Category Archives: NFL

NFL

White, Lorenzo “Lo”

Cards: Action Packed 1991, Score Supplemental 1989, GameDay 1992
Acquired: TTM 1993, C/o The Houston Oilers
See Also: Lorenzo White (2) , Lorenzo White ‘Lo’ (3)

Wow… Lorenzo White had these suckers stamped.

Unlike the Jeff George cards that I had in 1992 that had suffered the same fate, (that I later replaced with real autographs) I was unable to replace these in time for this post. The ink didn’t pool at all on these cards. It is obvious though because the signatures are all at the same angle and there are articles of missing ink across each signature. I dislike stamps. I don’t mind autopens if they look legit. I compared this one to others and while there are some of these floating around, it’s obvious in comparison that this was lifted from his contract as opposed to his ‘natural signature’. I’d rather have a player return a card unsigned than stamp them, as it just ruins these cards for me.

Lorenzo White played with names such as Bobby McAllister, Willie Bouyer, and Andre Rison at Michigan State, during one of the team’s last heydays. He was drafted in the first round by the Houston Oilers in 1988 and had some exciting highlight film and some longer nicknames such as the “Great White Hope from the Green and White”. Lo was also an excellent receiver out of the backfield with deceptive speed at 5’11”, 222.

The problem was Lorenzo was a fumbling machine that rarely double cluched the football with both arms. In about 200 touches in 1990 he had 7 fumbles. The game Tecmo Super Bowl infamously memorialized  this by giving him some of the worst ball control in the game. He was almost guaranteed to fumble the ball once a game, and I’d always run out of bounds instead of take the hit with him. While his numbers improved and he became a pretty surehanded back after that, White never could completely erase those memories from fans.

With a new coach in place in Jack Pardee, he’d begin to thin the herd in 1990 after a conversion to the Run N Shoot offense. Gone were Alonzo Highsmith, Mike Rozier, and eventually Allen Pinkett. Lo would be one of the survivors and would produce a career high 1226 yards rushing and 641 yards receiving in 1992 starting for the team. His 1992 season would earn his one and only Pro Bowl moment.  He also gobbled down over 1,800 yards from scrimmage- the most by a runningback probably since Earl Campbell.

My best memory of Lo was that season when he made a 69 yard grab on a screen against the Cleveland Browns in the final minutes of the game to help the team engineer a comeback. He’d be injured during the 1993 season, clearing the way for Gary Brown to take the starting job.

In 1995, White signed via free agency and played for the Cleveland for one final season, but not before going down in Super Tecmo Bowl history as a member of the Browns.

Rush  1062         Yds  4242            Avg  4.0           Td 30              Lg 44            
Rec  192          Yds  1738          Avg 9.1            Td  6                lg  69

NFL, WLAF

Stephens, Richard “Shake”

Card: ProSet WLAF 1991
Acquired: In Person 1992, San Antonio Riders v Sacramento Surge

At 6″7′, 308, Richard Stephens was considered one of the WLAFs top 10 prospects. A strong drive blocker from the University of Tulsa, Stephens was taken in the 9th round of the 1989 draft by the Bengals. He’d also see time in the training camps of the Redskins and Jets before being drafted in the 2nd round of the WLAF positional draft in 1991 by the Sacramento Surge.

Richard would play two seasons for the Surge at tackle and help the team win World Bowl II blocking for All World runningback and future CFL HoFer Mike Pringle. He’d go on to play in the NFL starting one game for both the Los Angeles Raiders in 1993 and  the Oakland Raiders in 1995.

NFL

Slaton, Steve

Card: Donruss Rookies and Stars 2009
Acquired: Texans Blitz 2009

Drafted in the 3rd round of the 2007 draft, the Texans were looking for some help at runningback after the sudden retirement of team career rushing leader Dominack Davis, and found it in the dimunitive package of Steve Slaton. At 5′ 9″, 197,  Slaton was slotted in to share time with Chris Brown as a 3rd down back, but with Brown injured, Slaton assumed the starting runningback duties full time. Steve would have an impact rookie season for the Texans, helping the team achieve their first non-losing record at 8-8. Extremely dangerous out of screen plays, he led all rookies in rushing yardage with 1282 yards rushing and 377 yards receiving.

Everybody saw bigger and brighter things for the young Steve Slaton in 2009 but some talked about the ‘sophomore slump’. Whether or not it was true, Slaton suffered a down year dogged by injuries and 7 fumbles. Slaton would admit himself that he was suffering from incredible neck pain and then it was discovered he had fractured a vertebra. After 11 games, Slaton would go on injured reserve. Still Steve did manage to catch 44 balls, for a career high 417 yards, but his effective yards from scrimmage were halved.

In the meantime the Texans discovered Arian Foster buried on their depth chart and by the start of the 2010 season, Steve faced a much different backfield than he was leading in 2009. In fact, the Texans drafted Ben Tate, and then they grabbed Derrick Ward via free agency. With Tate injured early on Slaton would be ensured a spot on the roster. He would do what he could as the team’s starting kick returner. Steve would average 19.7 yards a return on 39 kicks and finish with almost 1000 yards from scrimmage in 2010.

Steve’s situation in Houston remains cloudy. I really like the kid, and think he can perform in an Eric Metcalf sort of way provided he’s given the 3rd down back potential to do so, but at this time he remains buried on the depth chart. Rumors as of this date continue to swirl around him being traded and as a possible landing spot, -Washington has surfaced.

I was dismayed that one of my friends beat me to the punch and drafted him in my fantasy football draft in 2009, but luck shined my way and I ended up with Chris Johnson who had a 2000+ yard season and led me to a fantasy championship.