Tag Archives: cincinnati bengals

NFL

Williams, Darryl “Hitman”

Cards: GameDay 1992, Action Packed Rookies 1992, StarPics 1992
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o  Home
Sent: 8/26    Received:  9/3  (7 days)

The Miami Hurricanes free safety and head hunter Darryl Williams helped the team win the National Championship in 1989 and 1991. Quick, fast, and fluid, Williams was a great athlete who showed the willingness to apply the hit as well as sit in zone to make the pick. A team leader out of the gate, Darryl had great instincts and reacted well to plays. The knock on him was his lack of size (6’0″, 193) and experience at the position (only a 2 year starter). He’d finish as the Hurricanes 4th all-time leading tackler with 173 total tackles, and 8 picks for 150 yards, 2 td, and 4 fumble recoveries. An All American in college recording 84 stops and 3 picks in 1991, Williams would declare early and be drafted by the Bengals in a draft day swap with the Washington Redskins during the first round (#28) of the 1992 draft.  It’d be the first time the Bengals would draft a safety in the first round of the NFL draft, underscoring their attempts to keep up with the pass happy Oilers in the AFC Central arms race.

Williams rookie season was a strong performance in 1992, with 4 picks, 2 sacks and 78 tackles starting 12 games that season.  It’d be in 1993 that he’d start the oddest of streaks: the NFL record for most consecutive starts by a free safety, a record he still holds to this day with 108 games. During that season Hitman made an interception that he’d return 97 yards in a 24-16 loss to the Steelers.  Darryl would also wreck havoc in the secondary recording a career high 126 tackles. He’d also notch a safety in 1995 before heading west to play for the Seattle Seahawks.

It’d be in 1996 that Williams put together a masterful season with 5 picks for 148 yards and a touchdown. Williams would earn his only Pro Bowl nod and AP nomination in the following season in 1997, where he led the league with 8 interceptions for 172 yards and a touchdown.  Although he had a down year in 1998 with 3 picks, and his streak of starts would end in 1999, he’d prove that indeed you can return home, resigning with the Bengals in 2000.  Hitman would play with the squad through 2001, recording a career high 3.5 sacks in his final season.

I quit collecting cards pretty much en masse after 1992. GameDay, Action Packed and Star Pics, were the last brands I really liked at that point, but by 1993 everybody had left the style that defined themselves behind, (ProSet and Score,) were out of business, (StarPics,) or were concentrating on premium branding (Fleer) that I just didn’t care about.  I sent off for Darryl at the end of August and got a very quick reply in a week. Oddly there was no post mark from where he sent it to me from on the envelope that had taken some water damage, but thankfully the cards were unharmed. He signed the 3 cards I requested, plus the additional card I asked him to keep. A nice return from the Cincinnati Hitman.

G/Gs 156/137     Tac 715       Sac 9.5       Fum 15       Int 31       Yds 691        Avg 22.3       Td   4     Lg  97t

 

Heisman Trophy Winner, NFL

Palmer, Carson

Cards:  Upper Deck 2009 SR
Acquired:  TTM 2011, C/o home
Sent:  9/2  Received: 9/10  (8 days)
Failure: TTM 2011, C/o The Cincinnati Bengals

Gotta hand it to Upper Deck on this release.  Rarely am I interested in buying new cards- especially at today’s prices, but these College To Pro’s inserts… (questionably with an apostrophe between the O and the S,)  were a really nice subset inside their UD Star Rookies offering.  A prime example is this really nice Carson Palmer insert that I was just blown away by.  I thought it would look great autographed. I sent off to the Bengals after I heard that there were a few trickle down successes coming across- but unexpectedly Carson ‘retired’ from the team. My letter was RTSed, but on the outside somebody kindly wrote his new address that I quickly sent back out to.

Carson Palmer had a very good career at USC leading the Trojans to an Orange Bowl victory and also claiming the Heisman Trophy in 2002. After graduating from the school, the hard luck Bengals were looking for a new blood at the position and made him the first overall selection of the 2003 draft. As opposed to previous first round selections, David Klingler and Akili Smith, Palmer would spend his entire rookie season sitting on the bench.

In 2004 he officially took over the starting reins at quarterback for the franchise throwing for 18 touchdowns and 18 interceptions and a 77.3 quarterback rating. He’d deliver for the franchise in 2005 leading them to a division title and a playoff run for the first time in some 15 seasons of futility with a career season posting a 101.1 quarterback rating and leading the league with 32 touchdowns.

Unfortunately he would be injured in the playoffs and the team would lose against the Steelers. After an amazing rehabilitation, Palmer was back on the field in 2006 without missing a regular season contest.  He would win ProBowl honors at the end of the season and throw for over 4,000 yards. After another 4,000 yard season in 2007, he’d be shelved a good portion of 2008 with torn tendons in his throwing arm. Carson would answer the call again leading the team to the playoffs in 2009, but as the team slumped to a 4-12 record in 2010, Palmer demanded to be traded.

Unable or unwilling to make his demands, management decided to put him on the reserve/ did not report list.

G/Gs  97/97   Att  3217   Comp 2024   Yds  22694      Pct 62.9        Td 144        Int 110        Rat  86.9

12-18-11 UPDATE: Shortly before the 2012 trade deadline, the Oakland Raiders were looking to make a move and paid a lion’s share to get a hold of Palmer from the Bengals, where he is now the starting quarterback of the team.

NFL

Carroll, Wesley

Cards: Score 1991, Star Pics 1991, Action Packed Rookies 1991, Topps 1992, ProSet 1991.
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home.
Sent: 7/19   Received: 7/25  (6 days)

Wesely had apparently fallen behind on his TTM autographing. As from what I had researched he had not been signing anything in roughly a year, when all of  a sudden sports collectors.net started registering some hits that got progressively smaller in date range. I went ahead and took a stab at Wesely, partially because he was on my list for Action Packed Rookies to get signed, and also because he was a member of the Miami-FL team that handed the University of Texas one of its most embarrassing bowl losses. I sent him 3 cards to sign, and 2 additional cards to keep. He ended up signing all of them and returning them in a scant 6 days.

A fifth year player, Carroll played 3 years at Mississippi Junior College before transferring to UM in 1989. A fine all around athlete with good size, Wesely made a good slot receiver due to his willingness to block and also fearlessness over the middle. In his senior season at Miami he registered 952 yards and 6 touchdowns on 61 receptions. At the time of his departure from the college he ranked second all time with 114 catches.

The Saints would make Carroll their second round choice in the 1991 draft and he’d be one of 11 from Miami taken that year. A modest rookie season would leave Carroll with 18 receptions and a touchdown in 12 games in 1991. He’d follow that up with 5 starts in 1992, grabbing another 18 balls for 292 yards including a 72 yard bomb for a TD. This would be statistically his best season. In 1993 Carroll would sign with the Bengals via free agency adding 8 more catches to his resume,- but racked up a heavy injury bill over his short playing time and retired before the 1994 season.
Further investigation reveals a workers compensation claim that Carroll won against the Saints and Bengals for his injuries in 2010 that covered industrial injuries to his cervical spine, lumbar spine, left upper extremity, both knees, left lower extremity, left thumb, and hypertension, causing 46% disability and need for further treatment. It is with this, that I hope that Wesley is enjoying as restful a retirement as physically possible.

G/Gs  40/5    Rec 42     Yds  557       Avg  13.3     Td 3      Lg 72t