Tag Archives: cleveland gladiators

NFL

Dixon, Hanford “Top Dawg”

pset89 hdixonCard: ProSet 1989
Acquired: 2014, Trade

Hanford Dixon was a dominating defensive back who played his entire 9 season career with the Cleveland Browns from 1981-1989.  A 3 time Pro Bowl pick, Hanford slid in at right cornerback and was later paired with Frank Minnefield after the USFL folded. One of the greatest physical man to man players of his generation, Dixon and Minnefield gave the Oilers wide receivers fits -barking all the way. Hanford was the originator of the ‘Dawg Pound’ name given to the Browns rowdy end zone fans. He thought that the Browns defenders were like dogs and the opposing offenses were cats they were chasing all day.

Teams were aware of the ballhawking Dixon and threw the other direction. He intercepted 26 passes over his career with the Browns. In 1990, the Browns left Dixon unprotected via Plan B and signed respectable Patriot Raymond Clayborn to replace him. With the writing on the wall Hanford signed with the San Fransisco 49ers in 1990, but tore a quadriceps muscle during the preseason. He opted to retire.

Dixon is immortalized as a member of the Browns in Nintendo’s Tecmo Bowl, where they shoved the star corner in at safety.  They did get Hanford right however and made him one of the most dominant players in the game. Hanford continues to live in the Cleveland area where he’s a fan favorite.  He did some coaching for the LFL Cleveland Crush,  and also color and analyst work for gridiron and Arena football games in Ohio.

Last year I took a few extra autographs I had sitting around and sent them out as gifts to friends who had helped me along the way TTM. Among them was Deadhorse, who located a few players I had been looking for. He quit sportscollectors.net cold and from what I could tell was out of the business. He went to an IP signing earlier this year in Ohio and got this extra card signed for me, sending it out of the blue.

G/Gs 131/128         Tac   n/a       Sac  2.0      Fum 2
Int 26       Yds  225         Avg 8.6         Td  0         Lg  37

Arena, CFL, NFL, NFLE

Johnson, Lee

tntafl14 lee johnsonCard: TNT AFL 2014
Acquired: IP 5/17/14, San Antonio Talons vs. New Orleans Voodoo

Coach Johnson is a veteran of many leagues as both a player and a coach. He’s spent time in the NFL, CFL, NFLE, and AFL. Among his highlights, Johnson coached the defensive line of the Berlin Thunder to two consecutive World Bowl Championships in both 2001 and 2002. He then coached the Denver Crush to the Arena Football Championship in 2004. After taking the reins of the Talons, he coached them to a 14-4 record and a division title, in 2012.

After the San Antonio Talons game against the Iowa Barnstormers I gave out my custom cards to many players on the field. It created such a stir that Coach Johnson came over and asked me where his was. After I joked with him a few seconds about sharing the same first name, he quickly extracted a promise from me to make a custom for him as well.

I arrived at the Talons game versus the Voodoo early as usual. After talking to the COO of the Talons and giving him a copy of the set, he went over to Lee to show him what I had done. Coach immediately came over and talked to me with a broad smile, signed the card and thanked me for the extras. He asked me what I wanted for the cards I made and gave to him, but as usual the most important thing for me is the autograph gracing the card for my own collection, and their enduring happiness and willingness to chase their dreams. You know, on that note, I have always subscribed to the ultimate belief that a true gift is one that is not expected, and for purposes of what I had given to each of these players I know it meant a lot to them.

 

Arena

Jones, Dominic

tntafl14 djonesCard: Top Notch Arena 2014
Acquired: Future Considerations, 2014

Dominic Jones played two seasons at the University of Minnesota before transferring to Otterbein University in 2010. He had 137 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and two interceptions as a Golden Gopher. He made an immediate impact at Otterbein where he was First-Team All-OAC, All-Region and All-America in his only season there.
A dangerous return man and defensive back, Dominic earned Second Team All-Arena Honors as a kick returner after setting a single season franchise record with 1,795 yards in 2013 for the Predators. He also collected 91.5 tackles and two interceptions. Rejoining the Gladiators in 2014 Dominic had a career high 4 interceptions and 27 pass breakups as he helped platoon Cleveland’s secondary.

Dominic along with a few other Gladiators were nice enough to sign a few cards for me this season through a contact of mine up in Cleveland who went to one of their playoff games. Jones liked the card so much he posted it to Twitter.