Category Archives: NFL

College Football HoF, NFL

Mayes, Rueben

Cards: Score 1991, ProSet 1990
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o home
Sent: 10/15   Received: 3/3  (128 days)

Score Cards made some really nice cards in 1989 and 1990, but already by 1991 you felt that the brand was losing its traction and the quality was beginning to slide. It wasn’t that the photos were bad, -it was really the design. With a gradient background that goes from white to purple, a diamond shaped area to frame the team logo, and a hideously bold serif type family to announce the name, about the only thing that could top that was the position of the player spelled out underneath it all- and that is just the front! It’s just a bad looking design all around. Now compare that to the Pro Set 1990 card. A really well designed set the Pro Set series hit its stride that year with an extremely simple design.

Rueben Mayes was actually born in Saskatchewan, Canada. He’d go to college at Washington State in 1983, where he’d become the most prolific runningback in the school’s history. Mayes would set a then college record with 356 yards rushing against Oregon- a record that still stands to this day, in the Pacific 10. The Saints would draft Rueben in the 3rd round of the 1986 draft. He’d turn out to be a steal for the Saints who under new head coach Jim Mora, liked to establish a strong ground game. Mayes would lead the team to a 7-9 record in the all out rough and tumble NFC West. It’d take him some time to get established as the team’s leading running back, but in week 6 he’d really have his breakout game against Indianapolis rushing for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns. Rueben would follow that up with a 172 yard effort against the Bucs,- but save his best for last rushing for 203 yards and two touchdowns in week 14 against the Dolphins. His rookie season of 1353 yards and 8 touchdowns would be rewarded with a ProBowl appearance and being named NFL rookie of the year in 1986. While injuries would hamper his Sophomore season Mayes would still turn in another ProBowl caliber year averaging 76 yards a contest just finishing under 1000 yards. Mayes 1988 would continue the downward slide in a runningback by committee approach utilized by the Saints. He’d still manage to find the endzone 6 times.  Rueben’s 1989 would be a total wash. Due to an injury sustained in the preseason, he would be placed on injured resereve and not see any playing time that season. He’d make a comeback in 1990 scoring 7 touchdowns in 8 games.  Things looked up for the stalwart running back but he’d once again be injured and placed on IR for all of 1991. In 1992 Mayes would be traded to the Seattle Seahawks  where he finished out his career in 1993 and retired after 7 seasons.

In 1995 and 1998, Rueben was named to the Washington State Cougars All-Time team. A well deserved honor since he was like the Herschel Walker of the Northwest. Mayes has been involved in a variety of charitable organizations working with at risk juveniles. He earned his Master’s degree and is a regional director of Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, Oregon.

Rueben was kind enough to sign these two cards for me in around 130 days with his signature, number and an inscription from the Bible.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” – Revelation 3:20

I must admit when I read that the inscription was from Revelation, I worried that it was a grizzly, or a foreboding statement of impending doom; However, it was more controversial than anything being that it can be interpreted in a variety of ways through loose translation. I always enjoy it when players inscribe their cards with verses from the Bible. It gives me great insight into players and who they are and their place in the world with Christ.

G/Gs  76/41       Rush  866         Yds 3484         Avg 4.0      Td 23      lg  50   |
Rec 57     Yds 401      Avg  7.0       Td 0   lg  66

 

NFL

Bennett, Tony “Alligator”

Card: Score Supplemental 1990, Action Packed Rookies 1990
Acquired: TTM 1993, C/o The Green Bay Packers

A brutal hitter with good speed and excellent pass rusher- Tony Bennett was taken in the 1990 draft by the Green Bay Packers in the first round. (In retrospect the 1990 draft was a great linebacking class, led by Junior Seau, Chris Singleton, and James Francis.)  Bennett would be the 6th linebacker taken in the top 18. The knock on Alligator Bennett was that he didn’t respect the run enough.

After a slow 1990, Tony would take off, sacking opposing quarterbacks 13 times in 1991 and 13.5 times in 1992. After a 102 day holdout in 1993, Tony would make 6.5 sacks- he’d leave via free agency to the Indianapolis Colts in 1994 and record 28.5 sacks over the next 4 seasons for them retiring after an injury plagued 1997. All in all a respectable career for 8 seasons logged. I got these two cards autographed by Tony after I had really good results mailing the Packers back in the early 90s for players like Darrell Thompson, Brett Favre, Reggie White, and Sterling Sharpe.

G/Gs  108/89   Sac 64.5     Tac 397   Fum 19       Int 0  Yds 0  Td -.-  Lg -.-

NFL

Simmons, Clyde

Card: ProSet 1990
Acquired: In Person, Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp 1994

Simply overshadowed by the presence of Reggie White on the other end, Clyde Simmons was a dominant end from Buddy Ryan’s criminally overpowered defensive line. After going to tiny Western Carolina, Clyde Simmons was drafted in the 9th round of the 1986 draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. The 86 draft is notable because it provided a lot of depth across the board- both defensively and offensively to many teams. It wasn’t an overpowering draft in terms of ProBowl and HoF talent, but it certainly yielded many recognizable names.

At 6’5″, 292, Simmons had some great measurables coming out of college and was definitely a sleeper pick, going behind such names as Tim Harris, Charles Haley, and fellow teammate Seth Joyner. After a quiet rookie season, Simmons began to ramp up his statistics and by 1989, making 15.5 sacks from the other end. He’d follow this up with 13 sacks in 1991 and a career high 19 in 1992.  In both 1991 and 1992 Simmons was named to the All-Pro team and the Pro Bowl for his contributions. Cut after training camp in 1994, Simmons signed with the Arizona Cardinals. After adjusting for a season, Simmons would again reemerge as a threat notching 11 sacks in 1995. He’d sign with the Jaguars in 1996 playing with them for two seasons making 16 sacks, before one season with the Bengals in 1998, and 2 more seasons with the Bears, retiring after the 2000 season.

Well balanced- Simmons during his time was an imposing force against the run finishing with over 100 tackles 3 times in his career. Simmons is not well remembered by fans typically outside of Philadelphia. Overshadowed by Reggie White and more boisterous members of the Eagles defense, Clyde quietly amassed 121.5 sacks over his career and in 13 straight seasons never failed to make at least 5 sacks. He’d make over 10 4 times in his career and finished 3 off from the single season NFL record in 1992.

Simmons has been doing a lot of different things since retirement in 2000.  Moving to Georgia, he worked for a mortgage company, and was a probation officer but after watching his son play football, was disgusted by the bad fundamentals players were utilizing.  Clyde decided to join the NFL’s minority coaching fellowship and was a defensive line coach for the New York Jets in 2010.

G/Gs 236/185    Tac  914       Sac  121.5    Fum 14     Int 3    Yds  85     Avg  28.3     Td  2    Lg 60t