Category Archives: usfl

College Football HoF, NFL, usfl

Carter, Anthony “AC”

Cards: Proset 1989, Proset 1990, Pinnacle 1992
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home.
Sent: 1/13    Received: 3/12  (42 days)
See Also: Anthony Carter (2)

An elite, hard- working speedster allowed to wear the hallowed #1 jersey while in college at Michigan, Anthony Carter is the Wolverines all-time receptions leader and was nicknamed “AC” and “the Darter”.
The Michigan Panthers of the USFL drafted Carter where he elected to play over the NFL counterpart Dolphins. With quarterback (and Autograph HoF member) Bobby Herbert at the helm, Carter had a nice rookie season with 60 receptions for 1081 yards in 1983. AC would be named to the All-USFL team as a punt returner after the season.  An injury would sideline Carter in 1984 after only 6 games, but he’d rebound in 1985 with the Oakland Invaders with 70 receptions for 1323 yards and 14 touchdowns, which would earn him All USFL team honors.

As a member of a USFL team, Carter’s rights were locked in by the Dolphins who drafted him back in 1983 (so he was not subject to the USFL CFL talent dispersal draft that the NFL later held). He would be traded away to the Minnesota Vikings who were still looking for a solid receiving force to replace Ahmad Rashad.  AC would fit right in with the Vikings, plus it kept him close to Michigan where he went to college and played the majority of his time in the USFL. He would be a great asset to the Vikings and would demoralize opposing defensive backs with his speed averaging 19.1 yards a reception his rookie season on 43 receptions. In 1987 he earned his first Pro Bowl honor with a jaw dropping 24.3 yards per catch on 38 receptions. He’d hit paydirt 7 times that season including a career long 73 yard bomb for a touchdown.  1988 would see career highs again in receptions (72) and yards (1225) for the USFL speedster. Carter would follow this up again in 1989 and 1990 going over 1000 yards both seasons. He’d also have an incredible playoff game where he burned the San Fransisco defense for 10 receptions and 227 yards.  As the 1991 season approached, Cris Carter arrived in Minnesota effectively halving AC’s production, but Anthony would continue playing for the Vikings over the next 3 seasons providing the team solid veteran leadership. Anthony would be left exposed during the free agent purge of 1993 by the Vikings and signed with the Lions, however injuries and time had caught up with the former Wolverine and he’d play only 4 games with the Lions and retire in 1995.

A college football hall of fame inductee, Carter has amassed a fair amount of accolades since retirement. Like many former USFL greats, one has to wonder how Carter’s legacy would figure into the football landscape if he had declared for the NFL draft or been paired up with Dan Marino in Miami.  He is considered one of the 50 greatest Minnesota Vikings players of all time and was named the the USFL All Time team as first team wide receiver and second team punt returner. In 2011 he was also named the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.

After the stranglehold by Topps was loosened on the football card industry by Score and ProSet, the market was flooded with companies trying to cash in on the frenzy.  Carter’s Topps cards really never did him justice, but Pro Set never failed to hit its mark. Since the implosion of the former card giant, I have gained a new found respect for how it revolutionized the industry and the 89 and 90 cards of Carter are excellent examples of this. Pinnacle was late to the party, and by that point I was sporadically collecting. They were revolutionary cards with a nice design at the time with a profile and action shot on the front.

With an average team on offense, AC was about ALL the Vikin– I mean ‘Monsters’ had in the original Tecmo Bowl.  I also had Carter’s Starting Lineup action figure, which was a very plain action pose that Kenner used in that mold at the time.

USFL: 
Rec    160     Yds  3042     Avg 19.0     TD  28  
PR   45     Yds   408    Avg  9.0    Td  1

NFL:  
G/Gs  140/126    Rec: 486    Yds  7733    Avg  15.9     Td  55  Lg  73

Arena, CFL, NFL, usfl, WIFL, WLAF

Davis, Darrell “Mouse”

Card: ProSet 1991, ProSet WLAF 1991, ProSet WLAF 1991 Helmet card
Acquired: TTM 1992, C/o The New York-New Jersey Knights, TTM 2011, C/o The University of Hawaii Warriors
Sent: 2/14/11     Received: 3/10/11   (24 days)

Mouse Davis is nothing short of an innovator and a career coach with an extensive offensive coaching tree full of acolytes at every stop. Considered of great importance to the evolution of the Run and Shoot offense(- a passing offense that employs four wide receiver sets, no tight ends and a single running back,) the offense itself is also treated as the forerunner to the modern day spread offense. At every stop from the high school level to the professional level, Davis’ offenses have lit up the scoreboard and set team and league records. In college Mouse coached tiny Portland State to explosive levels (guided by future NFL quarterback Neil Lomax and June Jones). Portland State would set 20 NCAA records, and Mouse would briefly make a stop at Berkley before going on to be offensive coordinator of the Toronto Argonauts in the CFL in 1982. In 1984 he’d move to the USFL and be offensive coordinator under coach Jack Pardee and the Houston Gamblers with Jim Kelly, Richard Johnson and Ricky Sanders. His ‘Mouseketeers’ would dominate the offensive scoreboard and Johnson and Sanders would be the first 100 reception tandem in football history on the same team. 1985 would see his first pro head coaching gig, guiding the Denver Gold to the playoffs before the league folded. Soon thereafter Davis was named head coach of the St. Louis Lightning of the WIFL, but the league disbanded before it even took the field. After the failure of the USFL and WIFL, Davis was head coach of the New York-New Jersey Knights of the WLAF where the team in its first season had the league’s leading rusher in Eric Wilkerson and made the playoffs. In one notable game in 1991 the team set a football record for most faked punts in a game, but also set the record for futility in special teams as well. In the 1992 season under Davis’ guidance, quarterback Reggie Slack was the number 2 rated passer in the league with a 6-4 record before it folded.

Mouse has made numerous pitstops in the NFL as well, most notably when he was an assistant with the Detroit Lions during the late 80s – early 90’s building the “Silver Stretch Offense” and also spent time with the Atlanta Falcons. He was influential with Jack Pardee who adopted the Run and Shoot from him utilizing it with both the Houston Cougars to epic proportions in the NCAA level, the Houston Oilers in the NFL, and the Birmingham Barracudas in the CFL.

Davis returned to the college ranks after his stints in the NFL and WLAF. He currently serves with the Hawaii Warriors as their wide recievers coach and was inducted into the Portland State HoF. I sent off for his autograph while he was coaching the Knights in 1992 and then just this year while he was with the Warriors and he responded in under 30 days. His WLAF statistics are below.

W 11   L 9   T 0  Pct .555

NFL, usfl

Saxon, Mike



Cards: Fleer 1990, Score 1992, ProSet 1992
Acquired: In Person 1990, 1992, Dallas Cowboys Training Camp

Mike Saxon, (hailing from Arcadia, Ca) was originally an 11th round draft choice of the Detroit Lions in 1984.After not making the roster, he’d try out for the Arizona Wranglers of the USFL.  Unable to make the team he would end up on the Tom Landry Cowboys in 1985.  Saxon would become one of the underrated punters in Cowboys’ history, pinning more teams inside their own 20 than any other punter during his time on the Cowboys from 1985-1992. Mike would earn a Super Bowl ring with the team in 1992, completing the circle from worst to first with the team, but the team considered his position a ‘budget’ position, so he’d play one season in 1993 for the New England Patriots- where he’d have 3 blocks, contributing to his release from the team. Saxon would finish out his career playing two more seasons for the Minnesota Vikings in 1994 and 1995. For a guy two teams didn’t want, Saxon made it count for the 14 solid and serviceable seasons he was in the NFL. Since football Mike has been involved in roofing and construction for commercial and residential markets and is also involved with Savant Energy providing green alternatives to the market. He occasionally also makes appearances at Dallas Cowboys games as well.

Punts 813   Yds 33887  Avg   41.7    Blk 7