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 -.-
So you have to hand it to the WLAF, they were nothing short of innovative especially with the uniforms. Case in point: the New York/ New Jersey Knights with their silver black and gold, to go along with that amazing looking knight logo that is straight off of a chess set. It’s a nice blend of stylish and classy that would have been right at home in the NFL.
Playing in the North American East Division with Montreal and Orlando, Robert Sillerman was the owner of the franchise that he purchased for a cool 11 million dollars. A businessman at heart, Sillerman started SFX Radio Broadcasting, -the largest concert and tour promoter and one of the largest radio station companies in the United States. He’d hire former Cincinatti linebacker Reggie Williams to run his front office, and at that time Williams would pave the way being one of the first minority general managers in professional football history.
The team’s first move was at head coach, where they selected offensive guru and run and shoot proponent Darrell “Mouse” Davis, who had recently guided the Detroit Lions ‘Silver Stretch’ offense. He’d hire Larry Zierlein to run the offensive line and be co-offensive coordinator. The team made its home at the Meadowlands, and posted surprisingly decent attendance numbers with a high of 41,000 plus showing up for a week 8 contest against the London Monarchs. The Knights would also make the first overall selection in league history during the league’s positional draft, selecting offensive lineman Ceasar Rentie.
1991:
The Knights offense was nothing short of prolific, scoring over 40 points in 3 contests, however their gambling defense gave up almost as many points. Saying that New York New Jersey’s season started off slowly was an understatement. After 3 straight losses to begin the season, the Knights finally erupted in a 44-0 trashing of the Montreal Machine at the Meadowlands. This would be the Knights modus operandi for the rest of the season, as when they won games, they frequently did so by a margin greater than 10 points. Streaky NY-NJ would crank out 4 wins in a row, and then win its final two games to enter the playoffs, where they were quickly ousted by the Monarchs 42-26. They’d finish 1991 5-5.
During the season, Jeff Graham quickly replaced Todd Hammel at quarterback with his receivers being Lonnie Turner, Cornell Burbage, Kip Lewis, and Monty Gilbreath, with Turner, Burbage, and Gilbreath boasting vast NFL and USFL experience on their resumes.
At runningback, Eric Wilkerson (717 yards, 6.1 YPC) led the league in rushing and tied for the WLAF lead in touchdowns (11). The defensive line was loaded with sack masters. Tony Woods and Joseph Campbell led the way (with 7.5 sacks a piece) along Craig Schlichting (6.5), and Ron Sancho positioned at linebacker with 6. In the secondary All World cornerback Anthony Parker would haul down a league record 11 interceptions along with former TCU grad and safety Falanda Newton who pulled in 8.
Texas Longhorn Bobby Lilljedahl punted for the team, averaging 42.3 yards per kick as the team would struggle at kicker after injuries befell Kendall John Trainor. Despite the defense’s poor showing in losses, they were the highest scoring defense in the league.
In perhaps one of the more comical moments of WLAF history, the New York New Jersey Knights during the 1991 season, set the league record for most faked punts and field goals in a game against the Monarchs with some astounding amount- like 8.
1992:
As the 1992 season approached, the Knights’ optimism was riding high. With the NFL making talent pools available to the WLAF, they’d grab Houston Oilers Run ‘N Shoot 3rd string quarterback, Reggie Slack and trade for Birmingham Fire quarterback Brent Pease. They’d also snatch up future NFL journeyman Doug Pederson who saw significant playing time on the team that season. The receiving corps remained intact, but young Kip Lewis would step up to lead the receivers in receptions with 46. The Knights pulled the trigger on a trade for Byron Williams from Orlando, but he did not see much playing time after the CFL season ended. Wilkerson again led the Knights in rushing, however quarterback Reggie Slack and Chris McLemore would cut into his numbers, effectively halving them.
With the departure of Anthony Parker to the NFL, the team had large shoes to fill at defensive back. The team’s turnover numbers dropped off severely from 1991, going from 19 between two players, down to just 13 for the whole team. Falanda Newton again returned to safety making 5 more picks, while Tony Jones and Richard Carey made 3 and 2 a piece. There was also a drop in defensive pressure and sacks with David Edeen leading the team from defensive end at 5 sacks.
Davis Smith and Cornell Burbage were dangerous punt returners and kick returners. Smith returned 3 punts for touchdowns while Burbage took a kickoff 101 yards for a score, and lead the WLAF in kick return average.
Once again the Knights would get off to a horrendous start, dropping a heartbreaker to Monarchs 26-20 in overtime to begin the season. They’d continue to spiral losing the next 3 games, but credit Mouse Davis for righting his ship, as the team rallied and won 6 straight games to finish the season 6-4. In week 7 the team finally exacted its long awaited revenge over the reeling Monarchs 41-13, and in week 9 slaughtered the Dragons 47-0. Unfortunately, like the Riders, (at 7-3) the Knights (6-4) were left looking in on the playoffs, while the Barcelona Dragons finished 5-5 and in, because the Dragons were the European Division Champion.
Offensive Tackle Chris Dyko was named to the All-WLAF team in 1992 along with Cornell Burbage at kick returner. Reggie Slack finished second to Sacramento quarterback David Archer with a 98.2 rating, and first among quarterbacks in rushing along with a gaudy 7.7 YPC. All 4 receivers finished roughly within the top 20 in catches.
NOTES:
The Knights biggest rival was probably the Monarchs, who in 1991, they had a woeful 0-3 record against, losing 22-18, 22-7, and in the playoffs 42-26, before finally earning their long awaited revenge in week 7 of 1992.
I’ve spoken to players over the years who felt that one of the major reasons that the WLAF folded was because the NFL felt as though they were competing for merchandising dollars with their North American teams, and for many of them it wasn’t more apparent than the affordable game they could get from the Knights and the great uniforms they had.
NY-NJ has been challenging to collect in the sense that there are so many different players included by the different sets of the team. NY-NJ only played at SA early in 1991, so all the players I have collected from the team have been TTM. The Knights also have had the only players who have reacted negatively to my requests. Joe Campbell after a long conversation back and forth through Facebook asked me for $100.00 while Tony Jones responded to me with a thumbs down to my initial request.
LEGACY:
The Knights unfortunately folded up shop along with the rest of the WLAF after the 1992 season and was never heard from again.
While New York/ New Jersey has strongly supported the Jets and Giants through the Meadowlands and MetLife Stadium, this would be the last time that the area would be able to accommodate (even marginally) 3 professional football franchises.
In 2001, the XFL’s New York-New Jersey Hitmen lasted a year before the league folded. Afterwards, the UFL would plant the New York-New Jersey Sentinels in the area in 2009, but due to abysmal attendance numbers, the team eventually uprooted for Hartford in 2010. There were some Arena teams in here including the Dragons and as of 2019 an NAL team called the Streets. The FXFL also set up shop in Brooklyn briefly before folding as well.
In 2020 the XFL will again take another shot at the Spring market with a new league and team.
Super happy about this return today that I never thought I’d ever get back. It tied the record for my longest current wait -at 409 days! He was kind enough to also include a CFL card to go along with his WLAF card as an added bonus and inscribed them with his HOF year. Hall of Fame you say? You’ve never heard of Mike Pringle? Mike Pringle may not ring any bells to any NFL fan, but to a CFL fan, he’s the greatest runningback in gridiron history.
Mike Pringle was a dominant runningback in college playing in the shadow of USC and UCLA while at Cal State Fullerton. During his career there, the prolific back would tie the NCAA record for most yards rushing in a game at 357 (with Reuben Mayes), following that up with a 269 yard rushing effort the next week. The two game total of 626 yards, was an NCAA record. The do it all runningback would lead the NCAA with a titanic 2659 yards from scrimmage that season.
In 1990, Mike would be drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the 6th round of the NFL draft. At 5’8″, 186, the team hoped to utilize him as both a receiver and runningback in their Red Gun offense under Jerry Glanville, but Pringle would be remanded to the practice squad his rookie season. He’d return to the team in 1991, but not make the final squad cut at training camp becoming along with Brett Favre, another record breaking offensive player let go by Jerry Glanville.
Pringle would be signed by the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL, but after 3 respectable games, he’d be inexplicably cut. Mike then suited up for the Sacramento Surge in 1992, winning World Bowl II with the franchise. He’d lead the team on the ground posting a respectable 507 yards and 6 touchdowns, ranking 4th in the league in yards, and second in attempts (152). In addition Pringle would chock in 6 receptions. The WLAF would reorganize after the season with the Sacramento Surge being the only survivor from the league that took to the field in 1993. They would join the CFL ironically and Sacramento would be rebranded as the Goldminers. After a subpar season where he subbed in for Mike Oliphant and acted as a third down back, Pringle would be traded to the Baltimore Stallions in 1994. Pringle would take the reins of the starting runningback job after week 2, and never looked back. The rest later became history. Pringle set CFL marks with 1972 yards rushing in a season. He’d also return kicks for the team as well, finishing with exhaustively over 2700 yards from scrimmage on the ground. Pringle in 1995 followed his massive 1994 season up with a 1791 yards rushing- an incredible 2 year run. Mike also averaged a gaudy 6.4 yards a carry in 1994, and a 5.8 yard average in 1995. At the conclusion of the 1995 season, the Stallions would win the Grey Cup. He’d do a short stint with the Broncos after the season, but be cut in training camp.
In 1996 he’d rejoin Baltimore, which had relocated to Montreal to become the Alouettes. Playing only part time in 1996, he’d return to form in 1997 rushing for 1775 yards for Montreal. Pringle’s 1998 stands among the upper echelon of gridiron football, as he shattered the 2k barrier running for 2065 yards and left his mark on the record book. He’d continue to run for incredible numbers over the next few seasons in Montreal, leaving the team in 2003. Mike did not disappoint playing for the Eskimos. He’d continue to bang out 1000 yard seasons, and in 2004 took the CFL rushing record by storm. At the end of the season, Mike retired and then signed an honorary one day contract with Montreal to retire with them. By the end of his career, Pringle finished his career with a record 16425 yards rushing, 20254 TYAC, and tied for the CFL record of 137 career touchdowns.
Since retirement Mike has been inducted into the CFL HoF in 2008 and had his number retired by the Alouettes. A 7 time Canadian All star and 2 time CFL MVP, Mike to me is probably considered probably the greatest WLAF success story. Below are his CFL statistics: