Tag Archives: college football HoF

NFL

Cecil, Chuck

Card: Topps Stadium Club 1992
Acquired: In Person, Houston Oilers Training Camp 1995

Hard hitting Cecil came from the Cardinals to replace former defensive back Bo Orlando in 1995, and played for the Oilers for one season. He retired due to numerous concussions. After a few years away from the NFL as a color commentator at the college level, Cecil returned to the league as an assistant with the Tennessee Titans for Jeff Fisher.

In 2009, he took over for popular defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz,  while Chuck had to deal with man-mountain Albert Haynesworth jumping ship to Washington. The had a difficult year defensively as the Titans suffered a 59-0 shellacking to the New England Patriots.  Cecil later was fined $40k for being caught on camera giving the middle finger to the referees during a contested game against the Denver Broncos in 2010.

In his career, Cecil made one ProBowl while with the Packers and was a favorite of the All Madden Team. He was also recognizable for his oversized ‘Gazoo’ helmet he wore to protect against further concussions. Despite his reputation as a hard hitting free safety, Chuck did more damage to himself, sustaining bloody noses and concussions on a regular basis, all for forcing 1 fumble in 445 tackles. A 2009 College Football Hall of Fame inductee, Chuck’s 100 yard interception return was voted the greatest Wildcat play of all time.

G/Gs  95/61    Tac 445  Sac  0  FF  1
Int 16  Yds 235   Td  1  Lg 33

College Football HoF, NFL

Marinaro, Ed

Card: Topps 1976
Acquired: In person, CGA Youth Golf Tournament 1993

Dick Anderson, Ed Marinaro, and Steve Spurrier (now that’s a group) were making the early rounds on the links at Barton Creek Country Club that morning when I found them. I was not really familiar with Ed as an actor, rather his playing career at Cornell and being a runner up to Pat Sullivan in 1971 as a Heisman Trophy candidate. A workhorse at the college level Ed still holds the NCAA records for most rushes per game in a season at an astonishing 39.6, and for a career at 34.  Drafted in the second round by the Minnesota Vikings as a fullback, he’d play the majority of his career for the Vikings from 1972-1975 and then one season a piece for the Jets (1976) and Seahawks (1977) before retiring. During Ed’s career he’d appear in Superbowl’s VIII and IX for the Vikings, and was inducted into the College Hall of Fame in 1991.

Since retiring Marinaro has gone into acting, playing in a variety of television roles including  “Laverne & Shirley” as Sonny St. Jacques, “Hill Street Blues” as Joe Coffey, and Mitch Margolis in “Sisters”. He also has been in quite a few movies as well, but most recently in 2010 was cast in the TV series “Blue Mountain State” as Coach Daniels on Spike TV seen in this clip below.

http://www.spike.com/video/coachs-corner-week-3/3469445

Games 58     Att 383   Yds  1319     Avg 3.4     Td 6     Lg 27
Rec 146    Yds 1176     Avg 8.1     Td 7      Lg 35

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