Tag Archives: buffalo bills

NFL

Seymour, Kevon

Card: Panini Contenders 2016
Acquired:  2016, Box Breaker

Although injuries slowed down his Senior campaign, Kevon Seymour distinguished himself enough to be recognized by scouts as a reputable defensive back. Outside of his special teams contributions, Seymour had 126 tackles, three interceptions,19 deflections, and one fumble recovery in 24 games. After he was selected in the 6th round of the 2016 draft, he made the roster of the Buffalo Bills, thanks in part to a strong preseason performance. With 3 starts and 15 games under his belt, Seymour had 14 tackles, 8 special teams tackles, and 3 pass deflections his rookie year. Losing out for the nickle back position in camp in 2017, Kevon was among a flurry of last minute trades executed by teams making final cutdowns. He’d be traded straight up by the Bills to the Panthers for Kaelin Clay and a 2019 7th round pick.

NFL

Bell, Greg

Cards: Action Packed Rookies 1990, Score 1990 Ground Force
Acquired: 2017, Paid Signing
Failure: 2010, C/o Home

Greg Bell is one of these pros that got no respect. He flew under the radar at Notre Dame, posting 158 career carries, 870 yards and 10 TDs. His stats were diminished due to a broken leg in his junior year and a sprained ankle in his senior campaign. He’d be selected in the first round of the 1984 draft by the Buffalo Bills. The Bills were reeling from the loss of All-Pro back Joe Cribbs to the USFL Birmingham Stallions.  They ran a ground pound offense that was very much dependent on a solid backfield.  Greg’s rookie season was that solid effort the Bills were looking for. He had 262 carries for 1100 yards -on the dot- 7 TDs and an NFL long 85 yard jaunt. He also displayed solid hands catching 34 passes for 277 yards and a TD. He’d earn his one and only Pro Bowl appearance after the season.

In 1985 things got awkward, as Joe Cribbs returned to the Bills. Greg split time at RB and FB for Buffalo, but with Cribbs return, it ate into Bell’s numbers. Still Greg set a career high with 58 receptions for 576 yards, to go along with a bit over 880 yards and 8 TDs rushing. After a poor showing in 1986, Greg found himself as an integral part of NFL history.

In 1987, Eric Dickerson was having a nasty holdout with the Los Angeles Rams- a notoriously cheap franchise at the time.  The Rams pulled a colossal trigger with both the Indianapolis Colts AND the Buffalo Bills. The Rams received a bevy of draft choices from both teams and running backs Owen Gill (IND)  and Greg Bell.  The Colts got Dickerson, and the Bills got Cornelius Bennett. Before the Herschel Walker trade, this was considered the largest blockbuster trade of all time.

Greg saw very little time in the lineup during 1987. It’d be in 1988 that he’d really shine. Under the Ernie Zampese Rams offense and coach John Robinson, the Rams were a threat not only to throw the ball with Jim Everett, but to run it as well with Greg. Bell had his best season as a pro in ’88, racking up 1212 yards on 288 carries, he’d also lead the NFL in rushing TDs with 16.  He’d follow up his stellar 88 season with much the same in 1989 with 272 carries for 1137 yards and a league leading 15 TD rushing. – All this from the guy who was considered a ‘toss in’ on the Eric Dickerson trade. The problem is Greg didn’t apparently really earn too many friends in the Rams organization. Bell was just different…  He was also what was termed as a ‘sidewinding runner’ which could also have contributed to the 13 fumbles he had in 2 seasons in LA.

Greg wanted to renegotiate his contract with the Rams in 1990. The notoriously stingy Rams felt otherwise, especially after just signing him to a new deal last year. With seemingly solid runningback depth at the time, and gambling on the health of former Seahawk Curt Warner, LA jettisoned Greg for a 4th round pick to the LA Raiders. There he just… disappeared. True. The Raiders were stacked at runningback with Marcus Allen and  (later in the year after baseball commitments,) Bo Jackson, but Bell had no media impact whatsoever. I remember looking at his Action Packed Rookies card and just being so upset he was a Raider.  He was active for just 6 games in 1990 rushing for just 164 yards on 47 carries and scoring just 1 TD. He’d battle for an injury settlement as a final roster cut and retire in 1991.

Greg has had a lot of time to reflect on his playing days. He enjoys being a dad and has his own radio show.

Well Greg Bell was turning into quite the white whale for me. When I mailed out to him in 2010, I was excited for the chance to get his autograph. Instead I got my return envelope back with my cards unsigned. While that was disappointing, I had hoped for another shot to get him on these two cards. Months turned to years, and I waited patiently for a paid signing. Finally almost 8 years after I failed, I found a paid signing through Sportscollectors.net.

G/GS 80/67     RUSH 1204     YDS 4959    AVG 4.1    TD 51   LG 85T
REC 157    YDS 1307    AVG 8.3    TD 7      LG 49

NFL

Yates, TJ (2)

Cards:  Sage HIT 2011, Sage 2011 Duo Autograph, Playoff 2011, Sage 2011
Acquired: 2017, EBay
See Also: TJ Yates

Reliable Matt Schaub took the majority of the snaps in 2012, with the Texans posting a 12-4 record, losing in the playoffs during the Divisional Round to the Patriots. TJ Yates rode the bench as the primary backup to Matt, and just threw 10 passes that year.

Things were business as usual riding into 2013, but after winning their first two games, the wheels just fell off the Texans wagon, primarily due to quarterback play. Teams either figured Schaub out, or his lins franc injury was worse than anybody thought.  The Texans cycled through Schaub to Yates and then finally to Case Keenum. TJ saw action in 3 games going 15 of 22 for 113 yards and 2 interceptions.  It was a surprising fall for the once mighty team as the Texans slumped to 2-14. After the season ended, the team cleared house releasing Gary Kubiak‘s coaching staff and hiring Bill O’Brien in his place for 2014.

With BO’B the Texans opted to go with a ‘multiple’ offensive set. While the team liked Yates, they traded him to the Atlanta Falcons for LB Akeem Dent. He’d get a little playing time in behind Matt Ryan going 3 of 4 for 64 yards and an interception, but be on the street the following season. That’s when fate intervened again.

It was October and the phone rang. On the other end of the line was a familiar voice. It was Rick Smith, GM of the Texans, and he wanted TJ Yates to come back to play QB for the Texans again.  You see, the Texans were just passing the buck on their quarterback issues. After trading veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick to the Jets, Brian Hoyer was the man of the hour in 2015. Backing him up was screwball Ryan Mallett.  The problem was, Hoyer was oft injured, and they already knew what a basket case they had in Mallett, so the Texans needed to shore up their QB play badly.

The Texans in the meantime were middling. Going into the bye week they were 3-5, and facing a familiar opponent in Week 10: The Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals were undefeated going into the Sunday night game, and all the ESPN ‘gurus’ selected them to win, so for the Texans to pull this one off, they’d need divine intervention or… TJ Yates.

True to form Hoyer got a concussion during the contest. TJ Yates trotted onto the field with 3 weeks study under his belt, shook off the rust like it was December 11th, 2010 all over again, and led the Texans to victory.  He’d throw a TD strike in the 4th quarter to DeAndre Hopkins to seal the win 10-6.  After the game, players gushed about Yates. Ironman left tackle Duane Brown said to Yates, “Let your legend grow,” and JJ Watt quipped that, “Everytime we play in this stadium we should have TJ start.”  TJ turned things around for the Texans winning the next game against the Jets, but during his 3rd game against the Colts, tore his ACL scrambling out of the pocket. His season was over.  Yates finished 28/57 for 370 yards, with 3 TDs to 1 pick.

In 2016, TJ signed with the Miami Dolphins suiting up for 6 games, but did not see any playing time. He continued his mercenary QB for hire act, and signed with the Buffalo Bills, where he was expected to vie for playing time behind starter Tyrod Taylor competing against rookie Nathan Peterman for 2017. He’d be cut with an injury settlement, but as fate would have it, TJ had another stint in him- with the Houston Texans.

The wheels fell off the Texans bandwagon early. Tom Savage, while solid in relief of Brock Osweiler, turned out not to be the answer in 2017. It was rookie QB Deshaun Watson who lit the league on fire, but a freak ACL tear in practice ended his season around the mid-point. The Texans signed Yates to back up Savage.  – It was shades of 2013 all over again…

After Tom Savage suffered a brutal hit during the San Fransisco game that gave him a concussion, TJ was forced into service again. Although he did not lead the team to a win, he threw 2 TDs during the contest.  TJ started the remainder of the season for the Texans, but there was no magic bullet this time for the team, as injuries had destroyed any hope for the team making a comeback some time ago.