Card: Classic 1993
Acquired: In Person 1993, Dallas Cowboys Training Camp
Barry Minter is a great story about a ‘diamond in the rough’. Drafted out of Tulsa in the 6th round by the Dallas Cowboys in the 1993 draft, I think that most people didn’t hold out much luck for him making the stacked Dallas roster. When he was walking to the field one day I and asked him for his autograph he stopped and smiled widely as it was the first time he had seen the card. Barry was unsure how to sign it, since it was his college card so he told me that he’d put his Cowboys # on the back. A real cool cat, Josh and I wished him luck for the upcoming season. He got traded within 2 months as part of a player swap deal with the Chicago Bears.
The Cowboys got disgruntled linebacker John Roper, tight end Kelly Blackwell and Markus Paul. The Bears got Vinson Smith, Minter and some draft choices. Looking back at it, the Bears definitely got the better end of this deal. Minter performed respectably well for the Bears playing through 2000 for the team recording a career high 6 sacks in 1997 and 96 tackles in 1999. During the second game of the 2000 season, he’d be injured and replaced by Brian Urlacher. In 2001 Barry signed with Cleveland playing in one game and retiring after that. Barry’s strength was his ability to play virtually any position in the linebacking corps as he played both MLB and RLB frequently.
G/Gs 111/61 Tac 351 Sac 11.5 Fum 7
Int 5 Yds 90 Avg 18.0 Td 2 lg 34T
I struck out badly with most of the Orlando Thunder trying to get autographs as there was a massive amount of turnover on the franchise from 1991 to 1992, so many of the WLAF ProSet cards I had were completely out of date. I got lucky when I sent a stack to the Patriots that year and Baumann was on the team.
Charlie bounced around a lot, being treated as a stop-gap by many teams before landing comfortably in Orland0- twice. From 1989 to 1991, Baumann would fail at tryouts for the Bills and Seahawks but would find a home with the Orlando Thunder in the WLAF in 1991, finishing 3rd in scoring in the fledgling league with 54 points. Charlie was solid inside the 35, but wildly inconsistent only making 2 of 7 from outside of 40 yards. When the 1991 season ended, he was signed quickly by the Dolphins who needed a quick fix to replace injured Pete Stoyanovich for a few games, but when Stoyanovich returned, Baumann would be out of a job. After losing the kicking competition to Al Del Greco in Houston, Charlie then’d sign almost immediately with the Patriots where he’d finish the season, and play through the next season before losing the kicking job to Matt Bahr. Charlie would head North of the border and play in the CFL replacing controversial Donald Igwebuike at kicker for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1994 and in 1996 Baumann would move to the AFL where he played for the Orlando Predators through the 1997 season. Since retiring Baumann has earned another 2 degrees and lives comfortably in Orlando. Below are his statistics from the 1991 WLAF season.
G/GS 10/10 Pat 24/26 Fga 16 Fgm 10 Pct .625 Blk 1 lg 48
Drafted in the third round of the 1983 draft by the Houston Oilers, Steve Brown was considered an excellent fit for their primarily man to man defense. He’d get off to a good start in 1983 on special teams, averaging 25.6 yards per kick return and return one 93 yards for a touchdown. He’d also get 1 interception and 2 fumble recoveries starting 10 games. Steve played during some of the leaner years of the Oilers’ existence as a franchise, up and through the Jerry Glanville era. In both 1985 and 1989 Steve pulled down a career high 5 interceptions. In 1990 the team went in another direction at cornerback, and while Steve suited up, he would start no games for the team and retired.
In 1995 Brown was hired as an assistant coach for the St. Louis Rams. He’d coach the cornerbacks in 1996-1997 and then the complete secondary from 1998-2000 where the team won the Superbowl. He is considered an apostle of the Dick Vermeil coaching tree. Brown left the Rams, and in 2003 was hired by Kentucky University. In 2007 he was promoted to defensive coordinator, where Steve installed an aggressive defense. The defensive unit responded well by improving and flourishing across the board.
G/Gs 119/96 Tac N/a Sac 5 Fum 5 Int 18 Yds 264 Td 1 Lg 44
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
