Tag Archives: chicago bears

CFL, College Football HoF, Heisman Trophy Winner, NFL, ufl, usfl

Flutie, Doug

Cards: All World CFL 1991, Score 1989
Acquired: TTM 1992, C/o CFL

Doug Flutie is a player who has seemed to have an amazing amount of luck and heart follow him to every stop along the way in football. A heartwarming story, Flutie was considered well undersized to be a quarterback in the NFL after a storied career at Boston College where he threw a hail mary against the University of Miami in 1984 and won the Heisman Trophy that year.

Originally drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the 11th round of the NFL draft, Flutie opted to sign on with the USFL’s New Jersey Generals. In 1986 he signed with the Chicago Bears and then was on board with the Patriots, where got the starting duty in 1988. Unable to keep the starting job he was cut in 1990 where he signed with the British Columbia Lions of the CFL in 1990. The wide open fields of the CFL allowed Flutie to flourish and polish his game. Doug was a quarterback who kept teams honest with his feet and was an avid scrambler. Flutie became the ‘Michael Jordan’ of the CFL, setting the record for yards in a season with 6619 yards, touchdowns with 48, and was named the most outstanding player of the CFL a record 6 times.  Doug won the Grey Cup MVP with the Calgary Stampeders and Toronto Argonauts (twice and back to back). Returning with a vengeance to the NFL in 1998 to the Buffalo Bills, he was named comeback player of the year and took the team to the playoffs and named to the Pro Bowl, but Doug didn’t ever win the respect of management, as he was replaced by de facto starter Rob Johnson, who had returned from a season long injury. The quarterback controversy continued well into 1999, where Doug went 4-1 and Johnson went 4-7. In 2000, Doug was unceremoniously cut by the Bills and signed with the Chargers in 2001, who were reeling from the Ryan Leaf days. He would stay on board to tutor a young Drew Brees when he was drafted in 2002 and played sparingly for the team through 2005. With gas still in the tank, Flutie signed with the New England Patriots in 2005 to back up Tom Brady and retired at the beginning of the 2006 preseason.

Flutie has a variety of age related records to his accomplishment, and was the first player to drop kick an extra point since 1941. Although Doug did not find lasting success in the NFL, he has been enshrined into the CFL HoF, the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame, and the College Football Hall of Fame. He stays active playing basketball, and sponsors his own brand of breakfast cereal “Flutie Flakes” with the proceeds going to charities dealing in autism. Doug also plays drums for his family’s band, the “Flutie Brothers Band”.  Doug is an excellent commentator and also handled  color commentary for the United Football League games.

Games 136    Att 4854       Comp 2975        Pct 61.3         Yds 41355              Td  270         Int 155    Lg 106t

College Football HoF, NFL, Pro Football HoF

Singletary, Mike

Card: Action Packed 1989
Acquired: TTM 1992, C/o The Chicago Bears

An incredible middle linebacker with a nose for the ball, Mike Singletary displayed his abilities early on in high school and later at Baylor recording 30+ tackles in a game on 3 separate occasions. Before he was drafted in the second round of the 1981 draft by the Bears, Singletary set a team record with 662 career tackles, including a mind boggling 232 as a Sophomore at Baylor where he won the Davey O’Brien Award. After being selected, it took him only seven games before he became a near permanent fixture for the Bears over the next 12 years notching 10 straight ProBowl appearances from 1983-1992, Defensive player of the year in 1985 and 1988, and All Pro (first team) from 1983-1989, and 1991.

In 1985 he’d help the defense under Buddy Ryan and Mike Ditka to a victory in Superbowl XX contributing 2 fumble recoveries in the team effort to hold the Patriots to a total of 7 yards rushing.  After retiring in 1992, Singletary bought a car dealership in Montana and slowly worked his way back into the coaching ranks, wrote a book, and coached the San Fransisco 49ers. A hard nosed, ‘no nonsense’ coach, Singletary has been known to do slightly outrageous things to get his players attention and motivate them to win going as far as to moon his players on one occasion.  He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998 and the NFL All 80s team.

I sent off for Mike’s autograph in what was rumored to be his last year. I asked for his autograph on two cards: An Action Packed 1989, and the latter a Pro Set 1991 card for my grandfather who lived in Waco, (where Baylor University was). I got both back in the mail signed and gave the other to my grandfather, who in his haste, pinned the card with a push pin to his cork board. I’d visit him over the next 10 year or so and occasionally see the card on the wall, before my grandfather started suffering from Alzheimers. He put up a good fight even after he was moved to a nursing home but it was hard to deal with him when he had no clue who I was, even when I visited on my birthday. He passed away in 2009. I never saw the card again.

Games  179     Tac  1488     Sac 19     FF 12       Int 7    Yds 44  Avg 6.2   Td 0

NFL, WLAF

Rentie, Caesar

Card: Proset WLAF 1991
Acquired: TTM 1992, C/o New York/ New Jersey Knights

For all of the football junkies out there Caesar Rentie is famous because he was the first player drafted in the WLAF.  Originally a 7th round choice of the Chicago Bears, Rentie played 5 games for the Bears in 1988, and then went Plan B to the Bills and Colts before being taken by the WLAF.  The son of deaf-mute parents, Rentie has faced adversity all his life. Playing for the Knights, Rentie provided valuable protection and excellent run blocking for Eric Wilkerson in 1991. He’d play part of the season for the Knights again in 1992, finishing up the season on the squad of the Birmingham Fire.

After the league restructured in 1992, Caesar felt a higher calling and decided to leave football where he then became an intern in pastoral care at Methodist Mansfield Medical Center and as of this post is affiliated with Arcadia Park UMC in Dallas as a Senior Pastor. I sent off for Caesar’s autograph during the 1992 season to the NY/NJ Knights. I got a fairly quick response and was pleased to get his autograph on his Proset card.