NFL

Stark, Rohn

Card: Action Packed 1991
Acquired: TTM 1992, Colts Blitz

An All-American decathalete and punter at Florida State, Rohn Stark was the most decorated punter to play college football since Ray Guy. (He was also a killer punter during the 80s and 90s with the Colts. He not only played for the Indianapolis Colts but also the Baltimore Colts- before they got in the Mayflower trucks and headed East.) Stark would also be a part of probably the best kicker and punter combination in Tecmo Bowl being paired with Dean Biasucci, and ironically year over year they’d be the most consistent part of the Colts through their combined tenure up to the end of 1994.
Originally drafted by the Baltimore Colts in the 2nd round of the 1982 draft, Rohn would really come into his own by 1983 where he’d be named 2nd team AP with a gaudy 45.3 average and lead the league with over 4100 yards. His 1984 would be equally impressive as Stark would lead the league with 98 punts that season. 85 and 86 would be ProBowl caliber seasons, leading the league in average yards per punt with a 45.9 and a 45.2 yard average respectively. While the rest of his career would not see him reach such levels- Rohn would never average below 40 yards per punt during 13 seasons but would return to the ProBowl again in 1990 and 1992. With free agency and the salary cap making players and positions more expendable, Stark would leave via free agency in 1995, playing one season in Pittsburgh where he made his lone SuperBowl appearance. In 1996 he’d put his skills to work for the Carolina Panthers, and in 1997 finish out his career with the Seattle Seahawks. Rohn also held on extra points and field goal attempts and was notably left footed- meaning the ball was spinning the opposite direction than punt returners would expect after he would punt it. Stark holds another odd accomplishment as the only Baltimore Colt to play against the Baltimore Ravens. At the time of his retirement in 1997, Stark was top 5 in career punts and yardage. Stark like many other punters, will probably never get his due as the NFL HoF shows little respect for the position.

G/Gs 233/233    P 1141      Yds 49471    Avg 43.4    Lg 72   Blk  7

CFL, NFL, NFLE

Heller, Ron

Card: ProSet 1990
Acquired: In Person 1992, Philadelphia Eagles Traning Camp

The Co-Captain of Penn State’s 1982 championship run, Ron Heller was an offensive tackle at drafted in the bottom of the 4th round of the NFL draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The 1984 was a good draft and Heller was a fine specimen at 6’6″, 290. A highly intelligent lineman with a good motor, Heller was both a competent pass and run blocker. Starting immediately out of the gate, Ron would be named to numerous All-Rookie teams at the end of 1984. Playing in obscurity for 4 seasons for the Bucs, Heller would be traded (in 1988) to the Seahawks who in turn traded him to the Philadelphia Eagles, where he’d block for Pro Bowl quarterback Randall Cunningham. Ron would become the first Eagles offensive lineman named offensive MVP of the team in 1989. I’d get his autograph at training camp in 1992, before he signed with the Dolphins to block for Dan Marino in 1993. He never missed a beat, starting immediately, and fit right in with the team for 3 seasons.  A brutal knee injury would end his career after the 1995 season, but Ron would move on to coaching.  He’d finish his playing career playing in 172 games, starting 166 of them.

In 2004, Heller served as an assistant in NFLE on the Amsterdam Admirals. He’d expand on these jobs as an offensive line coach in 2006 and 2007 would allow him to be an offensive coordinator, before the league’s untimely folding.  Ron then joined the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL in 2009 for one season, and then returned to the NFL as an offensive staff assistant for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2010.

NFL, WLAF

Dilweg, Anthony

Card: Proset 1989, Fleer Update 1990, Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2010, C/o Work
Sent: 7/30   Received: 9/14  (45 days)

Anthony Dilweg is a rarety- a player from Duke drafted to play in the NFL. A monster quarterback when he got his chance to play at the college level under Steve Spurrier, he once threw for 450 yards in a game against Wake Forest, a record that still stands to this day. He’d be drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the 3rd round of the 1989 draft. A notoriously weak draft after Troy Aikman at quarterback- Dilweg would perform well enough to grab the backup job behind Don Majkowski by 1990. Anthony’s moment in the spotlight would be opening day of that season where he’d throw for 250 yards and 2 touchdowns against a sleepwalking Los Angeles Rams defense in substitution for recently resigned holdout Majikowski. He’d be rebenched shortly after but would end up starting the last 5 and a half games after a rotator cuff injury set back Don.  Dilweg would be hot and cold throughout the rest of the season putting up a 119.9 qb rating against the Buccaneers, but would also put up a 33.2 rating against Minnesota as well and 22 sacks on the season. That second season however would end respectably enough as he threw for 1200 yards and 8 touchdowns, but with the team slumping to a 6-10 record that season, Lindy Infante would be released and the organization would clean house. New GM Ron Wolf would go in a new direction with a new head coach- Mike Holmgren. The team was determined to improve the quarterback situation and brought in Mike Tomczak from Chicago, who beat out the young Dilweg at QB. Anthony would be quickly signed by the Los Angeles Raiders, but would not make a start for the franchise.

The WLAF and the NFL agreed to allocate young talent to the WLAF starting with the 1992 season. With this decision the Raiders allocated Dilweg to the Montreal Machine. The Machine were lead by a stable of runningbacks, and a strong back 7 on defense. The problem with the Machine always seemed to be their lines, and especially on offense their quarterbacks ended up paying the price. Montreal in 1992 drafted the young Dilweg to fix their problems at quarterback after the retirement of Kevin Sweeney. They’d go with Dilweg right out of the gate for a road opener against the San Antonio Riders blitzing defense. -He wouldn’t even make it out of the first half succumbing to injury and being taken to the locker room.  Anthony would play sparingly after that for the rest of the season and retire after the WLAF went on hiatus.

Anthony after football has been able to parlay his brief NFL career into the financial industry where he has been highly successful in real estate. I sent these cards to him via his company and received these autographs in under 60 days.  He also included a nice thank you for being a fan- of the Packers, even though I had only mentioned my experiences in the World League. Below are his WLAF statistics for the Machine.

G/Gs N/a    Att 75     Comp 43     Yds 468      Td 2     Int 1     Rat 79.2

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