Tag Archives: baltimore ravens

NFL

Cunningham, Randall ‘The Ultimate Weapon’


Cards: Action Packed Rookies 1990, Action Packed Rookies 1992, Score 1990 Hot Gun

Acquired: TTM 2012, C/o Remnant Ministries*
Sent: 1/2    Received: 4/9      (98 days)     *$10 per card

During the 1980s, the NFL entered a great era of pocket passing quarterbacks, led by quarterbacks like Dan Marino and Joe Montana, including holdovers such as Dan Fouts. Among the lesser known names to come out of the 1985 draft, was a quarterback from the UNLV Rebels- Randall Cunningham. A raw talent with fleet legs, Randall would be taken in the second round of the draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. He was considered exciting, but a project to mold. After a very quiet rookie season and a subpar Sophomore campaign, Cunningham would be handed the keys to the Eagles franchise and become their full-time starter, taking over for pocket passer and now ESPN commentator Ron Jaworski.

As a playmaker, Cunningham electrified the league, with his fearless abandon to scramble and improvise on the run. He became the cover boy for Sports Illustrated, and was heroically photogenic, especially on trading cards. Randall’s name continued to grow- and he was viewed more and more in the vein of the Michael Jordan of football, who could virtually do anything he willed his mind to.  Cunningham was also noted as leading the league with regularity on sacks taken. As a gambler, he would slip out of the arms of a would be tackler to frequently buy more time to put the ball downfield or pump fake and scramble. He’d absorb an NFL record at the time- 72 sacks in 1986, and lead the league also in sacks taken in 87, 88, 90, and 1992.  During his time with the Eagles, he’d also set a team mark with a 95 yard bomb to Fred Barnett, and as the team’s backup punter, he’d rock a 91 yard punt in 1989 and an 80 yarder in 1994. Cunningham would be named to the ProBowl from 1988-1990 and lead the NFL with regularity in quarterback rushing yards- setting the league mark with 942 yards on 118 carries for an 8.0 average in 1990.  A critical injury in the first game of 1991 would end Randall’s scrambling days, as upon his return in 1992 he clearly had lost a step.  He’d play for the team through 1995, when he was unceremoniously benched after the team converted to a West Coast Offense. Randall has remarked that he lost the love to play football and retired after the season. Thus would end the first chapter of Cunningham’s career as a scrambling quarterback.
In 1997, Coach Denny Green of the Minnesota Vikings was looking for a backup to then incumbent quarterback Brad Johnson, who had replaced Warren Moon as their starting quarterback. Green lured Randall out of retirement and on to the roster of the Vikings to back up Johnson in ’97 where he played sparingly that season. It’d be in 1998 we’d see the maturation of a new Randall Cunningham, -the pocket passer.  Randall went out and set career highs, going 13-1,  throwing 34 touchdowns to only 10 picks, and 3704 yards.  While the team was bounced in the playoffs by the Falcons during the championship game, things were looking up for Cunningham, but after a 2-4 start in 1999, he’d be benched in favor of Jeff George. Randall would sign with the Dallas Cowboys and play there for a season in 2000, and then retire after the 2001 season with the Baltimore Ravens.

In the early 90s, I was visiting family up in the Northeast, and as part of the visit, I was allowed to go to one place I had wanted to go. Since my family was unable to go to the NFL HoF, I opted to stop off at the Eagles training camp in West Chester to see if I could get some autographs. With surprisingly good timing and placement in the crowd, I was able to get guys like Fred Barnett and Herschel Walker,- but the true prize was Cunningham. My brother and I waited patiently for Randall, but he started in the line further down from me. My brother quickly got an autograph from him, and shoved mine back in. As Cunningham continued to sign, it appeared that I would be next. As he grabbed my card, I breathed a sigh of relief. He then took one look at my brother and said, “I already signed one for you,” dropped the card and the sharpie on the ground and walked away, refusing to address me. Time heals all wounds, but it was a highly disappointing experience for me in my time as an autograph collector.

Randall has become a Pastor since leaving football and has returned to Las Vegas to preach. I was able to get his autograph on these cards by donating to his congregation, Remnant Ministries. Ironically the Action Packed Rookies 1990 card that I had hoped to get signed was among the cards that he autographed for me through the mail.

G/Gs  161/135   Att 4289    Comp 2429    Yds  29979      Td  207        Int 134      Rat 81.5
Rush 775    Yds  4928    Avg  6.4    Td  35    Lg  52
P 20    Yds  894    Avg   44.7    Lg 91

College Football HoF, Heisman Trophy Winner, NFL

Williams, Ricky “Little Earl”

Card: UT Upper Deck 2011
Acquired: In Person, 1300 The Zone Shady Grove Event
Failure: 2010, C/o The Miami Dolphins
See Also: Ricky Williams (2), Ricky Williams (3), Ricky Williams (4)

I think the crown jewel of UT outside of Earl Campbell is definitely Ricky Williams. I had been torturing myself all week about this one, debating on whether or not I should go after hearing on the radio he was going to appear on the radio at Shady Grove Burgers. About 1 in the morning I woke up and decided that I’d finagle my way into showing up, rearranging work and also borrowing my girlfriend’s car, it would be a stretch, but I somehow in the end I pulled it off after all.  The usual 1300 The Zone suspects were there, and Rod and I had a few chuckles before he went on the air. This time I scared Craig Way (the voice of the Longhorns) with my howling and cheering which they initially said sounded like a pretty woman and then backed off of. Ricky showed up clad in black. He did some interviews and then I probably had one of the weirdest, most existential conversations that I ever had with a player.

I said hello and started talking to him. He immediately asked who I was and then started asking me questions. I told him about how he was an inspiration to me conquering his social anxiety issues, to which he told me, “He didn’t believe in that anymore.” We talked briefly about who he’d retire officially as a member of,  but he hadn’t even though of that. He was quite engaging, and asked me if I was attending his event on Sunday, to which I told him I couldn’t afford the 200.00 price tag. I didn’t have 200.00 to be tossing around like that. I can’t afford it on my hourly wage. He was a bit shocked, but then asked me what I would do if 200.00 dropped out of the sky? I told him I’d want to give it back because I didn’t know who’s money it was. This existential wrangling lasted about another minute before he segued on to talking about his playing career and how he had separated his pectorial muscle and missed a whole season. He rededicated himself to being in the best shape he could and one day Bill Parcells called him into his office and told him that they were tripling his salary for the next season- even though he hadn’t even played a down. He told me that someday 200.00 may just drop out of the sky like that for me, and to think about it. It was an interesting conversation to say the least, but I can see how people get the wrong impression from the enigmatic runningback. Later after the radio show, I plunked down $20.00 to get his autograph for a donation. I was the first in line and he had a big beaming smile and came over and signed the card and took a photo. The flood gates opened really after that. It was a nice event in the end, and I was happy to have met “Little Earl”.
Ricky Williams played for the Texas Longhorns from 1995-1998. The 1998 Heisman Trophy Winner, Ricky holds Texas records for rushing yards in a game (350 yards against Iowa State). He hold the school record for most rushing yards and touchdowns in a season (2,124 yards, 27TD), and in his career as well (6,279yards, 72Tds). His 6,279 rushing yards were an NCAA record at the time in 1998.  Williams earned accolades for the Doak Walker Award (97,98), Jim Brown Trophy (97,98), Consensus All-American (97,98), Collegiate Player of the year 1998, the Maxwell Award 1998,  the Walter Camp Award 1998, and at the time of his graduation he held or shared 20 NCAA Rushing Records.

The Saints, during the 1999 draft thought he was the second coming of Walter Payton. Mike Ditka famously traded away his entire draft to get Ricky Williams with the 5th pick of the draft. Williams despite performing well for New Orleans, couldn’t save the Saints. In 3 seasons with the team he accumulated 3129 yards rushing, 16 touchdowns, and helped them return to the playoffs. His final season in New Orleans, Ricky ran for 1,245 yards and had a career high 60 receptions for 511 yards.

The Saints pulled the trigger after drafting Deuce McAllister, and traded Ricky to the Miami Dolphins for a pair of 1’s in 2002. The Dolphins rode Williams hard in his first season under Dave Wannastedt. He’d lead the league with 383 carries for 1853 yards, finishing with 2216 yards from scrimmage. After another grueling season in 2003 when he led the league with 392 carries and shouldered the load for the offense, Williams out of the blue retired. He also was liberal about his drug usage, and was suspended from the league for marijuana usage. This wrecked the middle part of  his career, however left him with fresh legs entering his 30s. In 2009, Williams returned to old form, (splitting time with Ronnie Brown,) Williams still managed to run for 1121 yards, a svelte 4.7 yard average, and 11 touchdowns.  He’d have his career long reception and rush that year as well, at the age of 32.  Ricky played with the Dolphins through 2010, and one final season in Baltimore.

Ricky retired after the 2011 season, wanting to focus more on his charitable/ philanthropical causes and move into another phase of his life.  His 4 season interlude between 1,000 yard seasons, is the longest in the NFL. Williams did manage in 11 seasons, to rush for over 10k yards, a testament to how many yards he had in his career over the first half of it.  You can visit his website at: www.rickywilliamsfoundation.com.

I made the right decision to get his autograph at the Shady Hollow event. At the University of Texas Burnt Orange and White Scrimmage he refused to sign any autographs. His statue was unveiled across from Earl Campbell’s just outside the stadium.

G/Gs  147/84    Rush 2431   Yds  10009   Avg 4.1  Td 66  Lg 68  |
Rec  342   Yds  2606   Avg  7.6   Td 8   Lg 59

Arena, NFL

Jenkins, Deron

Autograph Memorabilia
Stampede Inaugural Magazine Austin Wranglers
Acquired: Gift 2004

My cousin got me a game program full of autographs back in 2004, that I found recently when digging through some boxes.

Deron Jenkins was a defensive back with vast NFL experience that joined the Austin Wranglers in 2004 after taking 2 years off from football. He’d be inserted right into the starting lineup and record 63.5 tackles and 2 interceptions, returning one for a touchdown. The Wranglers in 2005 decided to overhaul their roster so Jenkins joined the Nashville Katz and had 85 tackles and 4 interceptions. After a short season in 2006 Jenkins would retire.

Originally a 2nd round choice of the Baltimore in 1996 out of Tennessee, Deron started 30 games recording 202 tackles and 2 interceptions for the Ravens over 4 seasons.  With great speed, a smooth backpedal and good man to man fundamentals, the knock on Jenkins was his run support skills and his size at 5’11”, 185.  Still regardless he was a long jump champion coming out of high school and he picked off a dozen passes in 3 years in college. He’d move over to the West Coast in 2000 and play for the Chargers, recording 55 tackles and a pick starting 14 games. As a free agent in 2001, Jenkins would play for the Titans starting 6 games and recording 41 tackles, before joining the Wranglers in 2004.