CARDS: Upper Deck Legends 1997, Upper Deck College Legends 2011, Panini HoF 2010, Action Packed Whizzer White Award 1991 ACQUIRED: TTM 2020, C/o Home SENT: 6/6/20 RECEIVED: 6/18/20 (12 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Floyd Little played at Syracuse where from 1964 to 1966, he ran for 2,704 yards and 46 TDs.
He’d be the 6th overall pick in the 1967 NFL/AFL Draft of the Denver Broncos.
In his first two years in the AFL, Floyd led the league in All-Purpose Yards, with 1626 in 1967 and 1,825 in 1968.
He led the league in yards per game in both 1969 (81.0) and 1971 (80.9).
His best season arguably came in 1971 when Floyd had a career high and league leading 284 carries, 310 touches, 1,133 yards, and 1,388 yards from scrimmage.
Little’s 1,113 rushing yards were the first time a member of the team had broken the 1k rushing barrier.
Floyd led the NFL in TDs in 1973 with 12 TDs.
After starting 105 games, Floyd hung up his cleats in 1976.
A Syracuse great, he returned to the school in 2011 as a special assistant to the athletic director- a position he held until 2016 when he retired to Las Vegas.
Upper Deck Legends 1997, #44Upper Deck College Legends 2011, #34
ACCOLADES:
Pro Football Hall of Fame 2010
College Football Hall of Fame
Broncos Ring of Fame 1984
Hall of Very Good 2005
All Pro 1969
Pro Bowl 1968-’71, ’73
Denver Broncos #44 retired
Syracuse Orange #44 retired
Panini Hall of Fame 2010, #5
NOTES:
Here’s a great example of how trading cards educate us about football history. I wouldn’t have really stumbled onto Floyd if I hadn’t collected the Action Packed Whizzer White set. So I chased a rabbit down the hole learning all I could about him, and then decided to go ahead donate some money to his cancer treatments and ask for his autograph on a few cards. He signed the three I included lightning fast, and included the HoF Panini card as a thank-you.
Floyd is nicknamed ‘The Franchise’ because he was instrumental in the Broncos staying in Denver. The team struggled badly in its initial years and Little helped put the team on the map by signing with them. He also helped champion the building of Mile High Stadium through his Herculaneum efforts every week for the team.
RUSH
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
1641
6323
3.9
43
80t
REC
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
215
2418
11.2
9
74
KR
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
81
893
11.0
2
81t
REC
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
104
2523
24.3
0
89
EPITAPH:
1/2/2021- Floyd Little’s family announced that he had passed away from cancer after a years’ long battle with the disease, at his home in Las Vegas with them by his side. He was 78.
Cards: Action Packed Whizzer White Award 1991, Topps Stadium Club 1992, Fleer 1990 Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o Home Sent: 3/8 Received: 4/2 (25 days)
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Mike Kenn was a highly regarded lineman who played at Michigan from 1975-1977.
He was the Atlanta Falcons #1 pick in 1978, and was almost immediately slotted in at tackle.
He improved his overall strength and technique over the next few seasons.
By 1979, he went without penalty for the entire season, and earned numerous accolades.
Amazingly, Kenn went 26 in a row eventually without penalty.
Started 94 games in a row (including playoffs) before tearing up his knee in 1985.
Kenn retired after the 1994 season.
Over his career Mike was a part of an offensive line that set and broke team records for rushing yards and least sacks allowed in a season multiple times.
He played his entire career with the Atlanta Falcons: 17 seasons, 251 games started.
ACCOLADES:
All Rookie team 1978
First team AP 1980, ’83, ’91
Second team AP 1981, ’82
Pro Bowl 1980-’84
Polish Sports Hall of Fame
Byron Whizzer White Man of the Year 1990
Atlanta Falcons Ring of Honor
Topps Stadium Club 1992, #157Fleer 1990, #380
NOTES:
Despite Mike’s utterly dominating resume, he’s rarely ever come up for consideration into the Pro Football Hall of Fame- An absolute injustice. It’s perhaps a side effect of playing for some absolutely terrible Falcons teams during long stretches of the 80’s that kept him under the radar, but in actual professional football circles, he’s considered one of the finest to play tackle in league history.
Great cards here. I wanted to get him on his Whizzer White Action Packed and Fleer cards, but the Stadium Club entry here is really well constructed. A simple design, but really good photography with just the right color.
Action Packed 1991 Whizzer White Award, #5Topps 1969, #161
CARDS: Action Packed Whizzer White Award 1991, Topps 1969 ACQUIRED: TTM 2022, C/o Home SENT: 9/26 RECEIVED: 11/23 (58 days) FAILURE: TTM 2019, C/o Home
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Kermit Alexander played runningback for UCLA from 1960-62.
Posted 708 yards on 128 carries (6 TDs), and caught 32 passes for 508 yards and 2 TDs over college career.
Opting to play for SF over Denver in 1963, the 49ers would utilize Kermit as a return man and DB.
Over 7 seasons in SF, Kermit had 5+ interceptions 5 times, lead the NFL in fumble recoveries twice (5 in ’64 and 8 in ’65) playing all DB positions.
In 1965, he led the NFL in returns (35) and return yardage (741).
At the turn of 1970, Alexander was traded to the LA Rams.
He’d only play two seasons for the franchise, but not before he added 7 more interceptions to his resume, including an 82 yard TD.
Retired after the 1973 season with the Philadelphia Eagles.
ACCOLADES:
Pro Bowl 1968
Byron Whizzer White Award 1972
NOTES:
I had coveted Kermit on this Action Packed card of his for sometime. After writing him back in 2019 I was surprised to get these cards back unsigned as he had a very good signing track record. I suppose that he may have taken offense to something I wrote in my letter, as I was unaware of his family tragedy.
Later a friend of mine got him through the mail and told me that in his response a family member stated that Kermit was struggling with his memory, so I figured now was as good as any time as any.
KR
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
153
3586
23.4
0
56
PR
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
133
835
6.3
2
70t
TAC
SAC
FUM
INT
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
N/a
N/a
28
43
668
15.5
3
82t
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