Tag Archives: action packed 1992

College Football HoF, NFL

Friesz, John “Deep”

Cards: Action Packed 1992, Action Packed Rookies 1991
Acquired: TTM 1993, C/o The San Diego Chargers

John Freisz was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the 6th round of the 1990 draft. Considered to be the ‘future’ of the franchise- based on his amazing performance at Idaho leading them to an 8-0 record and throwing for over 4,000 yards- the future came sooner than anybody expected when Billy Joe Tolliver left after the season concluded.

In 1991 Friesz took over as starting quarterback of the Chargers, starting all 16 games. Allowed to flourish- he threw for 2896 yards and 12 touchdowns as a traditional drop back passer. Friesz suffered a season ending injury in the 1992 preseason and did not return until 1993, throwing 6 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions. A new head coach led John in a new direction- as John became a journeyman quarterback, playing in Washington for a season, before a four season stint with Seattle starting in 1995. In 1996, (John’s best year,) he’d win 4 starts and lose only 2 putting up a respectable 86.2 quarterback rating.  In 1995, he came off the bench for the Seahawks leading the team back from a 20-0 deficit against the Denver Broncos- engineering 3 4th quarter touchdown drives. After his stint in Seattle, Friesz would play two non-discript seasons for the New England Patriots and retire.

Friesz was the epitome of the walking wounded. Over his career he broke his thumb, leg, suffered injuries to his knees and separated his non-throwing shoulder. He also spent 15 games of his rookie season on IR, and the whole 1992 season there as well. John was well liked by his teammates. With a workman like attitude and a team player, Friesz rarely if ever complained when salary cap problems, politics and injuries caused him to lose his starting job.

An avid outdoorsman, John especially enjoys fishing and is a certified Scuba diver. John’s last name is pronounced “Freez” and was nicknamed “Deep” by his teammates in college.

In 2006, John’s number was retired by Idaho and he became the school’s first inductee into the College Football HoF that year as well. In 2009 he’d also be inducted into the Inland Northwest HoF. He remains active to this day in his community participating in golf tournaments, hosting numerous charities for the Special Olympics and participating in Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America.

G/Gs 69/38     Att 1364    Comp 745    Yds 8699    Pct 54.6%
Td 45       Int 42        Rat  72.3

NFL

Thompson, Darrell

Cards: Action Packed Rookies 1990, Action Packed 1992
Acquired: TTM 1993, C/o The Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers (at least during the 1990s) were a really good organization with TTM requests.  Darrell Thompson is basically a Great Lakes legend where he went to school locally in Rochester, Minnesota and then at college at Minnesota playing for the Golden Gophers where he’d lead the team in rushing in 1986, 1989 and 1990. Thompson would finish with 40 rushing touchdowns and rank 4th on the college’s all time offensive yardage list with 4,518 yards rushing and 337 yards receiving, easily running away with the school’s rushing record. At 6 feet and 210 pounds, Thompson was an imposing force. The Green Bay Packers would make him the 19th pick of the 1990 draft and immediately pencil Darrell in at fullback. He would come in off the bench his rookie season while he was learning the system and do some spot duty at kick returning- even returning one for a touchdown. His second season would have him lead the Packers anemic rushing attack, chipping in 471 yards starting in 13 games. Thompson would suffer a series of setbacks from injuries starting only 4 games in 1992, but would rebound nicely in 1993 rushing for a career high 654 yards and 3 touchdowns for the Pack- but buried in the depth chart in 1994 Darrell and after only 8 games Thompson’s season would be over- and so would his career. He would work with at risk children and first time offenders in a Twin Cities project called Bolder Options which he expanded his involvement in after retirement. Thompson would also become a regular with the Minnesota Gophers athletic department and has gone into broadcasting, working radio for the Golden Gopher network.

G/Gs 60/28     Rush 464    Yds 1641    Avg 3.5    Td 7    Lg 60 |
Rec 41    Yds 330  Avg 8.0  Td 1   Lg 43

NFL

Butts, Marion

Cards: ProSet 1989, ProSet 1990, Fleer 1990, Action Packed 1992
Acquired: TTM 2010, C/o Home
Sent: 2/3  Received: 3/26  (51 days)

The Chargers found a steal when they reached in the top of the 7th round of the infamous 1989 draft for little known Marion Butts out of Florida State. In his rookie season in 1989 he’d come in off the bench during the last 5 games rumbling for  683 yards and 9 touchdowns, including a game in which he single-handedly dominated the Chiefs rushing for 176 yards. Slipping under the radar when he was drafted, many had pegged Butts as purely a blocking fullback or perhaps special teams hitter (with his 6-1 248 frame)  however his style would define the Chargers run game for nearly 5 seasons. Marion’s sophomore season would prove that his surprising rookie season was not a fluke as he galloped for a career high 1225 yards making his first ProBowl.  Butts would follow this season up with an additional ProBowl in 1991- but would only start 8 games. With the emergence of Natrome Means, Butts would play for the Chargers through the 1993 season and finish up his career there with around 4300 yards. In 1994 Marion would hop over to play for Bill Parcells and the New England Patriots helping the team make the playoffs with his stout running and 1995 would see Marion’s final season played with the vagabond Houston Oilers where he started 2 games and retired after the season’s conclusion. Since football Butts has tried his hand at coaching the sport at the high school level.

Marion is apparently a great through the mail signer and although I had to wait sometime, he graciously signed 4 cards for me. Butts had some great cards, and the ProSet franchise really framed his running style well. The Tecmo SuperBowl franchise represented him well. One of the vaunted and feared ‘popcorn’ runningbacks, (Heyward, Mack, and Okoye also come to mind) you could literally run at or dive at Butts and he would throw you up in the air like popcorn.

G/Gs 104/73    Rush 1345   Yds  5185   Avg 3.9    Td  43    Lg  52 |
Rec  68    Yds  471    Avg 6.9   Td  1   Lg  46