CARD: Wildcard World League 1992 ACQUIRED: EBay, 2023 FAILURE: TTM 2020, C/o Work
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Eddie Brown played WR at Iowa State where he racked up 27 catches for 562 yards and 5 TDs in 22 contests.
Undrafted he’d play in the CFL in 1990 and ’91 as an import player for the Stamps and the Rough Riders.
In 1992 he took his game to the Sacramento Surge of the World League, where he led the league in receiving and set records for yards in a season.
After the Surge won World Bowl II and the World League went on hiatus, Brown went right back to the CFL playing for the Argos that year but not seeing the field.
It was with the Esks that Eddie really found a home and hit his stride, playing with the team from 1993-’95.
He pounded out back to back 1000+ yard seasons, including a career high 1,378 yards and 15 TDs in ’93, and a career high 79 catches in ’94.
As part of the CFLUSA invasion in ’95, he’d split his time with the Memphis Mad Dogs and the Esks that year.
In ’96 he returned to Edmonton for another 2 year stint.
He’d return to form that season with another 70 cathces for 1,325 yards and 7 TDs.
He’d also go down in Grey Cup and CFL lore for making an incredible, juggling catch for a TD in a snow covered stadium during the ’96 contest.
After a small stint with the Alouettes in ’98, Eddie saw a renaissance of sorts playing out on the left coast with BC through ’99.
Downtown took his game to the Arena Football League, playing one year with the Iowa Barnstormers in 2000 catching 11 TDs on 39 receptions.
By the end of the year he was back in the CFL playing for Toronto.
A small hiatus in 2001, led him back to Renegades for his final season in 2002.
Infamously walked off during a game, frustrated with the team’s lack of focus on getting into the playoffs and never looked back.
Has been a positional coach in the Ottawa area for almost 10 years.
ACCOLADES:
All World League 1991
CFL All-Star 1996
CFL West All-Star 1996, ’99
NOTES:
I had been eyeballing this card for a few years on EBay and decided to lowball offer the seller. To my surprise he accepted- and Eddie Brown was soon to be mine. I’m not a big fan of ball point pen autographs but I can’t complain since the last time I sent to him I basically overpaid and flushed Canadian postage down the toilet.
Eddie ‘Downtown’ Brown, is not to be confused with Eddie ‘Touchdown’ Brown- former Arena football star and father to former NFL receiver Antonio Brown. He is also not to be confused with former Bengals WR Eddie ‘Downtown’ Brown either.
CARD: Playoff Contenders 2000 European Ticket ACQUIRED: 2021, Future Considerations
CAREER SNAPSHOT:
Defensive lineman Jonathan Brown played collegially at Tennessee where he helped the Vols win the SEC title in ’97.
In that season he had a career high 13.5 sacks- good for second on the school’s all-time list.
Over his 4 years at Tennessee, Brown notched 27.5 sacks.
Selected in the 3rd round of the 1998 draft by the Green Bay Packers.
Released during roster cuts in ’99, and finished the season on the active roster of the Broncos that year.
Joined the Berlin Thunder in 2000, recording 10 sacks, 30 tackles and 2 forced fumbles.
Played for the St. Louis Rams in 2001.
Returned to the NFLE in 2003, as a selection of the Amsterdam Admirals.
Posted 6.5 sacks and 26 tackles.
Took his game to the Arena Football League playing for the Indiana Firebirds.
In 2004, Jonathan played for the CFL Argonauts, becoming a fixture at DE for the next 6 seasons.
He’d accumulate 50 sacks over his time in Toronto with dual 13 sack seasons in 2005, and 2007.
Retired after a final season in BC with the Lions, adding another 4 sacks to his career CFL number.
ACCOLADES:
NFLE Defensive MVP 2000
All-NFL Europe 2000, ’03
CFL All-Star 2005- ’07
NOTES:
Cool looking card here of Jonathan. The green actually works. He’s also got a great autograph for a big man. He really backdoored into a pretty solid career playing in the CFL there.
James Butler played RB for 3 years at Nevada from 2014-16.
He ran for over 1300 yards and 10 TDs in both 2015 and 2016.
Transferred to Iowa for Senior year in 2017.
Undrafted in 2018, but was a member of the Raiders practice squad.
Signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2019 but was cut at the end of camp.
Returned to Raiders practice squad for the 2019 season but was not resigned.
Joined the XFL Houston Roughnecks Run N Shoot attack for the 2020 season.
Was a spark at RB for the Roughnecks, both on the ground and as a receiving threat.
Carried the ball 46 times for 221 yards (4 TDs) to go along with 11 catches for 42 yards and a TD
After scoring a TD in a home game against the St Louis Battlehawks, jumped into crowd creating a celebration dubbed, “The Houston Hop”.
COVID ended the XFL 2020, but James rejoined the CFL- with the BC Lions.
Rushed for 497 yards on 101 carries (2 TDs) and caught 39 passes for 243 yards and a TD in 2021.
Had first 1,000 yard effort in 2022 rushing for 1060 yards on 210 carries while also catching 53 passes for 384 yards for the Lions.
NOTES:
Well I had season tickets to the Roughnecks and of 3 games that they were able to play I was able to attend 2 of them before COVID knocked the league out. I went with my friend Kevin to the game, and with our endzone seats, I was able to engineer a guest star on James Butler’s Houston Hop, as I muscled my way in at the end of the highlight film. Look at that Legends jersey! Long live the AAF!
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
