CARDS: Topps 1982, Topps 1986, Pro Set 1991 ACQUIRED: TTM 2022, C/o Home SENT: 1/17/22 RECEIVED: 2/7/22 (21 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Jim Haslett played college football at Indiana University of Pennsylvania from 1975-’78.
Played LB, DE, and P for the Crimson Hawks.
Dominant player who etched his name in the school’s record books.
Over 4 years had 35 sacks, 412 tackles, and 13 fumble recoveries.
Selected in the 2nd round of the 1979 NFL Draft by the Buffalo Bills.
Jim hit the ground running and in his first contest notched a team leading 17 tackles.
In rookie year had 2 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries playing at LILB.
Alongside fellow Bills players Fred Smerlas and Shane Nelson, they formed the nucleus of the defense’s ‘Bermuda Traingle’ unit.
An aggressive player and big hitter, Jim recorded over 100 tackles 5 times in his career.
He’d play 7 seasons in Buffalo, starting 86 games posting 7.5 sacks, 11 fumble recoveries, and 6 interceptions.
In 1987 he came back for 3 games playing for the New York Jets before moving into the coaching ranks.
After three years working for Buffalo University both as a linebackers coach and defensive coordinator, Jim moved up to the spring football league circuit.
He parlayed his experience in the World League into a positional coaching job in the NFL with the Raiders as a linebackers coach in 1993.
After two years there, Jim spent a year with the Saints as their linebacker coach.
It’d be in 1996 that Haslett experienced his first taste of being a defensive coordinator with the Saints where he saw potent results.
He’d not be retained by the Saints after they cleaned house in ’97, so he spent the next 3 years as the DC of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Saints cleaned house again in 2000, and brought Haslett back to be head coach that year.
Jim led the Saints to their first playoff win that year.
He’d be fired after a tumultuous 2005 season, one in which the team cratered thanks in part to having to relocate temporarily from Hurricane Katrina to San Antonio.
Haslett then was defensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams from 2006-’08.
Jim replaced Scott Linehan as interim head coach in 2008.
In 2009, Haslett was head coach of the UFL ’09 Florida Tuskers.
From 2010 to ’14 Haslett served as defensive coordinator of the Washington Redskins.
After a consulting gig with Penn State in 2015, Jim served as linebackers coach of the Cincinnati Bengals from 2016-’18.
That’d lead to an inside linebacking coach gig with the Titans in 2020 and 2021.
He then served as head coach of the Seattle Sea Dragons of the XFL in 2023 finishing with a 7-3 record and a playoff berth.
Unfortunately after the league merged with the USFL, the Sea Dragons were not retained.
TAC
SAC
FUM
N/a
7.5
12
NFL
INT
YDS
AVG
TD
6
94
15.6
0
NFL
W
L
T
PCT
47
61
0
.435
NFL
W
L
T
PCT
7
3
0
.700
UFL
W
L
T
PCT
6
0
0
1.000
UFL 09
ACCOLADES:
NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year 1979
IUP Athletics Hall of Fame 1996
NFL Coach of the Year 2000
UFL09 Coach of the Year 2009
College Football Hall of Fame
NOTES:
Jim is one of the many members of the World League pipeline working his way up from the coaching ranks after his playing career ended.
Over his college career he intercepted 10 passes for 80 yards.
Undrafted in 1983, he went into coaching.
Worked his way up as a graduate assistant (Iowa) all the way to defensive coordinator (Florida 1996-’98).
Took the reins as head coach at Oklahoma at 1999, and restored to the school as a national powerhouse.
Won the National Championship in 2000.
In all 17 seasons at the helm of Oklahoma, Bob took the Sooners to a bowl game.
He finished with a 191-48 college coaching record.
Retired from college coaching in 2017.
Opted to return to football for the XFL in 2020 as one of their flagship coaches leading the Dallas Renegades.
Returned in 2023, after the league reorganized due to COVID, coaching the now Arlington Renegades.
After a difficult start, Bob pulled off a trade for Luis Perez, and led the 4-6 Renegades to upsets over the Roughnecks and Defenders to win the XFL Championship Game.
Returned to the Renegades for the ’24 season, and while the team was competitive in every game, they ultimately finished with a disappointing 3-7 record.
ACCOLADES:
College Football Hall of Fame
AP Coach of the Year 2000
Paul ‘Bear’ Bryant Award 2000
Walter Camp Coach of the Year 2000, ’03
NOTES:
Stoops is technically a member of the Hayden Fry coaching tree. Stoops himself has a growing resume of young and upcoming coaches who served under him.
I think what sticks out to me the most, other than Bob’s excellent and well practiced autograph adorning this card, was his response to my request.
Recently I’ve been sending out note cards, to ask coaches to draw me up a play. I love collecting plays and getting an idea of their ‘coaching DNA’- y’know what’s on their mind.
I asked Bob to draw me up a play, and his response was simple and succinctly written on the note card:
CARD: TNT XFL 2023 ACQUIRED: IP 2024, San Antonio Brahmas v Arlington Renegades
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Salvatore Cannella played TE/WR at Auburn from 2017-’19.
Oft used at the majority ground and pound school, he provided mismatches with his unusual size (6’5″, 228), speed, and hands.
He finished his college career with 25 catches for 330 yards and 5 TDs.
Undrafted, Sal played in 2020 for the TSL Generals of the Spring Football League.
He put in his all catching 5 passes for 66 yards and a TD in the Spring League Championship Game.
After a workout with the Colts, he played for the Generals again in 2021.
This led to short stints with a mini-camp at Chicago, and on the off season roster of the Dolphins that year.
The TSL retooled as the USFL, and Sal found himself as the second TE off the board in the positional phase of the league’s draft by the New Orleans Breakers in 2022.
Sal had a great season, catching 34 passes for 368 yards and a TD.
Shortly thereafter he spent roughly a month on the Packers offseason roster.
Cannella was a huge defection for the USFL, when he was drafted and signed by the Arlington Renegades of the XFL in 2023.
He finished second in receiving among TEs with 42 receptions for 415 yards, and was a key cog in the Renegades XFL Championship victory.
After offseason stints with both the Seahawks and Vikings, he resigned with the Renegades for the ’24 campaign.
Sal concluded the season with 53 catches for 497 yards and 6 TDs.
He joined the Bucs for the offseason, but didn’t make the squad.
ACCOLADES:
All USFL Team 2022
All XFL 2023
NOTES:
A little over a week before the game, I went ahead and created and ordered cards of Sal and Luis Perez. (I wasn’t going to be caught flat footed like the previous season.) I was pretty happy with the results.
When I went to the game, I arrived at my normal seats. The players were doing warmups and I flagged down Sal. He looked genuinely touched that I made a card of him and that it was of such high production value. Sal signed the card, and I let him keep the extras I had as thanks.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
