Category Archives: usfl

CFL, NFL, usfl

Verdin, Clarence

Card: ProSet LL 1991
Acquired: TTM 1992, Colts Blitz

Clarence Verdin was a refugee from the Houston Gamblers of the USFL. With deceptive speed and great cutting ability, Verdin would light up the scoreboard in 1984 and 1985 under the Run N Shoot offense, before heading over in 1986 to play for the… -Washington Redskins where he would win a Superbowl playing for the team. Clarence would spend two seasons there, before the Colts picked Verdin up where he’d really be known as the team’s primary return man and as a spot wide receiver. He would see the endzone on occasion and treat fans to his touchdown celebration in something he called ‘the Verdance’. Clarence would go to the ProBowl in 1990 and 1992 for his return skills, leading the team in touchdowns in 1992 with 2, and returns (50) and yards (1050) in 1993. After the 1993 season, he would sign with Falcons, before an abbrieviated 6 game stint in the CFL in 1996, for the British Columbia Lions.

At last glance in 2003 Clarence was living in the New Orleans area, owned a series of barber shops and worked for an oil corporation. Below is a video of one of his returns from his days playing days in the USFL.

G/Gs 118/25  Kr 237   Yds 8076  Avg 20.8   Td 1  Lg 88T |
Pr 178   Yds 1650  Avg 9.3   Td 4   Lg 84t

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ds15aLbmMgI

NFL, usfl

Carthon, Maurice

Card: Score Supplemental 1989
Acquired: TTM 1992, Colts Blitz

The season had ended and I got a letter two weeks later stuffed with cards from the Indianapolis Colts! For a team that finished- 1-15, it still made me super happy to get these cards from the players.  Maurice Carthon was in that lot.  Initially unheralded Maurice Carthon- blocking fullback to the stars- would be signed by the upstart USFL, where he’d block for the New Jersey Generals and… football rushing record holder Herschel Walker. After the 1985 season, Carthon didn’t miss a beat jumping straight to the New York Giants.  A strong inside runner with excellent run blocking skills and impressive pass protection ability, Maurice would play for the Giants primarily during the Bill Parcells era winning a championship ring in both SuperBowls XXI and XXV. Carthon would play one season for the Colts in 1992 where I’d get his autograph, and then retire. Since then Maurice has spent his entire post playing career as an assistant in the NFL with the Patriots, Jets, Lions, Cowboys, Browns, Cardinals, and as of this post in 2010 with the Chiefs. He is considered an apostle of the Parcells’ coaching tree working for Bill at three different teams.

G/Gs  123/77    Rush 300       Yds 950       Avg  3.2    Td 2    lg 18 |
Rec 90    Yds 745   Avg 8.3    Td 1   lg 63

NFL, usfl

Hébert, Bobby “The Cajun Cannon”

Cards: Fleer 1990, ProSet 1989, Stadium Club 1992, Action Packed 1992
Acquired: TTM 2010, C/o Home
Sent: 10/15   Received: 11/1  (17 days)

I don’t know what it is about small town Louisiana, but it seems to be the cornucopia of NFL quarterback talent and Bobby Hébert (pronounced A-bear,) is another great example of that- born in Cut Off, LA. Nicknamed the “Cajun Cannon”, he’d be recruited to go to Northwestern State- Louisiana in Natchitoches and would be taken in the 3rd round (34th pick) of the upstart USFL’s initial draft in 1983 by the Michigan Panthers. Things were be rough there as Bobby would initially compete with 13 quarterbacks during that initial training camp.  Once things settled down however, Hébert established himself as one of the elite players of the young league throwing to future Minnesota Viking Anthony Carter. That year Bobby won the USFL Championship and he would take home the MVP honors beating the Philadelphia Stars. Along with those honors Hébert won player of the year honors and was voted the most outstanding quarterback of the league (3568 yards  and 27 touchdowns). The team again made the playoffs in 1984 but with injuries plaguing the defensive line, they’d be knocked out of the playoffs in the first round. In 1985, with the league experiencing financial issues, the Panthers found themselves merged with the Oakland Invaders, however they returned to the championship game losing in the end to the Philadelphia Stars. Bobby finished as the league’s career leading passer with over 10,000 yards.

After the USFL folded, Bobby was a man without a team- but he wouldn’t have to look long as former Stars coach Jim Mora who was stockpiling former USFL players and brought him into camp with the Saints. Hébert and Mora went head to head over the next animated 7 seasons for the team, as Bobby was always struggling to garner the respect he deserved with Dave Wilson, John Fourcade, or Steve Walsh (after an acrimonious holdout in 1990,) always looking over Bobby’s shoulder during his tenure there with the Saints. Bobby in fact would guide the Saints to their first playoff appearance and their first divisional title under his clock management sporting a 49-26 career record as starting quarterback of the Saints. After a great 1992 season, free agency dawned and Hébert signed with the rival Atlanta Falcons in 1993, where he’d see his lone ProBowl appearance. He’d play there for the next 4 seasons, with 1994 and 1995 being primarily mopup duty. In 1996 he replaced Jeff George and started the majority of the season under coach June Jones, retiring after the season ended.

Bobby since then has done a lot of sports radio commentary, conducting fireworks shows, and was the Grand Marshall for the Mardi Gras parade in 2007- apparently being quite the man of the party. Bobby played for the rival Saints when I was a big fan of the Rams in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I always respected him and felt that Jim Mora restricted Bobby because of Mora’s offensive philosophy. He didn’t force the ball or make many turnovers and was a great clock manager. I even had his Starting Lineup figure. Strangely, the pronunciation of Bobby’s last name would even be a topic of conversation on an episode of Seinfeld.

Hébert for some reason in many of his photos is always pitching the ball out or rolling back from center on his cards. While they were dynamic looking poses, I had to struggle to locate a good selection of different looks. I like to ask questions of many of the players that I try to get autographs from, and I was really excited to get a response from Bobby. He wrote that his greatest memory was “Definitely winning the USFL championship and the MVP honors!” He gleefully signed all 4 of my cards and both sides of my Action Packed 1992 card in 17 days. Below are Bobby’s NFL statistics.

G/Gs 122/100       Att 3121      Comp 1839     Yds  21683     Pct 58.9    Td 135     Int 124     Rat 78.0