Category Archives: WLAF

NFL, WLAF

Graham, Jeff

Card: ProSet WLAF 1991
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Work
Sent: 7/20  Received: 7/27  (7 days)

At the time of his graduation from Cal State -Long Beach in 1989, quarterback Jeff Graham owned virtually all of the 49ers passing records with 8080 passing yards and 42 touchdown passes, along with a school single game 515 yards passing.  During the 1989 draft, Jeff would be taken by the Green Bay Packers in the 4th round.  He’d return in 1990 to finish his degree in criminology from his Alma Mater.
Scouring the free agent waiver wire for a quarterback to back up Todd Hammel in New York, the Knights would sign Jeff with just 10 days for him to prepare for the regular season. Graham, much like Stan Gelbaugh in London would come off the bench in game one and not relinquish the starting job for the remainder of the season. What was more amazing was the fact that Graham did this while constantly under fire suffering 62 sacks in only 10 games. (Prorated over an entire 16 game schedule, that would have been roughly 90 sacks.) In the end, Graham still posted an impressive season with 2407 yards and 8 touchdowns, while setting a league record with 414 passing yards against Montreal.  Jeff’s gaudy 15.3 YPC and 8.9 YPA would also lead the WLAF while he rushed for 6 touchdowns.  He would not return to the Knights for 1992, with Reggie Slack and Brent Pease in camp.

Graham signed with the Chargers in 1991, Seahawks 1992-1994, and Oakland in 1995, as an emergency quarterback. He would see no regular season playing time for any of the franchises and retire after his stint with the Raiders. Since that time Jeff returned to college earning his masters at Colorado State. In 2006, Graham was inducted into the California State Long Beach Hall of Fame and is currently practicing law in the LA area. Below are his WLAF statistics.

G 9/10    Att 272  Comp 157   Yds 2407   Pct 57.7    Td 8   Int 8   Rat 84.6  |
Rush 46   Yds 140   Avg 3.0   Td 6   Lg 24

NFL, ufl, WLAF

Huyghue, Michael

Card: TNT UFL 2011
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o UFL League Offices Jacksonville, Fl
Sent: 8/8     Received: 8/18  (10 days)

I wanted a way to preserve the memory of the UFL much like the way I have done so for the WLAF so I created a set of cards for the league, since there was nothing on the market. It ended up exploding into a 100+ card set.

Michael Huyghue has been the much maligned commissioner since taking charge of the fledgling league, that was hoping to capitalize off of the NFL labor dispute in 2011. (Clicking on the back of his card will bring up a detailed profile.) Taking a beating from fans over the league’s nomadic franchises and their overly optimistic approach, the UFL has managed to survive into its 3rd season under his direction, albeit under a cloud of scrutiny and a shortened season. It is unknown what the UFL’s new long term strategy is, and that is part of the problem.The hope is after the 2011 season, the league can survive or reorganize as an NFL farm league- something that the NFL has needed for quite some time.

American Football during the Spring has always been an elusive mystery as to why it can never succeed. Americans remain hungry for football year round, but when it comes to anything but the NFL, they squarely reject it as being an inferior product. Michael signed these 2 cards through the league offices in a short 10 days for me before the season began in 2011.

The web colors unfortunately did not translate on the Commissioner’s card properly and have been represented as a garish neon. The back is much more accurate. Utilizing this design in the future might require me to have a bolder font. Otherwise it was not a bad first stab.

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Najarian, Pete

Card: ProSet WLAF 1991
Acquired: In Person 1992, San Antonio Riders v. Sacramento Surge

After graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1987, Pete spent time on the rosters of the Minnesota Vikings, the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1988-89). He’d finish second on the Bucs in special teams tackles in ’89 with 14. Out of football in 1990, the Sacramento Surge would make Pete their #1 pick among linebackers in the WLAF draft.

Najarian went on to earn All World League Second Team honors in 1991. As team captain he called the Surge’s defensive signals, finishing second on the team with 54 tackles, and a FF. He’d miss one game after he sustained a broken thumb. He returned to the Surge for the 1992 season and captain the defense to a victory in World Bowl II over the Orlando Thunder.

After the WLAF decided to reorganize at the conclusion of the season, Pete was badgered into options trading by his brother Jon. He currently is head of tradeMONSTER and appears from time to time on CNBCs Fast Money.

G/Gs 20/19      Tac  N/a   Sac   0     Fum  1      Int     0        Yds  0     Avg -.-    Td 0   Lg -.-