Category Archives: NFL

NFL

Watt, J.J.

Card: Sage Hit 2011
Acquired:  In Person 12/6/11, Whataburger Community Player of the Month

So I nailed down the Houston Texans #1 pick from 2011 along with Mario Williams at a freezing player of the month event at Whataburger in Sugarland. Despite the fact that I earned a migraine from the event and drove some 400 miles today round trip, it was totally worth it, even if this card was probably one of the worst I have seen in a while.  SaGe 2011 lacks any logos of any sort, or even players in pads for that matter and marks a painful fall from grace for this product. Of course the day after I open a box of Score 2011 and find a JJ Watt rookie card among the set which far and above would’ve been better to autograph than this one.

JJ Watt played tight end at Central Michigan before transferring to Wisconsin in 2008. After redshirting for a season, Watt came into his own and won the Ronnie Lott award in 2010. His career totals at Wisconsin included 106 tackles, a whopping 36.5 TFL, 11.5 sacks, and 4 FF. Watt was pegged early on as being targed by the Houston Texans as their #1 pick. A sound fundamentalist with a motor that doesn’t quit, JJ was tabbed at #11 by the Texans after an impressive combine that saw him finish in the top 5 in every category for his position.

New defensive coordinator Wade Phillips had plans for the Texans. After shifting the team to a 3-4 defense, he’d add Watt, and move incumbent defensive end Mario Williams to outside linebacker. The move paid off and Watt became an immediate starter. With a near 6’6″, 290 frame JJ was a threat right out of the gate recording 5 tackles in his first contest against Indianapolis. He’d block his first field goal against the Dolphins in Week 2, and his first sack on Drew Brees (NO) in Week 3. In Week 12, JJ recorded a career high 7 tackles versus the Jaguars, and sacked Blaine Gabbert twice. As Watt’s 2011 season continues, it appears that the young rookie is already beginning to pay dividends on the selection with the Texans sitting amongst the top 5 in defense.

Arena, CFL, NFL, WLAF

Proctor, Michael “Field General”


Cards: ProSet WLAF 1991, Ultimate WLAF 1992, WildCard WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent: 7/19    Received: 12/3  (137 days)

Michael Proctor would set 10 Ohio Valley conference records for the Murray State Racers during his collegiate career, including total passing yards (8,210 yards), pass completions (578), and attempts (1148).  He’d be the first player in school history to net more than 1500 yards of total offense in 4 consecutive seasons. After completing college, Michael would sign with the New England Patriots in 1990, but not make the squad.

Taken in the 4th round of the WLAF draft by the Montreal Machine, he’d compete against Kevin Sweeney and Mike Johnson initially for the job. Beating out Johnson for the backup job to Sweeney, Proctor would be forced into the starting lineup after Kevin’s season would be ended prematurely due to ineffectiveness and injury.  Stepping into the lineup for the Machine, Proctor did more damage on the ground than he did in the air rushing for 247  yards on 41 carries (6.0 average) and 2 touchdowns. In the air, Michael completed 107 of his 224 attempts and net 1222 yards, to go along with 3 td passes as the team won 4 games that season.  It was enough to garner him an audition with the Cleveland Browns, but yet again Proctor would fail to make the squad.

In 1992 the WLAF, injected ‘future star prospects and rookies’ from the NFL into the league to try and increase the league viewership, level of play, and incentivize the NFL by scouts being able to get a glimpse of those players’ progress. Much to the Field General’s chagrin, the Machine went out and drafted Anthony Dilweg at quarterback to play for them. Dilweg would win out in camp and start for Montreal, but he’d get crushed on a blitz in the season opening game against the Riders in 1992. Once again, Proctor would ride in to the rescue. Proctor, with a season under his belt in Jacques Dussault‘s system actually had matured. While the team would lose against the Riders, and in fact, post a woeful 2-8 record- Proctor turned the corner and threw 8 tds to only 5 picks. He’d also finish with 113 completions and 1478 yards. On the ground the Field General was even more destructive, carving up teams for 207 yards (a 5.4 yard average) and 4 touchdowns rushing (which led the team).  Even though Dilweg, and even Craig Cupp would threaten him from time to time for the starting position, Michael maintained his hold over the QB spot.

After the failure of the WLAF, Michael would find a home briefly playing quarterback in the CFL for the Edmonton Eskimos in 1993. He’d move on from there to play for the Charlotte Rage of the AFL for 3 more seasons throwing 17 touchdowns to 3 picks in 1994 and rushing for 7 touchdowns on 25 attempts in 1995. His AFL totals were 486 attempts, 279 completions, 3492 yards, 51 touchdowns, 12 interceptions, and a 95.81 qb rating.

A Special shout out to Shadow from the Fanmail.biz message board who helped me track down this elusive member of the WLAF. As far as anybody there on that site that I absolutely have mad respect for in their ability to track down addresses and help out a fellow collector in need- he certainly is the guy to go to.  I had been searching for Proctor for some time and had heard that he was honored at Murray State recently as their Parade Marshall.  I had pretty much given up on this one since it was a Spokeo find, but after a bit over 4 months, the Field General rolled into my command, and wrote a small note, “Take care and be blessed! Jesus is real!!!”, Along with the cards.  Really pleased with this one.  Below are Michael’s WLAF statistics:

Att  417     Comp 220    Yds 2700     Pct 52.8     Td 11     Int 15    Rat  66.8
Rush 79    Yds 454     Avg 5.7     Td 6     Lg 31

NFL

LaFell, Brandon

Card: Score 2011
Acquired: 2011 Score Box Breaker
See also: Brandon LaFell (2)

After putting together one of the most productive seasons for LSU in 2008,  Brandon LaFell would be drafted by the Carolina Panthers with their 3rd round pick in the 2010 draft. During his rookie season he slowly worked his way into the lineup as a slot receiver, and established a reputation as a solid route runner that is not afraid to block or take a hit in order to make a catch. With deceptive speed and good size, LaFell had to deal with quarterback issues all season long, but still recorded 38 receptions for 468 yards, scoring his first career TD against the Rams on a 17 yard grab. Brandon also displayed some of that speed and took an end around 60 yards against the Falcons in Week 17.  With the drafting of Cam Newton by the Panthers in 2011, the team established that consistency at quarterback that it direly needed. For Brandon, after scoring his second and third career touchdowns, he is poised to post career highs in all receiving categories this season.

I bought a cheap box or Score 2011, since they have autographs scattered throughout the boxes, and was happy to find an autograph inside. I did not purchase these cards because of the designs- rather I did so because I was after an autograph, and current players that I wanted. These Score 2011 are stodgy and are disappointing when compared to their 2010 and 2009 offerings. The Score logo is just too large, and the corner cutting by the logo just feels so 80s. I did like the back on these cards, but I frown when the photo utilized is the same from the front. After I got a hit on the first box, I ran out and bought 3 more hobby boxes and got nothing out of them. That’s karma for you. Still I can’t look this gift horse in the mouth and I am happy to have acquired LaFell for my collection.