Cards: WildCard WLAF 1992, Pinnacle 1991
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent: 3/12/10 Received: 4/25/11 (409 days)
Brad Goebel sets the new standard for the longest wait, clocking in a mere 409 days, hence why I hesitate to cross players off my list when I’ve waited a particularly long time. (I’ve heard of collectors waiting almost 2 years for autographs in some cases.)
Brad Goebel was another great quarterback to come out of Baylor in Waco, Tx. (The other recent quarterback being Houston Oiler Cody Carlson). Brad’s strengths were that he had a quick release, a good arm, and a tremendous amount of focus. The Philadelphia Eagles, under coach Rich Kotite would note his performance at Baylor, where he’d finish first in attempts (790) and completions, (375) and second in school history in career total offense upon graduation in 1990. The Eagles would sign Brad to a free agent contract where he’d compete in camp for a backup job. After a scintilating performance against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the preseason where Brad would lead the Eagles back engineering 2 game winning drives in the 4th quarter, he’d unseat Don McPherson for 3rd string on the Eagles roster. In fact, the buzz around Brad was so strong that fans were suggesting that he should start at quarterback for the Eagles over Randall Cunningham. They wouldn’t have to wait that long as the quarterback of the future plucked from the ranks of free agency would be forced into the lineup in 1991.
A series of bizarre injuries would befall the Eagles quarterback rotation, as starter Randall Cunningham would go down for the season in week 1. Jim McMahon would step in and lead the team but he’d go down to injury too forcing the Eagles to go ahead with Pat Ryan, who forced Philadelphia’s hand with his poor play to start Brad in week 5. The team would narrowly lose against the Saints, and then the next week as well against Tampa Bay before McMahon would return to the lineup. Goebel throughout the remainder of the season would see a bit of garbage time, but would not throw a touchdown.
In 1992, the NFL agreed to allocate 4 players from each team as ‘future stars’ to the WLAF for the season. The Eagles requested to have Brad placed with San Antonio due to its proximity to his home in Cuero, Tx. With Jason Garrett no longer with the franchise, Brad would compete against incumbent quarterback Mike Johnson. He would throw for a touchdown and 408 yards during the season, starting against the Machine, Fire, and Knights before Johnson would return to the starting lineup. At the conclusion of the 1992 WLAF season, Goebel returned to the Eagles.
Caught in a numbers game, the Eagles were not able to provide Brad enough reps in camp, so before the 1992 NFL season even really began, the Eagles quarterback of the future would be traded to the Cleveland Browns for a 7th round choice. Brad would make the roster of the team playing sparingly over the next 3 seasons before retiring after the 1994 season.
Brad since retirement has become a successful real estate developer and rancher back in his hometown of Cuero. He also hosts a football camp in Horseshoe Bay, Tx.
This would be the only WLAF card printed of Brad, and the Pinnacle card was one that I found a few weeks after the 1992 season had concluded. The Pinnacle card is quite a nice layout with copious amounts of space on it. Unfortunately the Wild Card just looks ugly. The large ‘stamp’ and numbers on the side just don’t complement this otherwise very nice looking photo of Brad that well. The back is even more repugnant. Regardless I was glad to get these two signed. Below are his statistics from the WLAF.
G/Gs N/a Att 66 Comp 40 Yds 404 Pct 60.6 Td 1 Int 2 Rat 64.5 |
Rush 6 Yds 18 Avg 3.0 Td 2 Lg 7