Tag Archives: chicago bears

CFL, NFL, NFLE

Bellamy, Mike

Cards: Score 1990, Action Packed Rookies 1990, Bowman 1991
Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o Home
Sent: 12/31/19 Received: 4/10/20 (101 days)

A JuCo star in 1987 at DuPage, Mike Bellamy played wide receiver for the Fightin’ Illini from 1988 to 1989. There he’d be one of the primary targets of overall number one pick Jeff George. He’d post 59 catches for 927 yards and 8 touchdowns in 1989, and finish his overall college career with 90 catches for 1,404 yards and 10 TDs. He also flashed skills on special teams as a kick returner. His finest moment came when he caught 10 passes for 189 yards , as the Illini beat the Cavaliers in the 1990 Citrus Bowl.

Mike parlayed his impressive performance and pro day into a second round selection. He’d be drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles, a team notorious for their abuse of their wide receiver corps under head coach Buddy Ryan. Mike had a hard time getting onto the field because of injury, and only saw limited time on the field on punt returns, in a quickly bustling wide receiver corps behind fellow rookies Calvin Williams and Fred Barnett. Only after a season on the Eagles, Mike was released.

From 1992 to 1995 Mike spent time on and off the rosters of the Indianapolis Colts, Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Chicago Bears, and Oakland Raiders. During his stint in the CFL in ’93, Bellamy played slotback for the Blue Bombers, catching 12 passes for 104 yards.

In 1995, Mike joined the Frankfurt Galaxy of the newly reformed World League. He’d have his finest moment since his college days catching 30 passes for 479 yards and 7 TDs. Mike returned to play for the Galaxy again in 1996, adding another 22 catches for 313 yards.

After returning stateside, Mike turned his eye towards coaching. He’s seen positional stops as a receivers coach, quality control coach, relations, and as an assistant coach, with Mississippi State, with his Alma Mater, the Fightin’ Illini, and most recently with the Toledo Rockets. Mike was also honored by the JUCO HOF in 2009.

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AAF, NFL

Woodrum, Josh

Cards: Topps AAF 2019 Certified, Topps AAF 2019
Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o Home
Sent: 9/26 Received: 10/9 (11 days)
Failure: 2019, C/o The Salt Lake City Stallions, C/o The Washington Redskins

Josh Woodrum was quarterback for the Liberty Flames from 2012-2015. He finished his college career going 833/1304 for 10,266 yards with 61 TDs to 30 interceptions. He was one of only two mid-major QBs to be invited to the NFL combine- with the other being Carson Wentz. Although Woodrum did turn some heads, he was not selected in the 2016 NFL Draft.

He’d be a free agent signee of the New York Giants, and then see time on the rosters of the Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears, Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns. Obviously on the radar of a lot of teams but unable to latch onto a roster- Josh signed with the Salt Lake City Stallions of the AAF in 2018.

The AAF then decided that a few teams were stockpiling talent at QB- so in order to fairly distribute the talent they came up with the Protect or Pick QB Draft. The Stallions liked what they had, so they selected Josh with their first pick in the QB Draft (8th overall). Involved in a QB battle with BJ Daniels, Woodrum became the defacto starter after Daniels suffered a season ending injury during the preseason.

Josh started 7 games for the Stallions, and finished with 1,449 yards on 146/227 passing, 6 TDs to 8 interceptions. He finished second in the league, completing 64.3% of his passes, and overall as the 4th highest rated QB with a 76.4 QB Rating.

He joined the Redskins after the AAF folded but did not make the squad. Currently he is a free agent.

Well it took a while for me to find Josh, but after some persistence, I was able to track him down. I sent to him a mere days before the league folded, so I reloaded and tried him with the Redskins, where I failed again. Luckily Mark (Mark’s Signing Bonus) and I worked together to corner the AAF market and he had already gotten him at his home address- so technically the 3rd try was the charm here.

NFL, ufl

Stewart, Kordell ‘Slash’

Cards: Atomic 2001, Atomic 2002
Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o Home
Sent: 11/1 Received: 11/15 (14 days)

A dynamic playmaker everytime he touched the ball, Kordell Stewart was a 3 year starter for the Colorado Buffalos option attack from 1992-1994. A legend for the Buffs, Kordell had 1,725 yards rushing and 15 TDs on 302 carries to pair with 6,481 yards and 33 TDs to 19 picks. Again, as with many gifted black ‘athletic’ quarterbacks of this era- the NFL still did not know what to make of Kordell. They felt his talents were best suited at wide receiver.

He’d be selected in the 3rd round of the 1995 NFL Draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Kordell eventually earned the name ‘slash’ because the Steelers didn’t have a classification for his position so they just used the designation ‘/’ to identify his position, as the Sellers did everything they could to get the ball to him they could, but he spent the majority of his time at receiver his first two seasons.

I’m not sure what the plan was for Kordell, but he quickly became endeared to fans who wanted to see what Slash could do at quarterback. With starter Mike Tomczak struggling in 1997 Kordell got his shot and excited fans with his versatility at throwing the ball or taking off on his fleet feet. Over the next 5 seasons with the Steelers, Kordell led Pittsburgh to two AFC Championship games earning a Pro Bowl nod for his 2001 efforts when he threw for 3,109 yards and 14 TDs, while rushing for 537 yards and 5 TDs.

In 2003 Kordell signed with the Bears, and entered the season as the starting quarterback, but was benched due to ineffectiveness. He’d sign with the Ravens the following year and back up Kyle Boller through the ’05 season and then retire.

Kordell has done guest appearances on TV game shows, commentary work, radio, and sideline reporting (for the UFL). Currently he works for ESPN, and is an avid golfer.

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