Category Archives: Pro Football HoF

NFL, Pro Football HoF

LeBeau, Dick

Cards: TNT Signature Select, Topps 1971
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o The Tennessee Titans
Sent: 1/19/17  Received: 1/27/17   (8 days)

To say that Dick LeBeau has a decorated football history would be an understatement. After playing both halfback and defensive back in college, LeBeau was moved to cornerback fulltime when he entered the NFL. Selected by the Cleveland Browns in 1959, LeBeau did not make the squad and was quickly snatched up by the Detroit Lions. The rest is history. The Lions already had an outstanding secondary. LeBeau was icing on the cake. He arguably became one of the best players in Detroit history (at least defensively) recording 62 interceptions for 762 yards and 3 TDs.  He earned 3 ProBowl trips from 1964-1966 and AP in 1964, 1965, and 1970.

Retiring from play after the 72 season, LeBeau immediately jumped into coaching, working as a special teams coach for the Eagles from 1973-1975.  From there he honed his skills as a positional coach with the defensive backs for the Packers (1976-1979) and Bengals (1980-1983). Dick was promoted to defensive coordinator for Cincinnati in 1984- a position he held until 1991.  In 1992 he joined the Steelers as a defensive backs coach, and in 1995 was elevated to defensive coordinator.  LeBeau returned to the Bengals in 1997 and was head coach for the franchise from 2000-2002.  After a brief stay on the Bills in 2003 LeBeau returned to the Steelers as their defensive coordinator from 2004-2014, and then off to the Tennessee Titans as their coordinator where he coaches to this day (2017).  LeBeau was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Pride of the Lions in 2010.

Dick LeBeau is one of the most reliable high profile TTM signers in the hobby today. I think I had taken it for granted for a long time, but I finally decided to take a shot at him in 2017. Part of the reason for my delay was the lack of decent cards of him. Frankly most of the cards that were on the market were quite bad looking, or were just plain expensive. LeBeau’s turnaround was quite quick signing this old beat up Topps card and my custom in about a week flat.

G/GS  N/a    Tac N/a         Sac N/a          Fum N/a
Int   62       Yds   762          Avg  12.2      TD  3     Lg   70t

NFL, Pro Football HoF

Moore, Lenny

Cards: Upper Deck Legends 1997, Crown Royale Majestic 2010 (291/299)
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent: 1/30    Received: 2/9    (10 days)*
* Donation Enclosed

Halfback Lenny Moore was selected in the first round of the 1956 draft by the Baltimore Colts out of Penn State.  After earning Rookie of the Year honors, he’d go on to play 12 seasons in the NFL from 1956 to 1967.  Moore was simply one of the best players during his era, but because of the 12-14 game schedule, his numbers weren’t completely eye popping. What was eye popping was his insane yards per carry. Over his career Lenny averaged 7.0 yards or more (minimum 82 carries) 3 times (1956, 1958, and 1961). Not only was Moore a hard to tackle runner, he caught 40 passes or more in 5 of his seasons, averaging a healthy 16.6 yards over his career.  As one of Johnny Unitas’ pass catchers, Moore displayed his terrific hands and ability to work in traffic, posting over 725 yards receiving 5 times (1957-1961) over his career including a then NFL positional record 938 yards in 1958, and 936 yards in 1960.

Lenny endured the growing pains of NFL offenses switching positions from right halfback to flanker and back to primary halfback over his long and storied career.  From 1963 to 1965, Moore scored a TD in a record 18 consecutive games.

Arguably the best game of his career was during his rookie season when Lenny rushed 13 times for 185 yards and 2 TDs in a win over the Green Bay Packers.  To top his career off Moore earned All-Pro Honors from 1958-1961, and again in 1964, when he won comeback player of the year honors after scoring 19 TDs.

Lenny was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1975. Moore graciously signs for fans for a nominal signing fee of 10.00 per card.  The Upper Deck 1997 Legends set is a timeless set, but I thought the Majestic had a nice composition to it. Lots of space available to frame an autograph, and the patch element was a nice piece of memorabilia to boot.

G 143       RUSH 1069      YDS 5174      AVG 4.8      TD 63      LG 79
REC 363     YDS 6039      AVG 16.6      TD 48      LG 82
KR  49          YDS 1180      AVG 24.1      TD 1         LG  92T
PR  14          YDS 56            AVG 4.0          TD 0        LG 15

College Football HoF, NFL, Pro Football HoF

Dean, Fred (DE) (1952-2020)

Cards: Upper Deck Legends 1997, Topps 1979
Acquired: TTM 2016, C/o Home
Sent:  7/11   Received:  7/18   (7 days)*
* Donation enclosed

Fred Dean was a rangy linebacker from Louisiana Tech (392 tackles) that was drafted in the second round of the 1975 NFL draft by the San Diego Chargers. He was converted to defensive end and set his sights on terrorizing quarterbacks in the AFC West. His best season for the Chargers occurred in 1978 when he recorded an unoffical 15.5 sacks. A core member of the ‘Bruise Brothers’, Fred played for the Chargers through the 1981 season, where he was traded during the season to the San Fransisco 49ers.  He served notice to the league by helping the 49ers win Superbowl XVI as the final cornerstone to San Fransisco’s defensive front. To top things off he also was named NFL Defensive Player of the Year. During 1983, Dean single-handedly humiliated the New Orleans Saints to the tune of 6 sacks, en route to a season high 17 sack season.  He retired after the 1985 season and returned to his native Louisiana.

The awards have slowly but steadily trickled in for Fred since then, with LA Tech honoring him in 1990, the Pro Football Hall of Fame honoring him in 2008, and finally the College Football Hall of Fame in 2019. A fearsome force, one must wonder if the accolades as a premiere defender would have come quicker to Dean if sacks were recognized earlier as a statistic in the annals of NFL history.  He redefined the role of a pass rusher, helped modernize defenses, and be among the first situational pass rushers late in his career. Fred is also one of the rare players who has been recognized by two different teams as part of their anniversary teams. Such as the case it is hard to decide if Dean is represented better as a member of the Chargers or 49ers.

G/GSTACSACFUM
141/82N/a93.013
INTYDSAVGTDLG
12222.0122t

UPDATE 10/15/20- Fred Dean passed away yesterday. He had recently contracted COVID but it is unknown if it played a role in his passing.