Tag Archives: Atlanta Falcons

NFL

Anderson, Jamal ‘Dirty Bird’

Cards: Playoff Absolute 2000,  Playoff Contenders 2002, Atomic 2002
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent:  8/1        Received:  8/17   (16 days)

Jamal Anderson was a 7th round pick out of Utah in 1994. He had two decent seasons for the Utes, rushing for 1275 total yards on 223 carries, while catching 35 passes for 342 yards. It wasn’t head turning by any means, and by the time he was drafted nobody really was watching at home.  His rookie year was far from impactful. In fact, Anderson had -1 yard on 2 carries, but hand it to June Jones’ coaching staff. They saw something in the Dirty Bird and allowed him to flourish.

It was in 1996 that Jamal had his first 1,000 yard season on 232 carries. An encore was provided in 1997 when he rushed for another 1002 yards on 290 carries. He’d have a career year in 1998, leading the Falcons to their first Super Bowl appearance rushing a league leading 410 times for 1846 yards and 14 TDs. An injury wrecked his 1999 season, but he came back in 2000 to again eclipse 1000 yards with 1024 on 282 carries. Injuries though caught up with Jamal and after 2001 he’d retire.

Like the great players before him that defined an era of football with their style such as  Billy ‘White Shoes’ Johnson (Funky Chicken) in the 70s and Ickey Woods in the 80s (Ickey Shuffle) Jamal was the originator of the TD dance called The Dirty Bird. In it after scoring a TD Anderson would get up and strut around flopping his arms like a bird. It became a sensation after the Falcons’ Superbowl appearance, and is considered now part of NFL lore.

Anderson has been involved in sports media/ broadcasting since retirement. He’s also a member of the concussion lawsuit against the NFL.  Jamal had some nice cards out there. At this point, the different card manufacturers had figured out that fans valued design and were really working on improving the quality of it. Among the entries into the market was Atomic- a kitsch card design with die cut edges. I’ve gotten a few of these signed over the years and I’ve always liked them. The Playoff Memorabilia card with the football swatch is actually game used- down to identifying that it was from a game against the Eagles in 2000 when Jamal carried the ball 19 times for 42 yards. I thought that was a nice touch.

G/GS 88/64    RUSH 1329     YDS 5336     AVG  4.0      TD 34      LG 48
REC 156        YDS  1645      AVG 10.5     TD 7       LG 94t

NFL, WLAF

Brinson, Dana ‘D-Rock’

Cards: ProSet WLAF 1991, Ultimate WLAF 1992, Ultimate WLAF 1992 League Leader
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home*
Sent: 8/7  Received: 8/31   (24 days)
Failure: TTM 2011, C/o Home
* Donation Enclosed

Dana Brinson was one of the most dangerous speed merchants to hit the WLAF during its short time.  He was one of the few names I recognized right off the bat when the league was formed and I felt that London already had an unfair advantage with his speed and pedigree on offense. Selected by the Monarchs as a wide receiver in the first round of the inaugural WLAF positional draft, Brinson originally played runningback in college and early in his NFL career, but produced for London as a jack of all trades. His statline was pretty loaded in 1991: 28 catches for 351 yards and a TD, 4 carries for 47 yards and a TD, 31 punt returns (tops in the league) for 181 yards, AND 12 kick returns for 317 yards and a 93 yard TD (first in league history). His best game came arguably against the Knights, when he had 8 receptions for 114 yards. Dana was injured during the Monarchs World Bowl I victory, but still earned second-team All-World League Honors at the conclusion of the season.  He did not return to the team for the 1992 season.

Dana Brinson originally played ball for Nebraska from 1985 to 1988. Clocking in at 5’9″, 165, Dana was an all around threat as a RB, PR, KR and WR at wingback. He’d have 330 yards on 27 punt returns in 1986 leading the Big 8.  Later he was voted the Big 8 All-Conference Kick Off Returner when he had 510 yards on 23 returns, and he also led the conference in punt return yards with 196.  During his time at Nebraska he’d score 2 TDs on punt returns and finish with 1154 career kick off return yards.

A member of the prestigious 1989 draft class, Brinson was selected in the 8th round by the San Diego Chargers. He did not endear himself to teammates or fans by saying that he’d unseat Lionel James -but he did just that. He finished his only season in SD with 17 carries for 64 yards, 12 receptions for 71, and 11 returns for 112 yards.  Somehow he even started at H-Back during the season, but a burner sidelined him for a few games. Later, Dana signed with the Falcons in 1990, but did not make the squad.

Dana had 3 outstanding action cards, and I had been trying to locate him since the beginning of the WLAF project. Recently I saw that an unsavory EBayer was selling his autograph online and that got me to searching. Eventually, I was able to finally locate him through Facebook. He signed these 3 cards with a donation in a very short time. He was very touched to know how his former teammates were doing. In 2009 Dana was elected to the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame.

NFL G 10/0      RUSH 17      YDS 64      AVG 3.8      TD 0      LG  9
REC 12      YDS 71      AVG 5.9      TD 0      LG 11
PR  11     YDS 112     AVG 10.2     TD 0     LG 52

WLAF          RUSH   4        YDS 47       AVG 11.8     LG  23T    TD 1
REC  28      YDS 351     AVG 12.5       LG 38      TD 1
KR  12        YDS 317     AVG 26.4    LG 93T   TD 1
PR  31        YDS 181     AVG 5.8       LG 24     TD 0

NFL, WLAF

Barnes, Lew ‘Little Lew’

Cards: Ultimate WLAF 1992, Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent: 8/9   Received: 9/9  (30 days)

Lew Barnes was an Oregon Duck during his college days from 1983 to 1985. A consistent receiver with blazing speed, Barnes posted 117 receptions for 2048 yards, a 17.5 yards per reception average, and 18 TDs over his time in Eugene. Lew is notable, as he was the only Oregon All-American named on offense between 1971 and 2007.  At the time of his graduation Barnes was the Ducks all-time leading receiver.  He was drafted in the 5th round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears.

The Bears, well, they were hard on their receivers and the Super Bowl Champions were through and through a running team. Lew faced an uphill battle making the squad, but was fortunate. As starting return man Dennis McKinnon underwent his 3rd knee operation- the Bears needed a punt return man and it just so happened that Barnes fit the bill. Lewis made the best of his single season in Chicago. He led the league with 57 punt returns (482 yards), and returned a kickoff 85 yards for a TD.  Barnes broke his left leg during the preseason in 1987 and spent the entire year on IR. The following year in 1988, he got cut during the preseason- only a few days after a 97 yard kickoff return TD got called back over a questionable illegal block against the Cowboys. While the Bears really liked Barnes, he got caught in a numbers game, especially with rookie wide receiver 1st round pick Wendell Davis in camp.

Barnes quickly landed a job with the Falcons, reuniting him with former Duck QB Chris Miller. He’d play in 13 games, and post solid numbers again on punt returns, with 34 for 307 yards, including a 68 yarder, but not see any time at receiver.  He’d then play 2 games in 1989 with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Lew decided to play for the WLAF in 1992.  He’d be selected by the Frankfurt Galaxy.  During his lone season with the franchise, Lew led the team in yards from scrimmage. He’d be 3rd in receptions with 24, but second in yards with 402 and a guady 16.7 YPC. Lew also was counted on for special teams duty, posting 198 yards on 10 kick returns, and 46 yards on 11 punt returns. He’d help the franchise win the division and reach the playoffs for the first time in history, before the league went on hiatus.

Lew had two spectacular action shots from Ultimate and Wild Card. Being that the Galaxy did not play ever in San Antonio, I never was even able to attempt to get any members of the franchise. With his place in Oregon and NFL history, I thought Lew would be easier to locate, but nobody had a whiff of him at all. It took me quite a few years, but after cross referencing a lot of data on Spokeo, I was able to find an address I was confident in and take a shot. He responded and wrote me a very nice note. With excellent cursive penmanship, he thanked me for writing him, and told me that he too had a great-great relative in his past that had my full name, and we could possibly be… related? Small world!

NFL 16/0     REC 4           YDS 54      AVG 13.5     TD 0    LG 14
KR   9       YDS 236        AVG 26.2      TD 1      LG 85t
PR 93      YDS 830        AVG 8.9         TD 0      LG 68

WLAF  REC 24   YDS  402  AVG 16.7    TD 3    LG 86t
KR  10     YDS   198       AVG 19.8      TD 0     LG 33
PR  11     YDS  46           AVG 4.1          TD 0    LG 12