Category Archives: Pro Football HoF

College Football HoF, NFL, Pro Football HoF

Singletary, Mike

Card: Action Packed 1989
Acquired: TTM 1992, C/o The Chicago Bears

An incredible middle linebacker with a nose for the ball, Mike Singletary displayed his abilities early on in high school and later at Baylor recording 30+ tackles in a game on 3 separate occasions. Before he was drafted in the second round of the 1981 draft by the Bears, Singletary set a team record with 662 career tackles, including a mind boggling 232 as a Sophomore at Baylor where he won the Davey O’Brien Award. After being selected, it took him only seven games before he became a near permanent fixture for the Bears over the next 12 years notching 10 straight ProBowl appearances from 1983-1992, Defensive player of the year in 1985 and 1988, and All Pro (first team) from 1983-1989, and 1991.

In 1985 he’d help the defense under Buddy Ryan and Mike Ditka to a victory in Superbowl XX contributing 2 fumble recoveries in the team effort to hold the Patriots to a total of 7 yards rushing.  After retiring in 1992, Singletary bought a car dealership in Montana and slowly worked his way back into the coaching ranks, wrote a book, and coached the San Fransisco 49ers. A hard nosed, ‘no nonsense’ coach, Singletary has been known to do slightly outrageous things to get his players attention and motivate them to win going as far as to moon his players on one occasion.  He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998 and the NFL All 80s team.

I sent off for Mike’s autograph in what was rumored to be his last year. I asked for his autograph on two cards: An Action Packed 1989, and the latter a Pro Set 1991 card for my grandfather who lived in Waco, (where Baylor University was). I got both back in the mail signed and gave the other to my grandfather, who in his haste, pinned the card with a push pin to his cork board. I’d visit him over the next 10 year or so and occasionally see the card on the wall, before my grandfather started suffering from Alzheimers. He put up a good fight even after he was moved to a nursing home but it was hard to deal with him when he had no clue who I was, even when I visited on my birthday. He passed away in 2009. I never saw the card again.

Games  179     Tac  1488     Sac 19     FF 12       Int 7    Yds 44  Avg 6.2   Td 0

AFL, NFL, Pro Football HoF

Blanda, George (1927-2010)

Card: Topps 1972
Acquired: TTM 2010, c/o home
Sent: 3/26  Received: 4/13  (18 days)

This card was the oldest card in my collection (for a time) ironically because my friend Josh brought over his card collection and accidentally spilled them all over the floor. He let me have this card, because he thought it was in such bad condition that it was trash.  Being the big Oiler fan I am, I knew about George’s history with the team, but it never seemed to cross my mind to locate him for an autograph and for many years the card languished in my collection.  I started a TTM drive to get autographs of many of the classic Oilers after watching the NFL Network presentation of “Full Color Football”. (While the broadcast gives the AFL some credit, it still failed to give the Oilers teams credit of the early 60s, Charlie Hennigan any exposure, and does not acknowledge the contributions of many of our now injured and fallen gladiators in dire need of medical attention and pension assistance.) George was at the top of the list.

George Blanda is an amazing story of longevity in sports history. In a sport like football, with players average playing time of less than 5 years, Blanda would play in 4 different decades, spanning 26 seasons, longer than any other player in football history. He began playing for the NFL in 1949 for the Bears, where he’d play for 10 seasons. Forced with an ultimatum to become a kicker full time and not a quarterback, he opted to retire; However fate would smile upon “The Grand Old Man” who was granted a reprieve when the upstart AFL started in 1960. Signed by the Houston Oilers, he led them to the first 3 championships, winning the first and second with an impressive aerial attack. After seven seasons, he’d move on to play with the Raiders, where he served as backup quarterback and kicker for the team for an additional nine seasons. Blanda at the time of his retirement held the record for most games played and most points scored. He was inducted into the Pro Football HOF in 1981.

G 340   Att 4007   Comp 1911    Avg 47.6    Yds 26920
Td 236    Int 277
FG 335    Att 641   XPA 943    XPM 959    Pts 2002

UPDATE -George Blanda passed away quietly at the age of 84 on September 27th, 2010.  He is survived by his wife and 11 children.

AFL, NFL, Pro Football HoF

Stenerud, Jan

Cards: Proset 1991, Topps 1970, Memorabilia.
Acquired: In person, CGA Youth Golf Tournament 1993. TTM, 1993.

Back in 1993 I went to the CGA Youth Golf Tournament in Austin, Tx with one mission in mind: get as many football player autographs as possible. I would not be disappointed. Jan Stenerud was one of the many players that I got on that 3 day bonanza that I made a drawing for. He signed the Topps 1970 and the Pro Set Hall of Fame card I got. (He is probably one of the tannest white people I have ever met.) Later much like Dick Anderson, I received a letter in the mail thanking me for my drawing and encouraging me to continue with art from Jan. He also sent me a personalized piece of memorabilia. It was quite a surprise and very nice of him.

Jan was born in Norway and came to the United States on a ski jumping scholarship for Montana State. When coaches saw his ability to kick the football, he was quickly put on the football team. In 1965 utilizing a soccer style kick, he put a 59 yarder through the uprights in what was a college football record at the time. Stenerud would go on to play for the Chiefs in the AFL as one of the first pure place kickers. His career spanned 3 decades (60s, 70s, and 80s) and 3 teams (Chiefs, Packers, and Vikings). A two time AFL All Star,  4 time Pro Bowler,  7 time All Pro, both in the NFL and Packers and Chiefs HOF, and on the NFL 75th All-Time Team, Stenerud was inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame in 1991 as the first ‘pure’ kicker. Jan still retains strong ties with his native country, and has been recently involved with a firm that designs arenas and sports stadiums.

G 263     FG 373     FGA 558   XP 580   XPA  601   Pts   1699