Category Archives: WLAF

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Brown, Marlon ‘Spacedog’

psetwlaf91 mbrownCards: ProSet WLAF 1991, ProSet WLAF 1991 World Bowl, Ultimate WLAF 1992.
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Home
Sent: 5/15    Received: 6/8  (24 days)

Marlon Brown is a member of the deep 1989 NFL class. He was a 12th round pick of the Cleveland Browns after setting the Memphis school record with 19 sacks. His career highlights include a 4 sack performance against Louisville, which garnered him Associated Press Defensive Player of the Week Honors in 1987.   Brown joined the British Columbia Lions of the CFL in 1990 as a defensive end, recording 3 sacks and 7 tackles.

pset91 mbrown WBWith the unveiling of the WLAF in 1991, the London Monarchs selected Brown with the 4th overall pick among linebackers in the inaugural positional draft.  A key component to the Monarchs’ WLAF title run in 1991 and top rated defense, Marlon Brown finished on the All-World League Second Team.  Spacedog had 42 tackles and 7.5 sacks. His 5.5 sacks in a 22-7 win over North American rival New York-New Jersey stand as a single game league record, and he was named player of the week.  In World Bowl I, Marlon also contributed a sack in the Monarchs 21-0 shutout of the Dragons.

Marlon was traded after the season concluded. His fortunes basically went from first to worst, as he’d join the Ohio Glory. He finished his career in the WLAF as a member of the New York-New Jersey Knights.

ultwlaf92 mbrownFrom time to time I network with other collectors about the hobby. I’ve always admired Mark’s Signing Bonus. As a respected collector, I think he is a wonderful resource who cares about TTM and autographs as much as I do. I finally worked around to asking him about a few player successes he had, chief among them- Marlon. (I had emailed a lead  before, but it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.)  Mark kindly helped me out and before I knew it, Spacedog had responded and included a nice note asking for a copy of his WLAF Ultimate 1992 card.

Marlon barely has even noticed that almost 25 years have passed. He’s still in pretty good physical shape and runs his own trucking business out of Memphis that keeps him on the road a good portion of his time.

CFL   G  5     Tac  7      Sac   3.0    Fum N/a
Int  0     Yds 0     Avg -.-      Td 0     Lg -.-

WLAF         Tac  42     Sac 7.5      Fum  N/a
Int  0      Yds 0    Avg -.-       Td 0      Lg -.-

 

WLAF

Jackson, Ray ‘RJ’ (1965-2019)

Card: ProSet WLAF 1991
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Home
Sent: 8/12    Received: 10/20  (69 days)
Failure: 2014, C/o Work

Ray Jackson was a 3 year letterman for Ohio State at cornerback where he posted 103 tackles. He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the 7th round of the 1989 draft and then bounced around from there to the Atlanta Falcons, and then over to the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL.

Afterwards he’d be selected by the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks of the WLAF (4th round, 35th pick) and shifted to Safety in 1991. While the team posted a 0-10 record, it provided plenty of time for the defense to be on the field.  Ray led the team in tackles with 68 (including 50 solo stops), 1 sack, 4 quarterback hurries, 2 forced fumbles and recoveries, an interception, and 3 pass break ups.  After the season the Skyhawks would be euthanized, and the players dropped back into the talent pool of the league draft. In Raleigh-Durham’s place the league elected to create the Ohio Glory. The Glory drafted Jackson with the first pick of the 28th round, but he did not see playing time on the final roster.

Ray studied Criminology at Ohio State and enjoyed the life of a private investigator. Ironically it took a tip from a fellow fan (Deadhorse) who gave me the most obvious clue that I should’ve found- to look at the back of RJ’s card. Apparently he had been doing PI work fairly consistently since leaving football behind and had built himself a practice out of Georgia. I sent out a card the following week to his work, but got an RTS. Later Deadhorse came up with a new address for me to take a shot at and I was able to cross another member of the WLAF off my list.

WLAF 10/10    Tac 68   Sac 1.0   Fum 2  
Int 1     Yds N/a     Avg N/a       Td 0     Lg N/a

WLAFTACSACFUM
10/10681.02
INTYDSAVGTDLG
155.005

UPDATE 9/17/19- Ray Jackson passed away suddenly at the age of 52.

NFL, WLAF

Holmes, Darryl

wcwlaf92 dholmesultwlaf92 dholmesCards: Ultimate WLAF 1992, Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: 2015, C/o Home
Sent: 2/9   Received: 2/17   (8 days)

Fort Valley State is a small school pipeline for NFL talent producing over the years such names as Eddie Anderson, Greg Lloyd, Nick Harper, Rayfield Wright, and Tyrone Poole.  Darryl Holmes appeared in between Lloyd and Anderson playing for Wildcats during the mid 80s. Going undrafted, Holmes joined the New England Patriots in 1987 playing in 15 games.  As an extra safety in the formidable Patriots secondary, Holmes made his living as a special teams burner. He played 3 seasons in the NFL recording 1 interception for 4 yards and 2 fumbles.

After sitting out a season, Darryl was drafted by the Montreal Machine of the WLAF in 1991.  During the 1991 season, Holmes recorded 59 tackles and an interception. He returned to the team for the 1992 season and contributed another 2 interceptions for 28 yards.

Holmes has been involved in numerous NFL Play Football initiatives and football camps since retirement around his home town.

NFL G/Gs  44/3   Tac   N/a    Sac 0   Fum 2
Int  1   Yds 4   Avg 4.0   Td 0    Lg 4

WLAF  Tac   N/a   Sac  N/a   Fum N/a
Int 3   Yds  28    Avg 9.3   Td 0   Lg 22