Tag Archives: cleveland browns

NFL, usfl

McNeil, Gerald “Icecube”(2)

Cards: ProSet 1989, ProSet 1990, Score 1991
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o The Cleveland Browns
Sent: 10/6  Received: 11/17  (40 days)
See Also: Gerald McNeil

Gerald McNeil was one of my favorite players as a kid, as I had vivid memories of seeing him play for the Browns, so when the Oilers signed him I was really excited to see what he could do. While those twilight years weren’t as successful as the time he had with the Browns and Gamblers, it was unfortunate that in his final year with the Oilers he suffered a quadriceps injury that ended his career. During his heyday he was one of the most dangerous returners of that age ala the same diminutive size but shifty speed as Lionel James. Gerald’s nickname apparently came about from William “The Refrigerator” Perry. One of McNeil’s teammates remarked that Gerald was so small that he could fit inside The Refrigerator, – and along with his penchant for escaping tackles and scoring touchdowns, the nickname stuck.

I had been after Gerald for quite sometime, and finally was able to find him via… SotL.com. (Notice a recurring theme here yet?) After geeking out for a while, I exchanged some communication with him, where he told me the best way to get an autograph was sending it via the Browns who he acts as an ambassador for (along with the Texans). I zipped out a few cards and after about 40 days, I finally got my hands on the slippery Ice Cube again and completed out the collection of cards that I owned of him- sans the nasty Topps cards of that era.

NFL

Grayson Jr., David

Cards:  Topps 1990, Pro Set Platinum 1991
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Work
Sent:  10/7   Received: 10/27 (20 days)

I was combing through my boxes late one night looking for a player when I stumbled upon Dave’s card and for some reason it stuck in my mind. Recently I’ve been enamored with the football site “School of the Legends” (which reminds me of a slick Facebook for football fans). It has allowed me to connect with many memorable football players I remember from when I was a kid and also follow players who cover the teams. When I logged back in I saw Dave’s card up on the site on his new profile, -so I know when a sign slaps me in the face. After posting on his profile basically what I just explained, we had a good laugh and then he flat out offered me his autograph on a card or two. Another fan, who unabashedly asks mechanically for every player’s autograph admitted that he didn’t have  a card, so I included an extra for Dave to sign for him.

Dave Grayson is a great story. After playing for Cal-Poly Ponoma, Dave transferred to Fresno State where he’d come in and play great defense for the team at linebacker. Drafted by the 49ers in 1987 with the 217th pick, Dave would not make the roster but would capitalize off of the 1987 players’ strike and like fellow alumni Eddie Anderson (Raiders), and Eugene Seale (Oilers) would somehow find a way to stick on the roster of the Browns after the strike ended.

After an abbreviated 1987, Grayson would have a career high 5 sacks in 1988 and score on a 17 yard fumble recovery.  In 1989 during a 51-0 drubbing of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dave would make an interception that he’d return 14 yards for a touchdown on quarterback Bubby Brister. He’d make 2 picks that season and chip in 2 more fumble recoveries, and another of which he’d return for 6. It’d be a short 1991 for Dave, after he signed with San Diego via Plan B, he’d retire after the season.

Grayson throughout his career at 6-2, 230 was a speedy missile and the fastest linebacker in Cleveland’s corps. He also had a knack for finding the endzone, scoring 3 touchdowns with 2 on fumble recoveries and one on an interception.  Below are his career statistics:

G/Gs 54/37      Sac 8.0       Tac n/a         Fum 4         Int 3      Yds 28        Avg 9.1      Td 1    lg 14

NFL

White, Lorenzo (2)

Cards: Stadium Club 1992, Playoff 1993
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent: 6/28/10  Received: 8/1/11 (403 days)
Previous Post: Lorenzo White

Well you can’t look a gift horse in the mouth. I waited a bit over a year to hear a response from Lorenzo White from the Houston Oilers and Cleveland Browns before putting his post up finally giving up in late July. Nothing is so nice as to get an autograph TTM after you’ve truly given up on getting it back, so almost like clockwork postmarked on July 29th Lorenzo White signed 2 of 3 cards, (minus his awesome ProSet 1990 card) from Fort Lauderdale, Florida where he’s now a high school football coach.  I was happy and surprised to get this one back.

So as discussed previously, Topps was really stepping up their quality with their Stadium Club entry. It was so different than their starter base set, that it really helped them weather the trading card storm yet to come. Playoff was also a late entry to the market, with the cards made of an extremely light metal. The scan here does the expensive card no justice, but the quality and reflective shine really added to the quality of the brand. Combined with its minimal design, Playoff made a nice splash into the market and remains one of the survivors today- but have since abandoned the metal foil look on their cards.

As you can tell when comparing this to the other cards in this library, these are definitely autographed while the others are stamped.  Lorenzo is considered the greatest runningback in Michigan State history. He currently coaches high school football in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, He also has a son, Lorenzo White Jr. who is currently a defensive back at Central Michigan.

Here’s a highlight of Lorenzo at MSU:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RkC6l_6lmY&feature=related

 An interview with Lorenzo:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLBz7Fp3S4Q