Category Archives: CFL

AAF, CFL, NFL

Palmer, Tobias

Topps AAF 2019, #81

CARD: Topps AAF 2019
ACQUIRED: TTM 2020, C/o Home
SENT: 11/25/20 RECEIVED: 1/29/21 (65 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Played WR at NC State in 2011 and 2012.
  • In Senior year, posted 54 catches for 781 yards and 6 TDs.
  • Was also a monster on KRs, returning 44 kicks for 1124 yards and 2 TDs.
  • Signed as an undrafted free agent by the Jaguars after the 2013 NFL Draft.
  • Spent time on and off the franchise’s roster and practice squad, eventually landing on the Chargers.
  • After being released in 2014, Palmer was on and off the rosters of the Saints (14), Bills (15), Steelers (16), and Panthers (16).
  • Then it was off to the CFL with the Alouettes (17), and Argonauts (18).
  • In 2019, Tobias made the squad of the Birmingham Iron of the AAF.
  • On 20 targets, he’d catch 13 passes for 129 yards.
  • His best game came against the Apollos in Week 5, when he caught 5 passes for 36 yards.

NOTES:

Topps did a really good job with this set. Lots of interesting names in here. Based on how the card companies were really swarming the rookie market in 2011, it was surprising that nobody- even Sage- had a card on Palmer, until this card came out in 2019.

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Chryst, Paul

Pro Set 1991 World League Insert, #9

CARD: Pro Set 1991 World League Insert
ACQUIRED: TTM 2022, C/o Wisconsin
SENT: 5/23 RECEIVED: 8/5 (74 Days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Played college ball at Wisconsin in ’87 and ’88.
  • Saw time in ’87 at QB going 5 of 7 for 81 yards, before hopping over to TE.
  • In ’88 caught 12 passes for 103 yards.
  • Quickly joined West Virginia as a graduate assistant in ’89, before hopping over to the WLAF in ’91.
  • He’d coach WR/TE/RBs with the Riders through ’92.
  • Chryst saw a mixture of college and CFL positional stops added to his resume highlighted with stops in Ottawa (1994), Saskatchewan (1996), Chargers (1999-’01) .
  • Named head coach at Pitt in 2012, after rising up the coaching staff at his Alma Mater Wisconsin.
  • In 2015, he returned to Wisconsin as head coach, and led the team to 6 bowl wins (7 appearances), and ranked after 4 of those seasons.
  • Fired during the 2022 campaign after the Badgers got off to a 2-3 start.
  • Compiled a 67-26 record at Wisconsin.

ACCOLADES:

  • Big 10 Coach of The Year 2016, ’17

NOTES:

Paul Chryst is a member of the Mike Riley tree. He’s crossed back over into Mike’s sphere of influence a few times with the Riders and then later at Oregon St. He signed this card for me only shortly before he was let go. Paul’s not a sexy name, but I think he’d make a fine coach at another major program, or perhaps in the XFL23 or ‘new’ USFL.

AAF, CFL, NFL

Stacy, Zac

Topps AAF 2019 Certified, #AU-ZS

Card: Topps AAF Certified 2019
Acquired: 2019, EBay
Failure: TTM 2020, C/o Home

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Zac Stacy played RB at Vanderbilt from 2009-2012
  • Had back to back 1,000 yard seasons in 2011 and 2012.
  • Over 4 years at Vandy, ran for 3,143 yards on 581 carries scoring 30 TDs and caught 46 passes for 415 yards.
  • 5th round draft pick of the St. Louis Rams in 2013.
  • Had a solid NFL debut in 2013, rushing for 973 yards and 7 TDs on 250 carries.
  • Buried on the depth chart in 2014, and suffered a nagging leg calf strain.
  • When Rams drafted Todd Gurley, requested a trade.
  • Traded to New York Jets in 2015, but broke his ankle during the season.
  • Failed physical in 2016 and subsequently retired.
  • Decided to return to football in 2018 playing for the Saskatchewan Roughriders during the preseason.
  • Stacy went on to become one of the higher profile signees of the Alliance of American Football, allocated to the Memphis Express in 2019.
  • Ran for 101 yards against the Arizona Hotshots.
  • Placed on IR in early April of 2019.
  • Ran for 317 yards on 100 carries, scoring 3 TDs, to go along with 18 catches for 138 yards and another TD.

ACCOLADES:

  • First 100 yard rusher in AAF history.

NOTES:

I tried to get Zac’s autograph on his two remaining cards (Topps AAF 2019, Topps AAF NOW 2019) but at this point they’re basically flushed.

On the now defunct AAF website, soon before it shut down, the league touted Zac Stacy as one of their up and coming stars and had a feature on him and his brother, who has down syndrome.

In 2022, Stacy was caught on tape gruesomely attacking his ex-girlfriend in the presence of his child. He maintains that his ex manipulated and entrapped him into behaving that way.

In general, everything about Zac’s rise and fall makes me extremely sad.

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