Tag Archives: calgary stampeders

CFL, NFL

Alexander, Ray

AW91 ralexanderCard: CFL All World 1991
Acquired:  2014,  Albany Acquisition

Talking about no respect. After making the roster of the Denver Broncos his rookie season, Alexander played in the CFL for the Calgary Stamps in 1985. In 1986 he had a pretty solid year, posting 1,590 yards, on 86 catches, to go along with 10 touchdowns. Feeling like he had a score to settle, Alexander returned to the NFL, where he was signed in 1988 by the Dallas Cowboys. He’d work his way into the starting lineup for the Cowboys in Tom Landry‘s final season. He’d proudly lead the team in receiving making 54 receptions for 788 yards and 6 TDs. With a change in management in 1989, and Jimmy Johnson brought in, Alexander was short on time to impress management. After an injury sidelined him for most of the season, Ray quickly returned to the CFL and the British Columbia Lions in 1990.  He’d post 4 1,000+ yard seasons in 5 years for the team, and then sign with the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1995. Although he was traded back to the Lions before the conclusion of the season, Ray did not see any time on the field, and retired shortly thereafter.

NFL  26/11       Rec  63       Yds 936        Avg 14.9       Td  7       Lg  50
CFL    Rec 511         Yds 8842         Avg  17.3       Td 40      Lg 59

CFL, NFL, University of Texas

McGarity, Wane

utud11 dneilCard: UT Upper Deck 2011
Acquired: 2015, Spoodog Box Break

Wane McGarity really came into his own in his Senior year with Texas when he recorded 58 catches for 1,087 yards and 9 touchdowns for the Longhorns. Originally a runningback, Wane suffered through knee injuries in both his Freshman and Junior years, while converting to wide receiver over his Sophomore season.

He’d be taken by the Dallas Cowboys in the 4th round of the 1999 draft.  Wane saw the majority of his time on Special Teams. His best season in the NFL came in 2000 when he had 30 punt returns for 353 yards and 2 touchdowns.  In addition Wane clocked 25 receptions for 250 yards. He split his 2001 season between the Cowboys and Saints.

He joined the CFL in 2003, playing for the Calgary Stampeders (2003-2004) primarily as a return man- earning All-Star honors. Later, in 2005 he saw limited action with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.

NFL G/Gs 31/2    Rec 39     Yds 363     Avg 9.3     Td 1    Lg 25
Rush  6      Yds  49      Avg 8.2     Td 1     Lg 22
PR 58      Yds 590      Avg 10.2     Td2      Lg 64t

CFL    Rec  131    Yds 1,726    Avg  13.2   Td 11   Lg 51
Rush 12   Yds 48    Avg 4.0    Td 0   Lg 17
KR 52    Yds 1,194   Avg 23.0    Td 0   Lg 53
PR  105   Yds 1,089    Avg 10.4    Td 2   Lg 70t

CFL, WLAF

Alexander, Andre

ultwlaf92 a alexanderCards: Ultimate WLAF 1992, Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Private
Sent: 1/4      Received: 1/25  (21 days)

A Facebook dispatch that actually paid off, I had written Andre sometime last year, but as we all know if you don’t know somebody it gets put in that pesky ‘other’ folder, so I threw out a friend request also to see if it’d catch his eye. Along with a batch of other WLAFers that I had found but had never been able to peg down, I just chalked it up as a loss and moved on. Lo and behold about 3 or 4 months later, he accepted my friend request. It took me a few months, but Andre one day was reminiscing about the past, posting photos of his days in the CFL and Fresno State, so I scanned in the two cards here, and posted them up telling him not to forget his roots. At his request I then put one up of his college teammate Dwight Pickens, and then we started talking. He not only agreed to signed the 2 cards I enclosed, he also got Dwight to sign his as well. As an added bonus, I sent him a few of his cards and other teammates cards from Fresno St to keep.

wcwlaf92 a alexanderAndre had a pretty solid Senior season for the Bulldogs in 1988. While the team had issues at quarterback, the other offensive playmakers were solid. Alexander finished as the #1 receiver on the team that year with 33 receptions for 703 yards and 3 TDs. A long bomb threat, he averaged 21.3 yards per catch. Undrafted, Alexander made the transition over to the CFL where he played for the Calgary Stampeders. The small statured Alexander made 19 receptions for 311 yards and 2 TDs.  Andre decided to join the WLAF and was a perfect fit for the Run N Shoot offense of Mouse Davis and the New York- New Jersey Knights. He hopped right into the starting lineup as the Knights’ punt returner. Alexander returned to the team in 1992 and hauled in 14 receptions for 256 yards and a TD. The WLAF went on hiatus after that year, and Andre returned to NorCal where he lives today.

While people tout the quarterback lineage of Fresno St, which certainly challenges Maryland on a level of college acclaim in that department, its really at receiver that there have been quite a few players that have made the jump to some sort of professional level.  The school became well known as the ‘WLAF connection’ and even had an article in GameDay magazine touting its pipeline. Along with Alexander, Dwight Pickens, Myron Jones, Malcolm Floyd, Kevin Sweeney, Mike Withycombe, and Gene Taylor were all guys who made the puddle jump to the WLAF.

Rec 18   Yds 319    Avg 17.1      Td 1     Lg 43t    |
Kr  1     Yds  21      Avg 21.0       Td 0     Lg 21      |
Pr 20   Yds 143    Avg 7.2         Td 0      Lg  18