Category Archives: University of Texas

NFL, University of Texas

Feller, Happy

utud11 feller
Cards: UT UD 2011, UT UD 2011 NC
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Work
Sent:  10/19  Received: 10/23    (4 days)

With a name like Happy Feller, you might as well be predispositioned to be positive about things.  He joined the Longhorns Hall of Honor in 2014, after being a part of two national championship teams for the University of Texas. While there he set Southwest Conference records for both touchbacks and point after attempts. His 55 yard field goal against UCLA  in his senior year was a school record at the time as well.

utud11 feller 6970Feller went on to play in the NFL for 3 seasons.  A 4th round pick of the Philadelphia Eagles, he’d beat out Mark Moseley in training camp to secure the kicking job.

The Eagles were perennial losers at the time. Head coach Jerry Williams was fired and replaced by interim coach Ed Khayat. Khayat brought New Orleans placekicker Tom Dempsey in and put him on the taxi squad. With an accomplished kicker like Dempsey breathing down his neck, Feller began to question his ability. His game ultimately suffered.  Happy played in 1972 and 1973 for the New Orleans Saints, but a quadriceps injury slowed him down.

After football,  Happy founded TeleDynamics, which specializes in wholesale electronics. He signed these 2 cards for me in a very short 4 days. On the letter he wrote next to my salutation, “My pleasure!” It’s always great when you can tell that a player really is just as happy and excited to sign for you as you are.

G  21       XPA 28        XPM 27        FGA  16        FGM   50       PCT  37.2%

CFL, NFL, University of Texas

Worster, Steve ‘Big Woo’ (1949-2022)

Cards: UT UD 2011 National Champions 1970, UT UD 2011 ATA, UT UD 2011 Icons, UT UD 2011 NCAA AA.
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Home. Trade 2015.
Sent: 3/16    Received: 3/27  (11 days)

Bruising fullback Steve ‘Woo-Woo’ Worster was part of a devastating backfield that included  such talent as Chris Gilbert, Jim Bertelsen and Ted Koy. To accommodate all of those skill players, Coach Darrell Royal implemented the Wishbone system at the University of Texas.

While at UT Worster ran all over opposing defenses, running for 806 yards on 161 carries, and chipping in 13 TDs in 1968. In ’69 Steve had 136 carries and 9 TDs. It’d be in 1970 that he had his true signature year, leading the Longhorns to the National Championship. During that season, Big Woo galloped 160 times for a career high 898 yards, a 5.6 yard per carry average, and 14 TDs. Over his time at UT, Worster was a 3 time SWC champion, a 2 time All-American, and a 2 time National Champion (1969, 1970). His cumulative totals were 457 carries for 2,353 yards, a 5.1 yard per carry average,  36 touchdowns, and  11 receptions for 113 yards.

Steve was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 4th round of the 1971 draft, but did not play for the team.  Unable to agree on a contract, Steve headed North to the CFL and joined the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, but after 4 games he grew disenchanted with the game and decided to leave the game behind.

He returned to Texas, completed his degree, and got into sales. He’s currently retired and lives outside of Beaumont.

Thanks to Zevonfan on Sportscollectors I was able to find an address for him. He signed every card I had of him, minus his UT Upper Deck 2011 base card. On it was a note indicating that the photo from the front of the card was not his. The photo was of Jim Bertelsen and not of Worster and is considered an unreported error card.

A few months after that Zevon on SCN proposed a trade with me.   He really, really wanted a Haywood Jeffires from my collection and  in exchange he dangled the Worster base set card I needed. (The problem is, no matter how many I get of Jeffires, it’s become this bizzare tradition that I treasure.) Well luckily enough I ran into him at the Oilers 25th Anniversary Party, where he signed everything I had.  This allowed me to consummate the trade, thus allowing me to knock out a potentially difficult Worster card off my list.

EPITAPH:

On 8/13/22 Steve passed away at the age of 73, after battling health problems over the past few years.

NFL, University of Texas

Thomas, Sloan (2)

bow04 thomasCard: Bowman 2004
Acquired: IP 4/16/2015, Sam’s Wholesale Lakeline Grand Opening
See Also: Sloan Thomas

Again, big props to Nathan for ID’ing Sloan Thomas, who just walked up during the event to say hello to Vince Young and Kasey Studdard. The ‘box’ also came in handy again. I keep it packed full of Longhorns just in case one shows up at an event unexpectedly, and luckily I was packing a card of Sloan that I had gotten a few months ago.

I’m sure he was surprised that so many fans recognized him.  Noticing my Oilers hat, he struck up a conversation about Houston, and how I had to have been a tough fan to be with them through those good years, and bad post season games (- in particular the Buffalo collapse), as he was apparently a big fan too. He asked me if I was a Texans fan or a Titans fan, and I explained how I tuned out pro football for a few years after the Oilers moved to Tennessee- so I obviously wasn’t a tacks fan.

After going out to my car and retrieving the Texans card of him, his eyes lit up and he exclaimed, “Look at that!”, before happily signing my card.  Otherwise Sloan looked quite dapper, and it appears life has been treating him well.