Tag Archives: Denver Broncos

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Pringle, Mike

Cards: Wild Card WLAF 1992, Pacific CFL 2003.
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home.
Sent: 6/19/2010  Received: 7/25/2011 (409 days)

Super happy about this return today that I never thought I’d ever get back. It tied the record for my longest current wait -at 409 days! He was kind enough to also include a CFL card to go along with his WLAF card as an added bonus and inscribed them with his HOF year.  Hall of Fame you say? You’ve never heard of Mike Pringle? Mike Pringle may not ring any bells to any NFL fan, but to a CFL fan, he’s the greatest runningback in gridiron history.  

Mike Pringle was a dominant runningback in college playing in the shadow of USC and UCLA while at Cal State Fullerton. During his career there, the prolific back would tie the NCAA record for most yards rushing in a game at 357 (with Reuben Mayes), following that up with a 269 yard rushing effort the next week. The two game total of 626 yards, was an NCAA record. The do it all runningback would lead the NCAA with a titanic 2659 yards from scrimmage that season.

In 1990, Mike would be drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the 6th round of the NFL draft. At 5’8″, 186, the team hoped to utilize him as both a receiver and runningback in their Red Gun offense under Jerry Glanville, but Pringle would be remanded to the practice squad his rookie season. He’d return to the team in 1991, but not make the final squad cut at training camp becoming along with Brett Favre, another record breaking offensive player let go by Jerry Glanville.

Pringle would be signed by the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL, but after 3 respectable games, he’d be inexplicably cut. Mike then suited up for the Sacramento Surge in 1992, winning World Bowl II with the franchise. He’d lead the team on the ground posting a respectable 507 yards and 6 touchdowns, ranking 4th in the league in yards, and second in attempts (152). In addition Pringle would chock in 6 receptions. The WLAF would reorganize after the season with the Sacramento Surge being the only survivor from the league that took to the field in 1993.  They would join the CFL ironically and Sacramento would be rebranded as the Goldminers. After a subpar season where he subbed in for Mike Oliphant and acted as a third down back, Pringle would be traded to the Baltimore Stallions in 1994. Pringle would take the reins of the starting runningback job after week 2, and never looked back. The rest later became history.  Pringle set CFL marks with 1972 yards rushing in a season. He’d also return kicks for the team as well, finishing with exhaustively over 2700 yards from scrimmage on the ground.  Pringle in 1995 followed his massive 1994 season up with a 1791 yards rushing- an incredible 2 year run. Mike also averaged a gaudy 6.4 yards a carry in 1994, and a 5.8 yard average in 1995. At the conclusion of the 1995 season, the Stallions would win the Grey Cup.  He’d do a short stint with the Broncos after the season, but be cut in training camp.

In 1996 he’d rejoin Baltimore, which had relocated to Montreal to become the Alouettes. Playing only part time in 1996, he’d return to form in 1997 rushing for 1775 yards for Montreal. Pringle’s 1998 stands among the upper echelon of gridiron football, as he shattered the 2k barrier running for 2065 yards and left his mark on the record book. He’d continue to run for incredible numbers over the next few seasons in Montreal, leaving the team in 2003. Mike did not disappoint playing for the Eskimos. He’d continue to bang out 1000 yard seasons, and in 2004 took the CFL rushing record by storm. At the end of the season, Mike retired and then signed an honorary one day contract with Montreal to retire with them. By the end of his career, Pringle finished his career with a record 16425 yards rushing, 20254 TYAC, and tied for the CFL record of 137 career touchdowns.

Since retirement Mike has been inducted into the CFL HoF in 2008 and had his number retired by the Alouettes. A 7 time Canadian All star and 2 time CFL MVP,  Mike to me is probably considered probably the greatest WLAF success story. Below are his CFL statistics:

Rush 2962    Yds  16425   Avg  5.6     Td  125    |      Rec 396   Yds 3793   Avg 9.5    Td 11
Kr 138   Yds 2954   Avg  21.4  Td 0

 

NFL

Bush, Frank

Card: Topps 1985
Acquired: 2009, Texans Blitz

Linebacker Frank Bush was a 5th round choice of the Oilers in 1985. He played admirably in his rookie season and was named to numerous all-rookie teams. Unfortunately in 1986 Bush would be diagnosed with a narrow spinal canal- a career ending prognosis. The Oilers would immediately bring him onboard with their coaching staff starting as a scout where he’d stay on board through 1994. In 1995 he moved to the Denver Broncos- winning two Super Bowl rings serving in a variety of capacities for the team including linebackers coach, and secondary coach. Bush would stay there through 2003, leaving to coach linebackers and be assistant coach to Dennis Green in Arizona. The Texans new coach in 2005, Gary Kubiak wanted to bring Bush on board as his defensive coordinator, but was unable to wrest him from the Cardinals staff. Bush would be hired by the Texans in 2007 and serve initially as a defensive assistant under Richard Smith. With Smith relieved of his coaching duties in 2008, Frank would get his chance at defensive coordinator. That season the team would blitz aggressively and the defensive unit would improve steadily through the season against the run and pass after an incredibly rough start. 2010 would not be so fortunate. Starting an extremely young secondary the team would give up 24 points in 14 of 16 games, allowing opposing quarterbacks post over a 100 average QB rating. The team would finish a disappointing 6-10 and Bush would be relieved of his job. He wouldn’t be out of a job long and caught on quickly with the Tennessee Titans where in 2011 he is now serving as their linebackers coach.

NFL

Millen, Hugh

Cards: GameDay 1992, ProSet 1991
Acquired: TTM 1992, Patriots Blitz, In Person 1993, Dallas Cowboys Training Camp

Hugh was a veteran journeyman whose best years as a quarterback came playing for the New England Patriots for Dick MacPherson during the early 90s. Millen was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams out of Washington in the 3rd round of the 1986 draft. After breaking his ankle in training camp he became an unlucky casualty of the Jim Everett trade the next season. For the next two seasons, Millen would back up oft injured Chris Miller in Atlanta, starting 3 games and picking up some garbage time. Heading Plan B to New England in 1991 and 1992, he’d share time with Tom Hodson and Scott Zolak as starting quarterback of the team. His most notable game was when the team upset the Oilers on the weekend of ‘Babygate’ throwing to Greg McMurtry in the final minutes of the game. With the team’s collapse again in 1993, Millen would be traded to the Cowboys and the Patriots would select Drew Bledsoe.  He wouldn’t play in a game, but would sign my Game Day card in camp that season- as he would be released with the signing of Bernie Kosar. With Aikman, Kosar, and Jason Garrett, Hugh was once again expendable and would sign with the Dolphins. In 1994, Hugh would sign with the Denver Broncos where he’d finish out his career over the next two seasons backing up John Elway. For the 1996 season he’d sign with the New Orleans Saints but would not make the roster of the team and retire. He currently lives in Washington.

GameDay really had a nice card set when they came out in 1992. Its unique design coupled with innovative Photoshop masks to desaturate the background,  leave the players firmly in the focus of the image. Well tracked type, does not cloud the picture plane and helps activate the white space outside of the image area. When I got signatures on GameDay cards it was because most of them had a certain “whoa” factor that really caught my eye.

G/Gs  40/25      Att 928     Comp 560     Yds 6440    Pct 60.3      Td 22    Int 35     Rat  73.5