Tag Archives: austin wranglers

Arena, NFL, NFLE, University of Texas, XFL

Humphrey, Aaron

CARD: UT Upper Deck 2011 HACK
ACQUIRED: TTM 2025, C/o Home
SENT: 10/17 RECEIVED: 11/10 (24 DAYS)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Aaron Humphrey played DL/LB for the Texas Longhorns from 1996-’99.
  • Led the Big-12 in sacks in both his junior and senior campaigns.
  • Over his playing career he started 45 of 48 games, posted 330 career tackles, and 10 forced fumbles.
  • Finished second on UT’s all-time tackles for loss list with 50, and 8th in sacks with 24.
  • In perhaps his finest moment for the Burnt Orange playing the season opener against Rutgers in 1997, Aaron dropped back and picked off THREE passes (almost 4) against the Scarlet Knights.
  • After going undrafted he signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2000, but did not make the squad.
  • Played for the Chicago Enforcers of the XFL 2001.
  • Used all over the field at ILB and DE that season, Humphrey posted 53 total tackles and 3 sacks.
  • Once the league folded, he was signed by the New York Jets, but was released before the season.
  • Signed by the Rhein Fire of the NFLE in 2002.
  • Posted 27 total tackles, 1 forced fumble and 5 pass deflections.
  • Signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars after his stint in the NFLE, Aaron was on and off the practice squad.
  • Spent his final three years back in Austin, as a member of the Arena Football League’s Austin Wranglers from 2004-’06.
  • Tallied 48 total tackles, 8.5 sacks, 5 pass blocks, 8 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, and a 6 yard interception for a TD.
  • Also saw time as a willing receiver, posting 5 receptions for 47 yards and 2 TDs.

ACCOLADES:

  • Texas MVP and Defensive Player of the Year 1999

NOTES:

Aaron was one of the players that when I got the UT Upper Deck 2011 set I was surprised that he wasn’t included. I thought based on his unique football journey and accomplishments that he’d be a shoe in for it.

That being said the opening allowed for me to slip in with a custom card for him taking down Josh Heupel. The card itself came out perfectly and I was very pleased with the results.

I tracked down Aaron through Facebook surprisingly quick and he responded to me in no time flat. He was very excited to have his own card and to share it with his kids.

Knowing that I was a big fan and also of the Austin Wranglers, he also sent me a signed jersey from his days with the team!

Here is the jersey Aaron said he was going to send me. 🙂
Arena, NFL, usfl, WLAF

Bennett, Ben

Card: ProSet 1991 WLAF Insert
Acquired: 2018, EBay
Failure: TTM 2014, C/o Home 

Ben Bennett was a prolific quarterback for the Duke Blue Devils finishing as one of the top passers in NCAA history, throwing for 9614 yards on 820 completions (1375 attempts) and 55 TDs from 1980 to 1983. 

Selected in the 6th round of the 1984 NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons, but ended up playing in the USFL for the Jacksonville Bulls. Bennett then bounced around camps for the Falcons, Oilers, Cowboys, and Bears, eventually seeing a little action playing for the Bengals in ’87.  He’d join the Arena Football league playing for the Chicago Bruisers in 1988 and 1989, leading the team to the championship in the latter season. After playing for the Dallas Texans in 1990, he was selected by the Sacramento Surge of the WLAF during the first round of the positional draft. 

Ben was expected to be the starter for the Surge, but he’d be supplanted by former KC Chiefs 2nd round pick, Mike Elkins- who took all the snaps after the first game. Bennett returned to the Arena Football League later that year with the Orlando Predators.  Ben at this point became a star for the young league. He’d play for Orlando through 1995, before taking one season pitstops with both the San Jose SabreCats and the Portland Forest Dragons.  Ben is known in Arena lore for the ‘Miracle Minute’ in which he engineered a 16 point comeback in under 1 minute. Ben was inducted into the Arena Football Hall of Fame in 2000. 

Outside of his impressive Arena Football resume, Ben has been involved as coach for the Milwaukee Mustangs (1998), Greensboro Prowlers (2000), Florida Bobcats (2001), Florida Firecats (2002-2004), Manchester Wolves (2005-2007), Austin Wranglers (2008), Orlando Fantasy LFL (2010), the New Orleans Voodoo (2011), and the Orlando Predators (2012). 

I had previously tried to get Ben way back in 2011, but had no luck. Since then, I’ve seen no successes or addresses for him that I could use, so I went ahead and just picked this autograph up off of EBay after verifying its integrity. 

NFLATTCPDYDSPCTTDINTRAT
0/1522533.3017.6
RUSHYDSAVGTDLG
2178.509
USFLATTCPDYDSPCTTDINTRAT
0/213711353.810142.5
ARENAATTCPDYDSPCTTDINTRAT
192810691416855.426781N/A
RUSHYDSAVGTDLG
11367.609
WLAFATTCPDYDSPCTTDINTRAT
1/02696034.60239.6
Arena, NFL

Boselli, Tony

udmvp02 tboselliCards: Upper Deck 2002 MVP, Upper Deck Inaugural Houston Texans 2002
Acquired: 2012, C/o Home
Sent:   3/25/2012      Received: 7/28/16  (1586 days)

Wow. Tony Boselli really made me wait on this one, signing 2 cards in almost 1600 days.  You have to hand it to the mailman. Just as you think they are stealing your mail, you get a long shot wait like this one.

Tony Boselli was the anchor of the Jacksonville Jaguar franchise at left tackle. He was their first draft choice in 1995, and quickly established a reputation as one of the finest linemen in the NFL. A very popular player during his tenure in Jacksonville, he provided a much needed face and leader to the young franchise as it matured under Tom Coughlin’s watch. A 5 time Pro Bowler from 1996-2000, and 3 time All Pro from 1997-1999, Boselli was named to the 1990’s All Decade NFL Team. He’d sign a massive, new contract with the Jaguars, but by 2001 the injuries and weightlifting had caught up with him.  It was possible that Tony’s bad shoulder might end his career.

Facing salary cap hell, the Jaguars made Tony available for the Houston Texans Expansion Draft in 2002. The deal was, if the Texans took Boselli’s massive contract hit, they’d leave NT Seth Payne and DE Gary Walker on the table for the Texans to draft as well.  For the Texans, the risk was Boselli might never be able to return form and Houston  would have to absorb his salary cap hit.  It seemed that the benefits outweighed the risk, so the Texans selected Boselli first overall during the expansion draft. He’d be the first and only player in the history of the league selected first by two expansion franchises.  The Texans immediately trotted Tony out as an ambassador of the franchise. He’d appear in numerous photoshoots and in pads touting the young Texans franchise, but as time and seasons passed, it became more and more obvious that Boselli was not going to see the field again.

He’d retire from football in 2004 or 2005,  and sign a one day contract to retire as a Jaguar in 2006, and joined the Pride of the Jaguars Hall of Fame. While Tony has been nominated numerous times as a preliminary candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, he never made it past the first round until 2016 where he made it to the final round.  Perhaps due to his injury history, short career, playing for a smaller market, and at a relatively unglamorous position, has kept Boselli out of the Hall at this point, but in the meantime that has not slowed him down any.

A humanitarian at heart, Tony has his own charitable organization, and gives back to the community primarily in the Jacksonville area. He coaches football and does color commentary as well and was a minority owner at one point of the Austin Wranglers of the Arena Football League.  A savvy businessman, he owns some local Whataburger franchises, and a marketing company.

G/GS   91/90