NFL

Harris, Tim

Cards: ProSet 1989, ProSet 1990, Score 1990
Acquired: TTM 2012, C/o Home
Sent: 11/13    Received: 11/19  (6 days)

Tim Harris was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 4th round of the 1986 draft out of the University of Memphis. While there he set the team record for most career tackles behind the line of scrimmage with 47.

He worked his way into the starting lineup by week 7, and finished with 8 sacks and 67 tackles. The Packers named him their rookie of the year that season. After a subpar ’87 (7 sacks),  Harris came in lights out in 1988, posting 13.5 sacks and leading the team in tackles with 97 (86 unassisted).  These numbers were the best by a Packers linebacker since 1983 and 1985 respectively, but Tim was snubbed for the Pro Bowl as Green Bay surprisingly hard charged into the playoffs after the season. 1989 was different as Tim improved off of his breakout season and finished second in the NFL with 19.5 sacks and 3 fumble recoveries.pset90 tharris Tim was a key member of the ‘Cardiac Pack’ team that grabbed many comeback and close victories to go 10-6. After the season, he’d not only snag Pro Bowl honors but also All Pro as well. 1990 became Tim’s final season in Green Bay. In his swan song he posted 7 sacks and 2 forced fumbles.

Intent on holding out for a larger contract, the Packers decided
they’d have no part of Harris in 1991, trading him to San Fransisco for 2 high draft choices ( a 2nd rounder in 1992 and 3rd rounder in 1993). Noted was the fact that Harris’ new contract stipulated that he be a good citizen- essentially meaning he needed to stay on his best behavior. He had been fined for marijuana use in 1987 and had a colorful personality that did sometimes run him close to the edge.  Tim wasn’t a factor that season at all, only managing 3 sacks. With the departure though of Charles Haley to the Cowboys in 1992, the 49ers investment in Harris paid off as he finished with his second best season recording 17 sacks that year.  He’d sign with Philly in 1993, but only manage to start 3 games. Injuries kept him down and a drunk driving charge didn’t help either. sco90 tharrisAfter spending one season there, he returned to San Fransisco and played there through 1995 as a situational pass rusher earning a Super Bowl ring with the team (XXIX).

Tim has picked up in coaching since retirement and has moved out to California. He responded to my autograph request like he was sacking a quarterback- very quickly.  I love these cards. They really
capture the essence of Harris as a passionate player. I do suspect
that the ProSet 1990 and the Score 1990 are the same photo from different angles, which wouldn’t be a first. I like the Score one a bit more than the others though because the photo feels more dynamic with the side view. You have to wonder if he just made a sack or is trying to rev up the crowd before a play.

G/Gs 122/93    Tac 536   Sac  81   Fum   8
Int 0     Yds  0   Avg  -.-   Td 0    Lg -.-

 

Arena, NFL

Jensen, Jim “Crash”

Card: Pro Set 1990
Acquired: Canton Acquisition 2012

Jim Jensen is an amazing football story. Picked in the 11th round of the NFL draft in 1981 by the Dolphins, nobody really gave the 6’4″, 215 quarterback from Boston University of the Yankee Conference a chance to make the squad. Jensen squeezed onto the roster as the team’s 3rd string quarterback, but saw little or no playing time. A few years passed, and with Miami snagging Dan Marino with their 1st round pick of the 1983 draft, Jensen knew he needed to do something, anything, to make the squad. There in Jim “Crash” Jensen was born. Jim was such a smart, well conditioned, and strong athlete, that he began to line up at any position on offense that they’d take him. Showing the heart to do what it took impressed Don Shula and his staff, his bread and butter soon became being a special teams maven. (It has been said his nickname was given to him by none other than Howard Cosell after watching the out of place QB burn down the field and make a face first tackle.) The team began to use him as an ace, lining him at WR, TE, RB, and even FB to try to expose mismatches in the opposing defenses. His role over the next few years at quarterback became only that in the role of an emergency one, but that was perfectly fine since he had found his knack doing basically everything else. On rare occasions the team did let him throw the ball and test defenses such as in trick plays, but his statistics were completely misleading since he only started 10 games over his career, if you considered his all-purpose role in the Dolphins offensive system. Statistically his 1988 and 1989 seasons were his best. Jim racked up 652 yards on 58 catches and 5 TDs in 1988, and followed that up with 61 for 557 and 6 TDs in 1989. His role slowly began to diminish from there until the end of his career with the Dolphins in 1992.  Jim decided he wasn’t finished yet with football, and jumped to the fledgling Arena Football league to play for the Miami Hooters in 1993. He’d play two seasons for the team as their #1 quarterback before retiring after the 1994 season.

I suspect that the person that I got these cards from got a good portion of autographs from the Sotl.com site. While at the time School of the Legends was a great resource for fans to get in touch with players, talk to them, and well- hit them up for autographs, – I don’t think that was the original intent of the site. (Sure, I also used the site to find players that I had been looking for, but some people just flat out abused it for autographs and didn’t really see the purpose in connecting with the players or utilizing the services that were offered.)   Jensen along with many others were active members of the site who talked to fans and kept things moving, but in the end Sotl.com went through a facelift, did away with fan and player profiles, and now there isn’t really a way to find players and talk to them anymore.

NFL    G/Gs  164/10    Att   7   Comp  4       Yds  102          Pct  57.1           Td 2        Int  0          Rat 141.4
Rush  26              Yds   142          Avg       5.5             Td   0            Lg   23
Rec    229            Yds   2171       Avg       9.5             Td 19             Lg  31

AFL   Seasons 2     Att  539    Comp  290      Yds  3256      Pct  53.8       Td   51       Int  18        Rat  81.8

 

NFL, University of Texas

Kirkendoll, James (2)

Acquired: In person 6/10/12, 610 Houston Fan Fest
See also: James Kirkendoll “JT Kirk” 

So James wanted a copy of his Upper Deck cards from me at the 2012 Ribfest, but I only had one of them. I could see how sad he was so I volunteered to send him a couple of them there at the Titans practice facility.  Seeing that the 610 Fan Fest was coming up and that he had volunteered to man a table, I detoured from the original plan to send them to him, and just decided to give them to him at Fan Fest in person.

I ran into other like minded fans at the event, but I was not being as aggressive as they were catching the players who were naive enough to wander around the event unescorted past the throngs waiting in line. With their help I was able to find Kirkendoll and Studdard before they even got to the floor, saving me precious time waiting for them later.

I introduced myself again to JT and gave him 4 or 5 copies of the cards. He was very thankful and told me he hadn’t found them anywhere. I told him he should check his facebook more often and he chuckled and said he’d friend me, but really to me it was nothing since he was considered an Austinnite to me. He nicely signed two photos of himself that I had pulled from the web.

Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.