Tag Archives: Action packed 1991

CFL, NFL, Pro Football HoF, WLAF

Moon, Warren


Card: Action Packed 1991
Acquired: In Person, Houston Oilers Training Camp 1992
See also: http://n8d.flywheelsites.com/2011/moon-warren-2/

Warren Moon’s career is a long and storied one, that while it didn’t end in a SuperBowl appearance, certainly it was worthy of the Hall of Fame induction that he received in 2006.  Warren Moon’s career in football spans amazingly 4 decades of the sport. After a standout performance for the Washington Huskies that culminated in a Rose Bowl appearance and MVP honors, he was told by NFL scouts that he’d be better suited to play defensive back or tight end. You see back in the 70’s there was still the stigma at the pro level that black players couldn’t play quarterback. Frustrated and ready to prove people wrong, – Moon packed his bags and headed to Canada to play for the CFL, where he’d be signed by the Edmonton Eskimos. He went on to shatter CFL league records leading the Eskimos to 5 consecutive Grey Cup Championships from 1978-1982, and winning Grey Cup MVP honors in 1980 and 1982. He’d also set the record for most yards passing in a game,(broken in 2005,) and most yards (career) in league history.

Moon would decide to enter the NFL in 1984 where a bidding war ensued for his services. The Houston Oilers stepped up to the plate, offering the most attractive opportunity for Moon. With Hugh Campbell (his former CFL coach,) and a million dollar a year salary on the table, Moon immediately became the centerpiece for the long suffering Houston franchise. Moon quickly set the team season passing record in his first year under center, but Campbell would be fired after two losing seasons. With a new coach in Jerry Glanville, the Oilers began to take on a new tough personality, and Warren became the prime beneficiary of the team’s change. With the Red Gun offense firmly in place, Warren led the Oilers to their first winning record with him under center and the beginning of the team’s consecutive playoff appearance streak. 1989 saw Glanville’s last season in Houston, and the new Sheriff in town in 1990, who installed a new sense of discipline, and the Run ‘N Shoot offense- Jack Pardee. Over the years, the team built an impressive receiver corps in Drew Hill, Haywood Jeffires, Curtis Duncan, and Ernest Givins. Warren Moon would set new career highs leading the league in a variety of categories, and tied the record with 9 300 yard games. In his greatest moment, Warren trodded out onto the frigid Arrowhead stadium field in 1990, (a place they had gotten whupped a year earlier 35-3) and threw for 527 yards against a staunch Kansas City defensive unit.  1991 again saw  Moon set a new NFL record for attempts with 655 attempts (since broken), and during the offseason Warren would also help on USA broadcasts for the WLAF games.  The team won its first divisional title in 1991 and again in 1993 with a league best record 12-4- but the team advanced no further than the divisional round in any season. By the end of the 1993 season, Warren virtually held every team passing record.

In came meddling owner Bud Adams during 1994, (- a recurring theme in Oilers history), who decided that the team was too old and wanted to change the direction of the franchise. Bud decided that much of the team was too old, so he traded Warren to Minnesota for a few draft choices.  In the meantime the team slumped to 2-14 behind Bucky Richardson and Cody Carlson at quarterback as Jack Pardee quit. Warren however went on to prove Adams wrong throwing for over 4200 yards in each of his first two seasons with the Vikings.  By 1997, Moon was a free agent again, signing with his college hometown Seattle Seahawks. He’d be the oldest player to score a touchdown at the age of 40. After two seasons there (he’d play in the movie “Any Given Sunday” as head coach of the rival New York team and then,) he’d head to Kansas City to serve as backup, retiring in 2001.

Warren over his career was named to 9 ProBowls, ProBowl MVP once, Man of the Year in 1989, NFL Offensive Player of the Year in 1990, Pro Football HoF in 2006, and the Canadian HoF in 2001, in addition to numerous other accolades. Warren was also named #5 on the all time list of greatest players  in CFL history. Warren also at one point was ranked in the top 5 of nearly every NFL category, (including career fumbles and fumble recoveries- since passed by Brett Favre in career fumbles). Since football he continues to do commentary for the Seattle Seahawks, and wrote a book “Never Give Up on Your Dream: My Journey”. Recently Warren Moon was mentioned in an episode of “30 Rock”, and he has struggled from time to time with domestic issues. To give perspective of Warren’s career, he threw for over 25 miles in 4 decades of football from 1978-2001 (23 seasons) and he is the first and only black starting quarterback in the NFL HoF. A stoic presence on the field and a shrewd negotiator of contracts, Moon had an amazing arm, longetivity, and displayed quick release and smooth velocity on his throws. His combined CFL and NFL statistics are listed below along with some great videos of his work.

G 312   Att 9205  Comp 5357   Yds  70553   Pct 58.2%     Td 435  Int 310  Rat 84.2

A Moon highlight video playing for the Huskies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jp7hh52GBXE
Houston Oilers highlight video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxNuAcL2H74&feature=related
HoF video: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-game-highlights/09000d5d8012ef58/Hall-of-Fame-Warren-Moon

CFL, NFL

Tolliver, Billy Joe

Cards: ProSet 1989,Action Packed Rookies 1990,Action Packed 1991,Upper Deck 1991,Topps 1990,GameDay 1992,Score 1990
Acquired: In Person 1993, CGA Youth Golf Tournament

A real tender moment in my autograph collecting- Billy Joe Tolliver, Browning Nagle and Steve Bartkowski were palling around really early in the morning, -I’d guess around 7:45AM and I was basically the only fan on the course. They actually saw me and started talking to me. Maybe it was because I just walked up onto the green and didn’t know my golf etiquette, but they absolutely loved the drawings I did of each one of them. Billy Joe and I started talking and he offered let me ride along with them to the next hole. How could I say no (especially comparing this in retrospect to my experiences with John Elway)? Tolliver the previous season had a hail mary pass against the 49ers, and we discussed how exciting and amazing the play was. Billy Joe just told me he tried to put it up to his favorite game maker (Michael Haynes) and he just got lucky. He also shared that it was his favorite moment (up to that point of his young career).

In the waning days of the Southwestern Conference, Texas Tech started really establishing itself with a dominating offense. Billy Joe Tolliver was the renaissance man that would be the genesis in the long line of record setting quarterbacks at Lubbock. Gifted with a cannon for an arm Tolliver would be drafted in the 3rd round of the 1989 draft by the San Diego Chargers, who traded a lion’s share to the Giants to get him. Expected to be the quarterback of the team’s future, he was thrust right into a quarterback competition between David Archer and Mark Malone. In the end the team traded the Bears for Jim McMahon and he and Tolliver would battle the rest of the season for the starting gig. San Diego was a tough place to play after the departure of Dan Fouts, with an eternal revolving door at quarterback (13 starting quarterbacks from 1987-1991).  By 1990 Tolliver was firmly entrenched as the number one quarterback in San Diego- but was inexplicably benched in favor of Mark Vlasic. He’d quickly be renamed starter but was benched again at the end of the season for another ‘quarterback of the future’ –John Friesz. Friesz would be named the starter for the 1991 season and Tolliver would find himself traded to the Atlanta Falcons for a 5th round pick. Overall the Tolliver legacy in San Diego would surely be considered a ‘wash’.

It was an interesting situation in Atlanta to say the least for Tolliver playing under the Red Gun offense with injury prone starter Chris Miller and 3rd stringer distraction Brett Favre behind him. It was during the 1991 season Billy Joe would get some playing time in and make the Hail Mary pass against the 49ers and have a respectable finish to the season. In 1992, Farve would be sent packing to Green Bay for as coach Jerry Glanville stated, “To save him (Farve) from himself.” Tolliver would be in the starting role in 1992 after Chris Miller was injured and out for the season but would finish with literally average results (5Tds, 5ints, 55% completions and a 70.5 qb rating). The next season, he’d once again be backup to Chris Miller and Bobby Herbert. With Miller injured again, Tolliver would be the main backup again and would see some playing time in 7 games. After the 1993 season he would not be resigned.  Playing in Atlanta was met with mixed results. Extreme highs (the Hail Mary) punctuated by big lows (arguments on the sidelines with Jerry Glanville and blowout losses).

When the 1994 season began, Tolliver was still looking for a job but was signed to be a 3rd string quarterback on the struggling Houston Oilers. By mid-season Billy would be the starter and would finish with another 7 starts under his belt splitting time with Bucky Richardson. He would be a free agent again and this time pursue a job in the fledgling CFL USA signed by the Shreveport Pirates for their final season in 1995. Returning again to the NFL Tolliver would go back to the Falcons, this time backing up Herbert and Browning Nagle at quarterback. He’d play sparingly through 1996 and be released mid-season in 1997, but would then be signed by the Kansas City Chiefs who needed an injury replacement. Tolliver would be cut in mid 1998. Billy Joe would return to the NFC South, going to the New Orleans Saints under Mike Ditka in 1999. He’d remain on and off the team roster through 2000. In 2001 Tolliver would be signed by Green Bay- remarkably with former friend and quarterback Brett Favre, where Billy Joe would retire shortly after losing the backup quarterback job to Doug Pederson.

Overall looking at Billy Joe Tolliver’s career, one could almost state that he had some of the best agents or was one of the best third string quarterbacks to play the position. The definition of a journeyman, Tolliver would play for no more than 7 teams, starting at some point during his career for at least 6 of them over a 12 season career. Since football, Billy Joe has remained extremely active. He was inducted by the Red Raiders into their Hall of Honor in 2002. An athletic competitor at heart- Billy Joe Tolliver is considered a great golfer frequently winning sports amateur golf competitions on a regular basis and in 2010 he beat Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo for the championship. Billy Joe was treated kindly by the Tecmo gods, who rewarded him with an amazing 81 in passing speed for his cannon of an arm.

G/Gs  74/42  Att  1707    Comp 891    Yds 10760     Pct 52.2%       Td 59   Int 64   Lg 82T  Rat 67.7


Arena, College Football HoF, NFL, Pro Football HoF, Super Bowl MVP

Elway, John

Cards: Upper Deck 1991 team checklist, Upper Deck 1991, Score 1990, SkyBox 1992, ActionPacked 1991
Acquired: In person 1993, CGA Youth Golf Tournament.

John Elway was a lot different than the other players at the tournament. While we were waiting for him to golf, he stopped, approached us and said, “If I sign all of your cards, will you leave me alone?” Wow man- how do you expect me to react? Josh and the other guys who were with me sheepishly said, “Sure John.” Of course I would throw in the barb of, “Good luck winning the SuperBowl this season!”, After he’d sign all 5 of my cards- (even though I was only gunning for two signatures tops). This was a memory that really stuck in my mind because he wasn’t gracious at all about his status, and in a way I’ve always held it against him.

In 1983, the consensus #1 draft choice from Stanford refused to play for the Baltimore Colts who in turn traded John Elway to the Denver Broncos where he’d become the face of the franchise. (The trade was executed for Chris Hinton, Mark Hermann, and Denver’s first round pick of the 1984 draft.) Elway would start 11 games that season under coach Dan Reeves play action offense and have a lackluster start with 7 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. John would display his innate ability to scramble early on with a 5.2 yard per carry average. By 1987, Elway had moved into the upper echelon of quarterbacking. He’d be named NFL Offensive MVP and lead the Broncos to Superbowl XXIII. This would begin a series of heartbreaks for John, who despite his record 47 comebacks, – was labeled a choker in the big game after losing 3 Superbowls.

By the early 1990s John’s feud with head coach Dan Reeves had come to a boil, and at one point during 1991 the Broncos discussed trading him to the Redskins. Reeves would be terminated after the 1992 season, an 8-8 record, and when Elway intimated it would be him or Reeves that had to go. With the hiring of Mike Shannahan, the team would quickly reload and march back to the playoffs by 1996. In 1997, Elway would get another shot at the SuperBowl, this time winning the big game at last against the Green Bay Packers. Owner Pat Bowlen after the game proclaimed, “This one is for John” and Elway beamed. He’d repeat again in 1998 in movie-like fashion, this time taking on the Atlanta Falcons and his ex head coach Dan Reeves. The Broncos would triumph and Elway would be named MVP. Soon there after Elway would announce his retirement due to age, lingering injuries, a desire to spend more time with his family and a feeling that he had no more to accomplish. He was inducted into the Pro Football HoF in 2004 as the first Denver Bronco with 9 Pro Bowl nominations under his belt and two SuperBowl victories.

Elway since football has participated in a variety of sports ventures. He was the owner of the Colorado Crush of the failed AFL, and owns a few car dealerships and steak restaurants. He also hosts his own golf classic and is an open Republican.

In early 2011 John Elway was named Vice President of Football Operations where he is expected to have a large amount of influence in the organization.

G/Gs 234/231   Att 7250    Comp 4123    Pct 56.9%    Yds 51475    TD 300    Int 226   Lg 86    Rat 79.9 |
Rush 774    Yds 3407    Avg  4.4    Td  33    Lg  31