Tag Archives: Atlanta Falcons

CFL, NFL

Johnson, Billy “White Shoes”

 

udlg97 ws johnson udlg97 ws johnson BCard: Upper Deck Legends 1997
Acquired: 11/23/2012, Fiterman Autograph Event
Failure: 2010, C/o Home

Billy Johnson, played for tiny Widener college in Pennsylvania. Going unnoticed- despite his white shoes and penchant for big plays, numbers, and great speed, the Oilers said, “Why not?”, and drafted White Shoes in the 15th round of the 1974 draft. There the fan favorite Johnson lit the NFL on fire with his breathtaking speed at returner and his entertaining end zone celebration called ‘The Funky Chicken’. (Johnson’s dance, is still celebrated today as one of the first, and was the Granddaddy to such dances as: Ernest Givins‘ “Electric Slide”, Ickey Woods‘ “Ickey Shuffle”, and Jamaal Anderson’s “Dirty Bird”.)  White Shoes played during the heyday of the Luv’ Ya Blu era in Houston, alongside Dan Pastorini, Ken Burrough, and Earl Campbell. He set an NFL record in 1975 by returning 3 punts for touchdowns in a single season. Not to be outdone that year, he also had a kick return as well, earning him AP honors and the Pro Bowl MVP after the season. White Shoes continued to set the standard for electrifying play throughout the 70s and the crowd always held their breath with excitement when he took the field. He again won AP honors topping his 15.3 YPR average from ’75 with a 15.4 YPR average in 77, with 539 yards and 2 touchdowns. As a kick returner he was also equally amazing, scoring another touchdown there as well.  A catastrophic knee injury wrecked his 1978 and 79 seasons. After a final season in Houston in 1980, White Shoes travelled north to the CFL for a year doing everything for the Montreal Alouettes.

The Falcons gave him a shot in 1983, and Johnson not only made the roster of the team, he had also matured as a receiver. Although he only started one game that season, Billy had 709 yards receiving and 4 touchdowns, (both career highs,) and was named NFL Comeback Player of the Year. In ’83 he scored another touchdown on a punt return, and was named AP and back to the Pro Bowl again for a 3rd time. He posted career highs again in 1984 in receiving with 830 yards and 5 touchdowns. Playing one final season in Atlanta, White Shoes went on to Washington and retired after the 1987 season. He’s been named to the NFL 75th Anniversary team and also the All-Decade Team of the 1980s.

It took me some time to get my autographs back from the Fiterman event but I finally did get my cards back some 3 weeks after the event. The company did apologize and adjusted their time-frame for delivery expectations for TTM on their website. I like to have my cards autographed on the front, but based on the report from Fiterman, White Shoes apparently refused to do so because he was not wearing white shoes on the front of this card. Still I am happy to knock out an elusive signer, after a previous attempt and failure.

G  143       PR 282         Yds 3317            Avg  11.8           Td 6         Lg 87t
Kr 123       Yds 2941          Avg 23.9         Td 2          Lg 81t
Rec  337       Yds 4211     Avg 12.5          Td 25       Lg  71t
Rush 56        Yds 316       Avg 5.6             Td 2         Lg 61

Highlight reel of Johnson and.. the Funky Chicken:

NFL, ufl

Glanville, Jerry

Cards: ProSet 1989, ProSet 1990, ProSet 1991
Acquired: TTM 2012, C/o Home
Sent:  2/19     Received: 2/25  (6 days)
See Also: Houston Oilers Official Autograph Souvenir 

Jerry Glanville certainly has earned a reputation for being controversial- from wearing all black at football games, getting bit by a rattlesnake before a game, to leaving tickets at the will call ticket booth for Elvis. Its these antics that earned Glanville a reputation in the media over his accomplishments as a coach primarily for the Houston Oilers and Atlanta Falcons.

After his college career as a linebacker ended at Western Kentucky, Jerry became a graduate assistant at the school alongside Joe Bugel. By 1974 the enigmatic Glanville had worked his way into the professional ranks with the Detroit Lions as an assistant coach. He’d join the Falcons as an assistant in 1978, and be promoted to defensive coordinator in 1979. He’d help the team win its first NFC West Division Title in 1980 behind strong defensive play, and remain with the franchise through 1982. Glanville briefly joined the Bills in 1983, before heading over to the Oilers to become their defensive coordinator in 1984. With the dismissal of Hugh Campbell after the 1985 season, Glanville secured the head coaching job from owner Bud Adams, and vowed to return the Oilers to glory- something they hadn’t seen since the Luv Ya’ Blu Era and Bum Phillips.

After a slow start in 1986, Glanville’s team began delivering on those promises in 1987. The team rolled to a 10-6 record and second place in the contentious AFC Central and advanced to the Divisional Round after beating the Seahawks in an overtime Wild Card contest. They’d get spanked by Denver. The Central at the time consisted of Marty Schottenheimer in Cleveland, Chuck Noll in Pittsburgh, Sam Wyche in Cincinatti and Jerry in Houston. The Oilers had been a disrespected doormat since the early 80s, but under Jerry’s leadership they transformed into a mean and dirty team. The Oilers gambling defense and special teams became the hallmark of the franchise and the Astrodome became known to other teams as: The House of Pain. The Oilers quickly became upstarts, and were rivals of every team in the division. Infamously after being skewered by the Oilers at the Astrodome, Noll approached Glanville at mid-field after the game and accused him of being dirty. Wyche and Glanville traded punches running up the score on each other’s home contests. The Oilers were also known as a ruthless home team, but a paper tiger on the road- that got in trouble making stupid penalties and errors.

Glanville also had a flare for implementing college style offenses, forcing Warren Moon to run the option, and quietly implementing portions of the Run ‘N Shoot offense, calling it the “Red Gun”. Glanville returned the Oilers to the playoffs in 1988, and again the Oilers came on late to beat the Browns in a snowy nail-biter at Cleveleand 24-23 advancing to the Divisional Round. Again the Oilers were beaten- this time by Buffalo. By 1989, Glanville’s schtick was beginning to wear, and the Oilers, were the prime losers in Plan B as many future players and stars left for greener pastures. Among the bigger names to leave during the Glanville years were offensive lineman John Davis and special teams demon Steve Tasker leaving for Buffalo, safety Keith Bostic heading for Indianapolis, and TE Jamie Williams headed for San Fransisco. Eventually this took a heavy toll on the Oilers’ depth. They’d scrape up enough elbow grease to enter the playoffs in 1989 and 9-7 but be bounced in the first round after losing an embarrassing contest to the Steelers. During the game, Jerry would kick an onside to Pittsburgh to show them how much he disrespected their offense. It only served to backfire in his face. It would be the end of the road for Jerry in Houston. Unable to get past the Divisional Round of the playoffs, Bud Adams demanded Glanville’s resignation after the season. It was sudden and unexpected for somebody who had guided the team out of the cellar of a hotly contested division and into the playoffs 3 straight seasons.  A tearful farewell by Glanville, only proved to be what amounted to crocodile tears between the two, as Glanville was quickly snatched up by Atlanta, while Houston went with the opposite of Jerry in Jack Pardee.

It appeared that Jerry was going to have the final laugh against Houston at first. He drubbed the Oilers 47-27  in his debut and then gave the gameball to SMU (-a team that had been trounced by Pardee’s Houston Cougars a year before 95-21). The Falcons embraced Jerry’s persona going so far as welcoming the franchise back to its black uniform roots. A full-time commitment to the Red Gun offense saw the transformation of Chris Miller into an All Pro quarterback, and the fleecing of the Colts in the Jeff George trade allowed the Falcons to get offensive tackle Chris Hinton and budding wide receiver Andre Rison from Indianapolis, in addition to a bevvy of draft choices.  He’d also sign cast off Oilers, grabbing Mike Rozier and Robert Lyles in 1990, and Drew Hill in 1991 via free agency. After a 5-11 mark in 1990, Jerry helped Atlanta return to the playoffs for the first time in roughly 10 years after the 1991 season posting a 10-6 record. The Falcons also played close to the fire like the Oilers, with an aggressive 3-4 defense, great special teams, and a bad attitude, but after taking a step back in 1992 and 1993 with duplicate 5-11 records, Glanville’s tenure in Atlanta would be up. He’d be replaced by his personal friend June Jones-which would initially chide Glanville.  Jerry was a notorious ‘doghouser’ and if you didn’t play the way he wanted, you were either cut, traded, or even worse- sat on the bench.  During his tenure in Atlanta, Glanville had the distinction of getting rid of not one, but two future Hall of Famers in the beginning of their careers. Brett Farve was be traded to the Packers for John Stephens, and future CFL HoFer Mike Pringle was cut but found greater glory in the CFL as their career leading rusher.

Glanville spent extensive time in the studio as an NFL broadcaster, a stock car racing owner, and then returned to college football in 2005 rekindling his friendship with June Jones at Hawaii. After 2 seasons there as the defensive coordinator, Jerry brought his style to Portland State to coach the Vikings, but after a dismal tenure there from 2007-2009, Jerry was dismissed. In 2010, the UFL hired Jerry Glanville to coach the Hartford Colonials. Assembling an impressive staff and then rallying fans, Glanville couldn’t understand why the UFL couldn’t work. Then the UFL ‘suspended’ the Colonials before they even took the field. Jerry was not without a job. The league reassigned him to color commentating games, and helping the league find new locations to play at. Glanville did not answer my question about if the UFL had folded.

Jerry Glanville was a character I grew up with. I really liked him. I just thought that his mouth and attitude got him in a lot of trouble with other teams and the media. While he’d always have something smart to say, he was always a target. I remember being very upset that the Oilers fired him- especially since he had guided the team to the playoffs those previous seasons. When people talk about the attitude of Rex Ryan, I always tell people he was nothing compared to the bravado that is Jerry Glanville.

W 63  L  73   Pct .463

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Bell, Kerwin (2)

Cards: WildCard WLAF 1992, Ultimate WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2012, C/o Jacksonville University
Sent: 1/10        Received:  2/17  (38 days)
Previous Post: Kerwin Bell
Failure: TTM 2010, C/o Jacksonville University

I had tried previously in 2010 to get the former Florida and WLAF Orlando Thunder signal caller on a few additional cards, but didn’t have any luck there. Recently there have been a few signings by Bell passed through SportsCollectors.net so I decided to take another chance C/o Jacksonville University again. With these two cards being signed, I can officially close the book on Kerwin Bell, unless I was to stumble upon a Jogo card or two of him in his CFL gear.

A Florida Gators quarterback from the 80’s, Bell finished his Senior season with 2687 yards and 21 TDs. After bouncing around the NFL for a few seasons, the WLAF would call his number in the first round of their positional draft in 1991. He’d be on fire the first two weeks of the season and rake in Offensive Player of the Week honors both weeks for the Orlando Thunder. Kerwin set the league season game records for most completions (29), most TDs passing (5), most attempts (43), and most attempts without an interception (44).

Inexplicably, the Thunder turned around in 1992 and picked up Scott Mitchell from the Dolphins and gave him the keys to the car. Bell would ride the bench, but would go onto greater glory after the season, playing in the CFL for the Sacramento Goldminers, Edmonton Eskimos, Argos, and Blue Bombers. He’d also have a brief stop with the Colts during this period, completing 5 of 5 passes for a TD, retiring in 2001. Unofficially it is the highest QB rating among non-qualifying quarterbacks in NFL history.

Bell was inducted into the Gator HoF as a Gator Great in 1997.