Category Archives: NFLE

AFL, NFL, NFLE, WLAF

Taylor, Lionel

Card: Upper Deck Legends 1997
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent: 6/4/14  Received: 8/13/16  (801 days)

Lionel Taylor had an amazing career that began in 1959 playing for the Chicago Bears.  He didn’t record a reception for the team during his rookie year and opted to join the upstart American Football League during its inaugural season in 1960 for the Denver Broncos. Taylor went on to endear himself as one of the most dominant receivers in the history of the league, leading the AFL in receptions 5 of the next 6 years.  In 1961 he set a modern era record with 100 receptions (which was broken in 1964 by Charlie Hennigan at 101). He played for the Broncos through 1966- joining the Oilers for the 1967 and 1968 seasons.  Lionel retired from the gridiron in 1969.

Taylor established himself quickly as an up and coming assistant coach with the Steelers as a receivers coach in 1970.  He’d remain there through 1976, cultivating a reputation as a Super Bowl winning positional coach.  He joined the Rams from 1977-1979, where he was offensive coordinator in 1980 and 1981.  Lionel then applied his trade at the college level for Oregon State, and then as head coach at Texas Southern through 1988.  Returning to the NFL in 1989, Taylor worked with the Cleveland Browns tight ends and as a pass coordinator.

Taylor joined the World League of American Football in 1995 as offensive coordinator to the London Monarchs. As the league rebranded to the NFLE, he’d take over as head coach of the franchise in 1996 and shepherd the franchise through to become the England Monarchs. It was a tough run for Taylor as head coach at the end, as his team was a vagabond franchise playing all over England looking for a new home. Since there was no established fan base, this gave the Monarchs no home field advantage.  The Monarchs finished with a 3-7 record during their swan song season.

Taylor has fully retired from the sport and lives in New Mexico.  At a clip over 800 days, I had fully given up on getting a response from Lionel, so this one came as quite a surprise to get back. It’s a shame, as with many American Football League players, Lionel has gotten little to no traction in Hall of Fame circles, despite his impressive numbers.

AFL
G/GS 121/NA      REC 567     YDS  7195    AVG 12.7   TD 45    LG  80T

NFLE
W  11     L 17       PCT .393

NFLE, ufl

Maehl, Jeff

sage11-jmaehlCard: Sage Hit 2011 (203/250)
Acquired: 2016, EBay

Jeff Maehl was a standout receiver in Chip Kelly’s explosive offense while at Oregon. The former Duck scored 23 TDs on 178 receptions over his college career, averaging roughly 13 yards a catch. While Jeff was a standout at the combine on cone and shuffle drills, he clocked a pedestrian 4.62 40. Jeff went undrafted in the NFL, but was offered a contract with the UFL Virginia Destroyers. He opted to wait until the 2011 strike was over, and found a home with the Houston Texans as a member of the team’s practice squad where he’d remain on and off for the next season.

In 2013, Jeff was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles, reuniting him with former college head coach Chip Kelly.  He saw limited time on the field recording 9 catches for 67 yards and a TD, as a pet project of the coaching staff who liked him over Riley Cooper.  Maehl also saw time on special teams. Late in the season, Jeff sustained a concussion, which delayed his return to the field.  He’d have another 5 catches in 2014,  while he bode his time in the Eagles receiving corps. Oddly, in 2015 Jeff was cut with an undisclosed injury settlement.

G/GS   27/0        REC  9        YDS  113       AVG 12.6     TD  1        LG   37

NFL, NFLE

Stouffer, Kelly

flr90 kstouffer pset89 kstouffer pset92 stouffer pset90 stouffer
Cards: Fleer 1990, ProSet 1989, ProSet 1992, ProSet 1990
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Home
Sent:  12/30 /15   Received: 1/11/16     (12 days)

Kelly Stouffer had some fine cards for having such a short career in the NFL. He always titillated us as the future of the Seahawks at quarterback, but Seattle always fell in love with another quarterback before his time actually came.

The greatest quarterback in Colorado State history, the St. Louis Cardinals fell in love with the statistically heavy quarterback and drafted him with the 6th overall pick of the 1987 draft. The team envisioned him as the heir apparent to Neil Lomax. The plan made perfect sense except for one thing: The Cardinals could not come to terms with Stouffer the entire year. It was a big blow to St. Louis, so the team opted to trade him to the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle had long been the domain of another savvy aged quarterback, Dave Krieg- and he would not go down without a fight.

Kreig though was injured, and with his backup ineffective, Stouffer was given a chance to step in. He’d post a 3-3 record in relief of Dave, including a game in which Stouffer completed 26 of 47 passes for a then NFL Rookie Record 370 yards and a touchdown in a loss to the New Orleans Saints.  He’d return to the bench with the return of Kreig.  Dave took pole position for the whole 1990 season.

The Seahawks in the meantime became enamored with quarterbacks, drafting Dan McGwire in the first round of the 1991 draft to be the new future of the franchise. As Krieg became more brittle behind the Seahawks porous offensive line, no less than 4 QBs started that season for the team, including Stouffer for a game.

With Kreig signing as a free agent with the Chiefs in 1992, the quarterback competition was wide open.  Stouffer actually won the job in camp, and flashed some signs of former brilliance in 7 starts, but eventually found himself on the bench both yielding to McGwire and Stan Gelbaugh.  After the season the team released Stouffer, as they planned to draft Rick Mirer.  Stouffer briefly popped up again on the radar as a backup for the Dolphins and Carolina Panthers, before he retired in 1996.

Stouffer went into broadcasting, honing his skills as a commentator in the NFLE.  He then moved back to stateside broadcasts, working college broadcasts for the Mountain West Conference. As of 2016 he’s a member of the ESPNU crew as a college football analyst.

G/GS   22/16   ATT  437    COMP 225    YDS  2333    PCT 51.5
TD 7     INT  19    RAT  54.5
RUSH  30        YDS  75       AVG  2.5     TD 0       LG  17