Category Archives: CFL

CFL, NFL, XFL

Mueller, Ryan

Topps XFL 2020, #4

CARD: XFL 2020
ACQUIRED: IP 2023, XFL Championship Game

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Ryan Mueller played college ball at LB for the Kansas State Wildcats.
  • He played in 39 games, posting 116 total tackles, 16.5 sacks, and 2 forced fumbles.
  • Undrafted in 2015, Mueller spent the offseason with the Chargers (’15) and Eagles (’16).
  • 2017 saw Ryan on and off the roster of the CFL Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
  • After missing out on the AAF, Ryan was selected by the New York Guardians of the XFL in late 2019 as a Phase 5 selection.
  • Recorded a pick 6 in a home victory over the Dallas Renegades.
  • Returned to the XFL in 2022, selected by the Arlington Renegades.
  • He be cut, but later resigned by the Renegades, who then traded Mueller to the Vegas Vipers for QB Luis Perez.
  • The Vipers then soon thereafter cut Mueller, who ended up resigning with the Renegades.

NOTES:

I was waiting outside near the team busses. They didn’t have them set up the same way they had previously and had them scattered about the parking lot after the Championship. I got really lucky and overheard someone refer to a player who came over as Ryan. I keyed in on him immediately and he had no problem signing my card.

He loved the XFL 2020 card, and told me that he lamented the XFL 2020s collapse due to COVID. He said that the Guardians had unfinished business and had just started to surge.

I then said that he had the best character arc of all though. He was traded to the Vipers for Perez. The Vipers cut him soon afterwards and he resigned with the Renegades. And now he’s an XFL Champion!

He then joked at me that he’s like 1/2 the XFL Championship MVP for it.

Arena, CFL, NFL, WLAF

Walker, Wayne ‘Bug’ (2)

Wild Card World League 1992, #28

CARD: Wild Card World League 1992
ACQUIRED: TTM 2021, C/o Home
SENT: 2/1 RECEIVED: 4/13 (71 days)
FAILURE: TTM C/o Home, 2010, 2017, 2018

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

NOTES:

Well as you see here, 4th time’s the charm with Wayne. I knew I had a pretty decent lead on him. Meiselman pegged him down in Waco, but he moved and then I tracked him down on Facebook with no response. There I discovered he was doing work for the city. I then hit up two more addresses, and one of them it just sat in his mailbox until it was returned. The third time it took 2 months to be returned as a bad address. Staying persistent is the key, and finally I was able to get Bug on this last card of his after using a white pages crawler.

So many years have passed. As I drive back on the highway from San Antonio, it is without fail I pass through San Marcos, where the Riders played in 1992. Despite all the growth, all the construction, all the change, the memories still remain.

My dad would take me to and from those games. And after each game, we’d stop at a little convenience store (Ballard’s) just a bit out of the way going north back to town.

We’d stop in late in the evening after the game, walk in and I’d grab an ice cream sandwich and a drink to tide me over. When I’d get back to the car, I’d get in- and regardless of how dark it was- I’d take the time to thumb through my booty one more time, thinking about those autographs, the game, and the players I met.

CFL, NFL

Rison, Andre ‘Bad Moon’

Action Packed Rookies 1990, #83

CARDS: Pro Set 1989, Action Packed 1990, Action Packed Rookies & Stars 1990
ACQUIRED: 2022, Private Signing

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Andre Rison was a dominant receiver who played at Michigan State.
  • He established career record marks for receptions (146), and yards (2992).
  • Also was a great basketball and track man for the Spartans.
  • Selected by the Indianapolis Colts in the first round of the 1989 NFL draft.
  • Was second among all rookie receivers in 1989 with 820 yards, and was the first Colts receiver in almost 10 years to catch over 50 passes in their rookie season (52).
  • He and Bill Brooks were an effective 1-2 punch, pairing for the most 100 yard games since ’68.
  • Well in 1990, the Colts were desperate for a QB, so they packaged up Andre, T Chris Hinton, and draft picks to get the #1 pick from the Falcons to select Jeff George.
  • While the Colts were imploding over the next few years, Rison was reaching new heights in the Falcons Red Gun offense.
  • He also adopted a bad boy persona and became known as ‘Bad Moon’ Rison.
  • He had a career high 93 receptions in ’92, 1,242 yards , and a league leading 15 TDs in 1994.
  • Andre started 73 games over his time in Atlanta, catching 423 passes for 5633 yards and 56 TDs over 5 seasons.
  • In 1995, Andre signed with the Browns playing one seasons with the team.
  • After a disappointing season in Cleveland, where he feuded with fans, Rison played in 1996 for the Jags, and then was picked up by the Pack who needed help at receiver.
  • He’d earn a Super Bowl ring that season catching passes from Brett Favre.
  • Rison cashed in after the season, proving that perhaps he just needed a change of scenery from his hiccup two previous seasons ago in Cleveland.
  • Andre had a minor resurgence after he signed with the Chiefs in 1997.
  • He’d catch 72 passes for 1092 yards and 7 TDs, earning the nickname Spider-man.
  • Rison at this point of his career was attempting to rehabilitate his image as a diva, and Spider-man seemed like a positive role model.
  • After a total of 3 seasons in KC, Rison played one final year in the NFL with the Raiders in Oakland.
  • Despite not starting that year, he put up 41 catches for 606 yards and 6 TDs.
  • Rison took some time away from the sport, but returned in 2004 to play for the Toronto Argonauts.
  • He played just long enough to help the team win the Grey Cup, and retired after the 2005 campaign.
  • After his playing days ended, Andre has gone into coaching.
Pro Set 1989, #497
Action Packed 1990, #107

ACCOLADES:

  • Michigan Sports Hall of Fame
  • All-Rookie Team 1989
  • AP 1990
  • 2nd Team AP 1991-’93
  • Pro Bowl 1990-’93, 1997

NOTES:

Boasting an extremely low signing percentage and an ancient last return date there was no way I was going to get Andre through the mail. I knew the best chance I’d have is to probably go through a private signing. I follow a couple of private signers and Facebook pages that promote them, and finally after missing out on one already- I was able to get him affordably on these three cards. The problem is with Andre, as he was an early darling of every set that came onto the scene in those early days of the big card boom, so I literally have probably five or six more set needs. Andre was an excellent receiver on the Atlanta Falcons in Tecmo Super Bowl and Super Tecmo Bowl.

Andre has a pretty solid resume, but maybe due to his bad image early in his career that caused him to be perceived as a diva, and then just as a bad guy in general, he’s gotten little traction from voters for the HoF, even though he’s gone to great lengths to dispel his reputation. Despite possessing a 10k resume, and impressive TD numbers, Rison is now caught in the logger jam at WR building from more modern candidates that have inflated numbers due to a game geared more towards the passing game. Andre is also one of a unique club of players who has won both a Grey Cup and a Super Bowl.

NFL

RECYDSAVGTDLG
7431020513.78480t

CFL

RECYDSAVGTDLG
1517811.9135