CARDS: Pro Set 1990, Pro Set 1989, Fleer 1990 ACQUIRED: SENT: 7/10/20 RECEIVED: 8/7/20 (28 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Mike Wilcher followed in Lawrence Taylor’s footsteps at North Carolina playing there in
He posted 68 tackles in his senior season and racked up 20 TFL between his Junior and Senior seasons at defensive end.
In 1983, the Rams converted to a 3-4 defense and were looking for an outside linebacker.
Mike fit that bill and the team selected him near the top of round 2 and decided to convert him over.
It wasn’t until 1984 when Mike was able to cement over a spot in the starting lineup at ROLB- and the starting LB in nickel and dime formations.
In 1985, he posted a career high 12.5 sacks along with 95 tackles.
Mike scored his only professional TD of his career in 1987, a 35 yard fumble recovery against the Redskins, in a 30-26 win.
He held down the starting job through the 1990 season- finishing with 400 career tackles with the Rams,
In 1991, Mike played a final season for the San Diego Chargers, dressing for 2 contests.
NOTES:
Mike had outstanding speed for the era, and was a solid coverage man. Severely underrated, the Rams saw a drop off after his departure. Mike had a pretty decent selection of cards. I really liked the Fleer and Pro Set entries of the era.
CARD: University of Texas Upper Deck 2011 ACQUIRED: Ebay, 2024 FAILURE: TTM 2018, TTM 2021 C/o Home
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
After redshirting his Freshman year and converting from TE, OL Terry Tausch played from 1978-’81 for the Texas Longhorns.
A 4 year letterman, he earned all-conference honors in both 1980 and ’81.
A second round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 1982.
He’d start 68 of 81 games with the Vikings through 1988.
Provided valuable depth in his final season with the San Fransisco 49ers in 1989- winning the Super Bowl.
ACCOLADES:
Texas Athletics Hall of Honor 2001
NOTES:
I had some very bad luck getting Terry. So I’d like to state for the record that I hadn’t found anything on Terry’s passing when I sent to him in 2021. Otherwise I’d seen a few successes post 2018 trickle through and I had no clue why mine didn’t get back.
On top of that I asked my old friend Spoodog if he had any certifieds of Terry since he had so many of the set. I’m just not sure what happened to him over the years. I reached out to him a few times but he didn’t even bother responding. He said some smarmy things to me about travel- then 6 months later did the same thing. Then he and his wife up and moved to Michigan. I hope they’re doing well though.
I went ahead and bit the bullet on this one and bought it off of EBay. It wasn’t terribly expensive. With that I’ve completed out the player portion of the 2011 UT Upper Deck set. Now all that remains is two Memorable Moments from the set.
EPITAPH:
3/27/2020- Terry passed away at his home in Plano suddenly at the age of 61. No cause of death was given.
CARD: Topps AAF 2019 Certified ACQUIRED: 2019, Personal Break
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
A tweener with the ability to line up at DE or OLB, Jake Pugh played for FSU from 2014-’17.
Seeing action in 36 games over his college career, he recorded 108 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, 2 interceptions, 4 pass deflections, 3 fumble recoveries- of which he returned 1 for a TD.
Considered an EDGE in the pros, he went undrafted but saw some preseason action with the Seattle Seahawks in 2018.
He then joined the Orlando Apollos of the AAF in 2019.
Unfortunately he sustained a neck injury before the first game of the season and didn’t see any action that season.
In 2020, he’d play for the Tampa Bay Vipers of the XFL.
Then he tried his hand in the CFL with the Stampeders in 2022 but didn’t make the squad.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
