts, and 9671 yards.

Chuck was the second overall quarterback taken in the 1986 NFL draft, (behind Jim Everett) at #12 overall by the Detroit Lions. Chuck worked his way through training camp, and was entrenched behind incumbent Joe Ferguson. Head Coach Darrell Rogers planned to groom Chuck as the quarterback of the future, sitting on the bench that year.

Unfortunately almost right out of the gate, Joe Ferguson went down in the opener against the Cowboys, forcing Chuck into action early. Chuck played the next three games going 21 of 40 for 247 yards, and 2 TDs to 2 interceptions. In 1987, Chuck was handed the reins to the franchise. He responded by going 3-9, throwing for a career high 2598 yards and 11 TDs, however he led the NFL with 20 picks. With Rogers on a short leash for 1988, the Lions got off to a fast start winning their opener against the Falcons 31-17. Chuck was workmanlike efficient, going 13 of 19 for 107 yards and 2 TDs. Then the Lions proceeded to lose the next 6 games. Chuck was benched and soon thereafter Rogers was fired. He’d spend one more year in Detroit- but was firmly behind not only Rodney Peete, but Bob Gagliano, and Eric Hipple as well. Chuck was traded to the Rams in 1990 where he backed up Jim Everett at quarterback, before returning to the Lions to ride the bench in his final season in 1991.

Chuck went into coaching where he quickly rose up the college ranks, first at his alma mater Iowa, and then over to Oklahoma. He earned his first head coaching gig with San Diego State in 2005. He finished his tenure at SDSU at 9-27, and then was named offensive coordinator for the Kansas Jayhawks. In 2020, Chuck was named the offensive coordinator of the St Louis Battlehawks of the XFL. The Battlehawks finished second in offensive yardage averaging 349.6 yards per game, before the league was aborted due to COVID fears.

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