Category Archives: NFL

NFL

Carroll, Wesley

Cards: Score 1991, Star Pics 1991, Action Packed Rookies 1991, Topps 1992, ProSet 1991.
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home.
Sent: 7/19   Received: 7/25  (6 days)

Wesely had apparently fallen behind on his TTM autographing. As from what I had researched he had not been signing anything in roughly a year, when all of  a sudden sports collectors.net started registering some hits that got progressively smaller in date range. I went ahead and took a stab at Wesely, partially because he was on my list for Action Packed Rookies to get signed, and also because he was a member of the Miami-FL team that handed the University of Texas one of its most embarrassing bowl losses. I sent him 3 cards to sign, and 2 additional cards to keep. He ended up signing all of them and returning them in a scant 6 days.

A fifth year player, Carroll played 3 years at Mississippi Junior College before transferring to UM in 1989. A fine all around athlete with good size, Wesely made a good slot receiver due to his willingness to block and also fearlessness over the middle. In his senior season at Miami he registered 952 yards and 6 touchdowns on 61 receptions. At the time of his departure from the college he ranked second all time with 114 catches.

The Saints would make Carroll their second round choice in the 1991 draft and he’d be one of 11 from Miami taken that year. A modest rookie season would leave Carroll with 18 receptions and a touchdown in 12 games in 1991. He’d follow that up with 5 starts in 1992, grabbing another 18 balls for 292 yards including a 72 yard bomb for a TD. This would be statistically his best season. In 1993 Carroll would sign with the Bengals via free agency adding 8 more catches to his resume,- but racked up a heavy injury bill over his short playing time and retired before the 1994 season.
Further investigation reveals a workers compensation claim that Carroll won against the Saints and Bengals for his injuries in 2010 that covered industrial injuries to his cervical spine, lumbar spine, left upper extremity, both knees, left lower extremity, left thumb, and hypertension, causing 46% disability and need for further treatment. It is with this, that I hope that Wesley is enjoying as restful a retirement as physically possible.

G/Gs  40/5    Rec 42     Yds  557       Avg  13.3     Td 3      Lg 72t



NFL

Conlan, Shane

Cards:  Action Packed 1992, ProSet 1989, Upper Deck 1992, Topps 1990
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o home
Sent: 7/5  Received:  8/3  (26 days)

After an All-American career playing outside linebacker at Penn State, Shane Conlan would be drafted by the Buffalo Bills with the 8th pick of the 1987 draft after trading down from the 3rd pick with the Houston Oilers, (who took Alonzo Highsmith). He’d be the third linebacker off the board after Cornelius Bennett and Mike Junkin.  An impressively stacked defensive draft, Conlan would not disappoint as he was named defensive rookie of the year after the strike shortened season. An impressive specimen of both speed and size Shane had an instinctive nose for the ball. He would be named All-Pro in 1987, 1988 and 1990, and go to the Pro Bowl from 1988-1990. After 6 seasons with the Bills and 3 SuperBowl appearances, Conlan would take his talents to the Los Angeles Rams in 1993 during the first year of free agency. He would play with the franchise through its transition to St. Louis and retire after the 1995 season.

Shane since retirement has been active in trying to improve former player benefits. (One of his teammates and friends from Penn State is former runningback Steve Smith, who suffers from ALS.) He’s also received accolades being named to the Bills’ 50th anniversary team and to the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame. He currently works for Senior Management group in Wayne, PA .

Shane was nice enough to sign these cards in under a month. I offered to allow him to keep a few but he signed all 4 and the extra and returned them in the SASE. A very nice return as I liked all these cards- even the Topps 1990.

G/Gs 120/114   Tac  751    Sac 7.0   Fum 6
Int 5    Yds 36   Avg 7.2    Td 0    lg 28

NFL

Townsend, Greg (2)



Cards: Fleer 1990, SkyBox 1992, Pacific 1992
Acquired: In Person 2011, @ “Raider Image” 8/27 (signing fee)
Previous Posting:  http://n8d.flywheelsites.com/2010/townsend-greg/

Thanks to my autograph colleague Edgar over at myautographsignings.com for the tip on this one -as I had been really baffled as to the lack of autograph signings locally by players. I found out that Greg was appearing  at the local “Raider Image” in Montebello Mall a few weeks back and I had hoped to have caught him at Ontario instead, but was busy that week with family. On a hot August day we trekked to the mall to see him. Cards and photos with Greg were reasonably priced at 5.00 a piece, so I dropped a 20 and grabbed 3 cards and a photo. I talked to Greg for a bit where he told me that the blocker he had the most trouble with was Lomas Brown (Lions) who with his long wingspan kept him regularly at bay. He comically remarked about that it seemed that many of the best blocking offensive linemen all had the last name Brown.

After talking at lengths with him I offered my remaining cards for him to keep. He glowed when he looked at the cards. He remembered the Upper Deck 1991 Team MVP card specifically- because of what he had to do to get to Chicago Bears quarterback Jim Harbaugh who he posthumously suplexed. Townsend also mentioned how he specifically loved the Action Packed cards because of the embossed profile and edges.  I had this photo below in mind to take with Greg. Always great with fans, he was more than happy to accommodate me with a manly arm clasp which really got the crowd going.