Category Archives: NFL

Trudeau, Jack

Card: Proset 1990
Acquired: Colts Blitz 1992

Jack Trudeau. Now that is a walk down memory lane for Indianapolis Colts and fans of the original Tecmo Bowl game on the Nintendo. Trudeau was the slowest, and most ineffective quarterback in the original Tecmo Bowl game. He was incredibly easy to intercept. Let’s not forget the roster which had such notables as Pat Beach and Albert Bentley (since Eric Dickerson would not allow the makers to use his likeness). It was tantamount to insult if you beat somebody with the hapless Colts, and the easiest way to win with them was to kick 60 yard field goals with Dean Biasucci. That aside, you can tell the makers clearly based his ability on his statistical output, as Trudeau throughout 1987 shared quarterbacking duties with Gary Hogeboom, (yes the one from Survivor).

Again in 1988 and 1989, Jack shared QB duties, this time with Chris Chandler.  He’d then have to go toe to toe with cannon-armed overall #1 pick Jeff George in 1990.  (Oddly Trudeau never earned the respect of the Colts fans and from the organization, despite playing for the Fighting Illini in college.)  In 1994, he played for the Jets, and then was selected by the Carolina Panthers in their expansion draft (#56) where he served as the team’s 3rd team quarterback behind Frank Reich and rookie Kerry Collins. He retired after the 1995 season.

After retirement Trudeau bought a golf course and has been President of Enviro-Save USA, an environmentally conscious corporation that deals in fuel saving technology and production. He’s also garnered quite a following on the radio, where his morning talk show at WNDE AM 1260 (Indianapolis) was picked up in 2011 for national syndication.

Games   67         Att  1644        Comp 873     Yds  10243
TD 42        Int 69    Lg  82       Rat  63.3

Bennett, Fred

Card: Score 2007
Acquired: Texans blitz 2009

After Bennett was a two time SEC choice, Fred was drafted in the 4th round of the 2007 draft as a compliment to former Gamecock Dunta Robinson. (Robinson was going to mentor him up to the speed of the NFL game.) Unfortunately Fred Bennett got thrown into the fire when Robinson went down with a season ending knee injury in week 9 that season.

Bennett responded surprisingly well, making 55 tackles, 3 interceptions and 14 passes defensed.  Bennett would then start an additional 6 games for Robinson in 2008 (before Dunta returned) grabbing 2 more interceptions and 6 defenses. Questionably, Bennett from other accounts fell into the team doghouse and had to dig himself out by the end of the season, and started only 3 games in 2009, as a new secondary coach was brought in. Caught in a numbers game, Bennett was cut by the Texans in 2010 and was signed by the San Diego Chargers within days.

Walker, Wayne

Card: Topps 1990
Acquired: In Person 1992, San Antonio Riders v Ohio Glory
Failure: TTM 2010, C/o Home

Fleet wide receiver Wayne Walker was a free agent pick up from Texas Tech by the San Diego Chargers in 1989. At only 5-8, 162, Walker was nicknamed “bug” by his teammates. He hauled in 24 receptions for 395 yards and a touchdown his rookie season. Wayne’s yards per catch were a strong 16.5 average and he’d put in some time returning punts as well.

In 1992 Wayne would resurface with the San Antonio Riders of the WLAF. He would finish #3 on the team in receptions (26) and yards (294), which was pretty decent considering the team was a ground based offense. In 1997 Wayne would sign with the Tampa Bay Storm of the Arena League where he’d play for 3 seasons grabbing 84 receptions for 1307 yards and 19 touchdowns. He’d double as a backup return man as well for them during this period and then retire outside of Waco.

I’d get Wayne’s autograph after the infamous game between the Riders and Glory where a hailstorm came up and we all hid underneath the bleachers for half an hour. I recently came across a Wild Card WLAF card of him for the Riders and sent it to him in Waco hoping to get his autograph in 2010 but have not heard back from him. Following are his stats from his WLAF year with the Riders:

Games 10   Rec 26    Yds  294     Avg 11.4         Td 1      Lg 26