Category Archives: NFL

NFL

Hoard, Leroy

pset90 hoardCards: Action Packed Rookies 1990, Score Supplemental 1990, ProSet 1990.
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Work*
Sent: 3/12      Received: 3/20   (8 days)
* Donation enclosed

Leroy Hoard is one of the legendary backs that came through the University of Michigan. A punishing frunner who left it all out on the field, he ran 314 times for 1706 yards and 19 TDs playing for the Wolverines as primarily a short yardage back. Considered one of the best backs of this function of the era, Hoard was drafted in the second round of the 1990 draft by the Cleveland Browns. The Browns were a team struggling to maintain positioning in a contentious arms race in the AFC Central between the Bengals, Oilers, and Steelers and still feeling the long presence of former head coach Marty Schottenheimer over the franchise. Still head coach Bud Carson had put his stamp on the team, drafting do-it-all scat back Eric Metcalf the previous year and maintaining the continuity of the offense with Bernie Kosar at the helm. It was an interesting pick however, as the team already boasted a power fullback in the name of Kevin Mack. The team however struggled early and often that year, and Carson found himself ousted during the season. Hoard had a very plain rookie season, but still managed to grab 3 touchdowns rushing, which was quite a feat since the team scored only 224 points en route to a 3-13 season.

sco90sup hoardBill Bilichick was brought in the following season to turn things around. As he remade the team over the next few seasons, Hoard became a more intergral part of the offense.  In 1991 Leroy demonstrated a knack as a receiver, catching a career high 48 passes for 567  yards and 9 touchdowns, including a 71 yarder against the Kansas City Chiefs that year.  In 1994, Hoard rushed for a career high 890 yards and had 1,335  yards from scrimmage earning him his one and only Pro Bowl berth.

In 1996, Leroy made the transition with the Browns franchise to Baltimore. During the season he’d be traded, and spend time on the roster of the Carolina Panthers, before finally landing with the Minnesota Vikings. Although Leroy’s time as a starter had begun to wane, he was still an important part of the Vikings offense. Starting 6 games that year, he ran for 420 yards and 3 touchdowns and caught 10 passes for 129 yards. Hoard remained with the Vikings through the 1999 season, – a year in which he ran for a career high 10 touchdowns on 138 carries.

aprks90 hoardLife has been difficult for Leroy since his playing days have ended. Because of his brutal playing style, Leroy suffered multiple concussions and head injuries during his playing time in college and the NFL.  Due to the lack of information on the subject, Hoard, like many players shrugged off the effects and went back into the game, compounding the effects. Today Leroy suffers from frequent and painful headaches and has bouts of ‘forgetfulness’ that plague his memory. I felt it was my responsibility as a fan paying homage to him and asking for his autograph to include a donation. Leroy has found some therapy through sports talk radio, and currently lives in the Miami, FL area.   A member of Tecmo Super Bowl, Hoard is one of the feared ‘popcorn backs’, a runningback so powerful that all you had to do was tap the B button and he’d throw would be tacklers aside as he ran up the field.

 

 

 

G/Gs 144/66       Rush  1008       Yds  3964        Avg 3.9         Td  36    Lg  53
Rec  238     Yds  2430     Avg  10.2    Td  15    Lg  72t

Arena, NFL, ufl

Purify, Maurice

tntafl11 purifyCard: TNT AFL 2011 Promo
Acquired: IP 6/15/2014, San Antonio Talons vs. The Arizona Rattlers

Maurice earned Second Team All-Big 12 Hounrs as a senior after catching 57 passes for 814 yards and 9 touchdowns with the Nebraska Cornhuskers in 2007.  Going undrafted, Purify signed with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2008 where he’d see time on special teams, recording 5 tackles in 2009.  He joined the Georgia Force in 2010 and was named Rookie of the Year and Breakout Player of the Year. Maurice also earned Second-Team All-Arena honors after leading the Georgia Force with 130 receptions and 46 TDs, while finishing second on the team with 1,653 yards receiving.  In 2011, Maurice decided to play for the UFL, but an injury landed him on injured reserve for the majority of the league season, so Maurice returned to the Arena leagues, this time signing with the powerful Arizona Rattlers. He’d go on to catch 126 balls for 1,932 yards and 46 touchdowns that season and earn First-Team All-Arena Honors. He’d be a key component in the Rattlers ArenaBowl XXV victory, as he’d be named Offensive Player of the Game for his seven touchdown performance. Maurice resigned with Arizona for the 2013 season, but was injured for much of the year. Still he’d post up  51 receptions for 740 yards and nine touchdowns in nine games, and two touchdowns in the team’s return to ArenaBowl XXVI.  Maurice was the last of the ‘big 3’ that I was after from the Rattlers that evening. He went over to sign autographs before the game, so I had to dart across the stands with pen in hand to get him. Still I ended up with his autograph on this sweet looking card of him from his days with the Force.

 

NFL

Mandarich, Tony

udldg11 mandarich
Cards: Stadium Club 1991, Upper Deck 1990
Acquired:  Canton Acquisition 2012, TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent:   4/9   Received: 4/21   (12 days)

Tony Mandarich is a true story about the rise, fall, and return, of an incredible offensive lineman from one of the best drafts during the ‘golden era’ of football. The 1989 draft is considered by many, (myself included,) to be one of the greatest professional football drafts of the modern age of football. The draft included some huge names. Troy Aikman, Derrick Thomas, Barry Sanders, Deion Sanders,Eric Metcalf, Steve Atwater, and Andre Rison were all some of the big names taken- and that was during the first round. Of these names mentioned, Aikman, Thomas, and both Sanders are in the Hall of Fame. They went number one overall, number three, number four, and number five. So wait a minute, who went number two? Enter “The Incredible Bulk”, Tony Mandarich.

Tony Mandarich had an impressive career at Michigan State after coming to the states from Canada during High School. A veritable man-mountain, Tony measured in at 6’6″, 304 and ran sc91 mandarichthe 40 in a mouth watering 4.65. For an offensive lineman of his size and power, the numbers were not only off the chart, – they were unheard of. He even popularized the term ‘knockdown block’ for offensive linemen, averaging 10 or more a game. Mandarich’s stock skyrocketed prior to the NFL draft. I remember one of the first Sports Illustrated’s that I got in the mail featured Tony on the cover, (in a not so flattering photo, but showcasing his frame,)  touting him as “The Incredible Bulk” on the cover of the magazine. It was a lot to live up to for Mandarich, so he embraced the hype machine.
Tony went #2 to the Green Bay Packers, after the Cowboys selected Troy Aikman #1 overall. Most draft pundits at the time believed the old wives tale that: “Offensive line was the safest position to pick high in the draft,” and showered Coach Lindy Infante and the Pack with praise for their conservative and solid pick. Mel Kiper was so high on Tony, I thought he was going to name his first born after him. Mandarich came into Green Bay with a head of steam and proceeded to spiral out of control due to drugs and alcohol abuse. He also went from ‘bad boy’ in the media darling spotlight, to just ‘bad’ in the media spotlight. It was a quick and public fall for Tony who was lambasted for not even cracking the starting lineup in 1989. In 1990 he started all 16 games at right tackle, (but was penalized more often than any other lineman on the team,) and quietly started 15 more in 1991. Things only got worse for Tony however, as he sat out all of the 1992 season due to a thyroid condition and post-concussive syndrome symptoms.  After shopping him privately throughout the year to multiple teams, the Packers decided to cut Mandarich citing a non-football injury. “Sports Illustrated” basically said, “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out,” with their cover follow up article “The NFL’s Incredible Bust”.  It was a hard, hard fall for Tony and he remained out of football for the next 4 seasons, fighting his inner demons and getting treatment for drugs and alcohol, but in 1996 there he was again, reborn- in Indianapolis.

The Colts needed help in 1996 going through another ‘rebuilding phase’ before the ‘Age of Manning’, and the place they needed it most was o-line, where they were thin at the position and wet behind the ears. Everybody loves a comeback story, but nobodypset89 mandarich really likes to be proven wrong, especially after they’ve dead and buried a guy, so there were very few people who gave Mandarich a chance at redemption, but the Colts and his former Coach Lindy Infante did, and he’d reward them by putting in a solid, humble, workmanlike job. Tony was an experiment to the Colts that paid off, listed at a right tackle, but also spending a lot of time inside at guard. (He lost out on the NFL Comeback Player of the Year Award to Jerome Bettis.)  Tony, in fact started all 16 games in 1997, and was on his way to starting all 16 in 1998, but a shoulder injury in week 10 ended his season.  Mandarich finally decided that he was done, and opted to retire after the season.

Since then, Tony has come all clean about his time in football. It was revealed that he did indeed use steroids while at Michigan State. He also abused painkillers and alcohol readily, which combined with a lack of commitment to football really ended his career in Green Bay. The silver lining is that he returned to play the sport with renewed vigor and focus on the Colts, and there he was clean of all impediments and focused on the game. He wrote a
gday92 mandarich book titled, “My Dirty Little Secrets: Steroids, Alcohol, & God”, and also did a ‘Behind the Lines’ story for ESPN, but really he hopes to just be able to show other people that there is indeed redemption and a way out and back at the end of the day.  Tony currently runs a photo studio that specializes in nature photography and a full service web media business specializing in website development and optimization.  He also does motivational public speaking about his life and struggles.

Tony has been really good to fans over the years and is an avid TTM signer. While I had gotten the Upper Deck and Stadium Cards previously through the Canton Acquisition, but I really wanted to get Tony on cards that were important to me. I  was happy to get him on the GameDay, ProSet, Action Packed, and Upper Deck Legends cards in under half a month.