Tag Archives: baltimore colts

NFL, University of Texas

Atessis, Bill

CARD: University of Texas Upper Deck 2011
ACQUIRED: 2020, EBay
FAILURE: TTM 2019, C/o Home

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Bill played defensive end from 1968-70 and was considered one of the most dominant DL of the SWC during that era.
  • Selected by the Baltimore Colts in the second round of the 1971 NFL Draft.
  • Injured and later cut by the Colts, joining the Patriots later that season.
  • Converted to LB, seeing action in 5 contests.
  • Traded to Cardinals in 1972, and moved to the OL.
  • Converted back to DL by the Jets in ’73 but was cut before the season began.

ACCOLADES:

  • UT Ring of Honor
  • All-time UT team

NOTES:

After failing on Bill back in 2019, I just figured I’d grab him on his certified card instead.

AFL, NFL, Pro Football HoF

Donovan, Art ‘The Bulldog’ (1924-2013)

Upper Deck Legends 1997, #AL-30

CARD: Upper Deck Legends 1997
ACQUIRED: Ebay, 2020

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Played one year at Notre Dame before enlisting for World War II, joining the US Marines and saw intense and fierce combat on the Pacific front.
  • Returned and finished out his college time at Boston College.
  • Selected in the 1947 NFL Draft by the New York Giants, but didn’t play pro football until 1950 with the original Baltimore Colts.
  • After the Colts went out of business in 1950, experienced the blues of the sport with both the Yanks (1951) and the Texans (1952), also closing up shop after one season each.
  • It’d be in 1953 that Art joined the second iteration of the Baltimore Colts.
  • He’d go on to become one of the greatest defensive linemen of that era playing in 138 games, through 1961.
  • With a personality larger than life, Donovan made frequent appearances on late night television with Johnny Carson and David Letterman spinning tales of old.
  • He also did radio and owned a country club.

ACCOLADES:

  • Pro Football Hall of Fame (1968)
  • Pro Bowl (1953-57)
  • First Team All-Pro (1954-57)
  • Second Team All-Pro (1958, 1960)
  • Baltimore Ravens Ring of Honor
  • Indianapolis Colts #70 Retired
  • NFL 1950s All-Decade Team

NOTES:

I remember vividly seeing Art on David Letterman during the 80s when I was a kid. I wasn’t interested in football and I had no idea why or how I was up that late, but I recall that he was very, very funny and I enjoyed his self deprecating humor and stories.

EPITAPH:

Art Donovan passed away in 2013 at the age of 89 due to respiratory disease.

NFL, University of Texas

Wuensch, Bobby

Cards: UT UD 2011 Icons, UTD 2011
Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o Home
Sent: 9/3 Received: 9/19 (16 days)

Bobby Wuensch played offensive tackle for the blue chip studded Texas Longhorns from 1968 to 1970. He’d earn All-SWC and All-American Honors in 1969 and 1970. With Bobby in the lineup the Longhorns went 30-2-1 over that span, and he’d also be named a Co-Captain of the 1970 National Championship team. A Southwest Conference and Cotton Bowl All-Decade Team member (1970s), Bobby was selected by the Baltimore Colts in the 12th round of the 1971 draft, but did not play in the NFL. He was inducted into the Longhorn Ring of Honor in 1990, and consistently ranks among the Top 50 greatest Longhorns.

Bobby wrote me a nice note with my autograph request and as of 2019 lives in Houston.