Category Archives: usfl

AFL, College Football HoF, NFL, usfl, WLAF

Gabriel, Roman (1940-2024)

Cards: ProSet WLAF 1991, ProSet WLAF Helmet 1991, ProSet 1991, UD Legends 2005
Acquired:  TTM 2011, C/o RG Enterprises
Sent: 11/9     Received:  11/23  (14  days)

Embarrassingly I am a fan who grew up after the Roman Gabriel era, and my memories of him is neither as quarterback of the Los Angeles Rams or Philadelphia Eagles, but rather as head coach of the woeful Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks from the WLAF circa 1991.

These were the only cards I had in my collection of him, and after being informed of his stiff signing fee of $10 per signature, I waited sometime before contacting him a second time for an autograph. He kindly enclosed an Upper Deck legends card from 2005 as well, and thanked me for writing.

An all-around athlete for NC State, Roman Gabriel was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in 1962 as the second overall pick. (He was also chosen in the AFL draft by the Oakland Raiders.) Choosing to sign with the Rams, Gabriel went on to become one of the most successful Asian-Americans in American Football (Philipino). Once he was made the starting quarterback in 1966 he went on to rewrite many of the passing records for the Rams franchise.  

After flirting with the AFL and signing with the Raiders,  Roman decided to stay put with the signing of head coach George Allen. His patience was rewarded, as Gabriel went on to be named the NFL’s MVP in 1969.

As knee and shoulder injuries began to take their toll on Gabriel, he’d be traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1973 and help right the ship of the woeful Eagles franchise and earn Comeback Player of the Year Honors.

Over the last few seasons he’d play sparingly as a backup quarterback until his retirement after the 1977 season. Gabriel’s strongest attributes as a QB were his powerful arm and his excellent decision making abilities. He’d finish his career with an 84-67-7 record.

Roman (post playing days) remained active in sports and dabbled in acting. Besides owning some car dealerships, he worked as a color commentator and served as a head coach.

In this capacity among his notable stops were that Gabriel was head coach at Cal Poly Ponoma, offensive coordinator of the USFL Boston Breakers in 1983,  quarterbacks coach of the Arizona Wranglers in 1984, and finally at his gruesome stop as first- general manager and then finally as head coach of the WLAF Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks.

Unfortunately things didn’t work out for Gabriel the way he had hoped as the Skyhawks finished 0-10 in their only season in the league.  From then he diversified his interests and was deeply committed to charitable causes.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989, and the Hall of Very Good in 2015.

Roman was a voracious signing up until his final days, and I had just finished putting a letter together for another request.

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EPITAPH:

4/20/2024- Roman Gabriel passed away peacefully at the age of 83, of natural causes.

NFL, usfl

McNeil, Gerald “Icecube”(2)

Cards: ProSet 1989, ProSet 1990, Score 1991
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o The Cleveland Browns
Sent: 10/6  Received: 11/17  (40 days)
See Also: Gerald McNeil

Gerald McNeil was one of my favorite players as a kid, as I had vivid memories of seeing him play for the Browns, so when the Oilers signed him I was really excited to see what he could do. While those twilight years weren’t as successful as the time he had with the Browns and Gamblers, it was unfortunate that in his final year with the Oilers he suffered a quadriceps injury that ended his career. During his heyday he was one of the most dangerous returners of that age ala the same diminutive size but shifty speed as Lionel James. Gerald’s nickname apparently came about from William “The Refrigerator” Perry. One of McNeil’s teammates remarked that Gerald was so small that he could fit inside The Refrigerator, – and along with his penchant for escaping tackles and scoring touchdowns, the nickname stuck.

I had been after Gerald for quite sometime, and finally was able to find him via… SotL.com. (Notice a recurring theme here yet?) After geeking out for a while, I exchanged some communication with him, where he told me the best way to get an autograph was sending it via the Browns who he acts as an ambassador for (along with the Texans). I zipped out a few cards and after about 40 days, I finally got my hands on the slippery Ice Cube again and completed out the collection of cards that I owned of him- sans the nasty Topps cards of that era.

NFL, ufl, University of Texas, usfl, WLAF

Bradley, Bill “Super Bill”

Card: Topps 1972, Upper Deck UT 2011
Acquired: In Person, 11/9/11 Card Traders of Austin UD 2011 UT Football Card Launch Party

A tried and true athlete that found his position of calling while at the University of Texas, “Super Bill” as he was dubbed (for having ambidextrous passing skills) came in originally as a quarterback to the vaunted school in 1965. Unable to crack the lineup there or at wide receiver, he found his true calling at defensive back for the Longhorns. He’d go on to become perhaps one of the best secondary personnel in the history of the school and make an SWC record 4 picks in one game.

Super Bill was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 3rd  round of the 1969 draft. The rest is history. The multi-purpose Bradley was inserted into the lineup at free safety, but along the way would play as a kick returner, punt returner, and punter for the Eagles who truly got their money’s worth out of Bradley.  Unfortunately these were also some of the leanest years of the Eagles’ storied franchise.  His 1970 and 1971 seasons stand among the best in NFL history, recording 11 picks in 1970 for 248 yards and making 2 FR leading the NFL, and then following it up in 1971 with 9 picks for 73 yards to lead the NFL again in interceptions. (No other player in history has lead the league twice in picks.) In 1973 he’d add 4 picks to the total but teams would begin to look the other way in fear of Bradley’s ball-hawking skills. For the 3 seasons, he’d be awarded AP or Pro Bowl honors. He’d again make 5 picks in 1975 before finishing out his career with Philadelphia the following year. Bill would sign with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1977 playing one final season and retire. He is tied as the franchise’s all time leader in interceptions with 36.
He’s been active in coaching working with the San Antonio Gunslingers of the USFL, crossing paths with me briefly as a defensive backs coach of the San Antonio Riders, and along the way as well with the Bills, Chargers, and Jets (in no specific order).  He also served as defensive coordinator of the Baylor Bears for 2004-2006.  As of late, Super Bill has also worked in the UFL with the Florida Tuskers and the Hartford Colonials as a secondary coach and is a member of the ‘suspended operations staff’ in Hartford.  Bradley has been inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and also into the Philadelphia Eagles Honor Roll.

I had been following Sports Cards Traders of Austin for a few weeks and it really paid off. When they posted up that Bradley was going to be appearing, I did not hesitate to call them and have the store pull a few cards of him from the racks. I grabbed a Topps 1972, and then heard that he would be in the UT set. After breaking open a few packs, I was happy to find Bradley inside one of them. I gave an extra to him which made him really happy since it was the first time he saw it. The photo that they used was from his Freshman year at UT. He knew it because he was wearing a helicopter pilot’s helmet and apparently they had run out of ones for their players. We also talked about the Riders, and he told me that Coach Riley owns a house down the street from him. Bradley also loved talking about the hail storm game with me against the Ohio Glory back in 1992. It was a great interaction with a great player who was willing to personalize my cards. Here is Super Bill’s statistics:

G 114      Tac  N/a      Sac  N/a     Fum  7    Int   34    Yds  536   Avg 15.8      Td  1    Lg 56t
KR 27      Yds 564       Avg 20.9         Td 0    Lg 42
PR 122    Yds 953       Avg 7.8         Td 0       Lg 60
P  213      Yds 8316     Avg  39.0     Lg 61