Tag Archives: fleer 1990

NFL

Tupa, Tom ‘Two Point Tupa’

pset90_ttupapset91_ttupa
Cards: Proset 1990, Proset 1991, Fleer 1990
Acquired: TTM 2016, C/o Home
Sent:  4/7      Received: 4/15    (8 days)

Tom Tupa was selected in the 3rd round of the 1988 draft by the then Phoenix Cardinals out of Ohio State. Unbeknownst to even the Cardinals, the franchise was at the beginning of a long search to find an answer at quarterback to replace long time quarterback Neil Lomax– whose career quickly declined after 1988, due to injury and an arthritic hip. After Lomax’s sudden departure left Phoenix in a lurch in 1989, the Cardinals staffed a platoon at quarterback with Gary Hogeboom, Timm Rosenbach, and Tom sharing the workload. Tom threw for 973 yards and 3 TDs- to 9 interceptions, while suiting up for 14 contests.  He also got to showcase his impressive skills as a punter filling in for injured starter Rich Camarillo in a pinch. After not seeing any playtime in 1990, Tom spent one final season in Phoenix. He’d win 4 games in 11 starts and throw for a career high 2053 yards and 6 TDs.

1991 led to a short stay in Indianapolis for Tom. Afterwards he bolted for Cleveland. He spent the next three seasons with the Browns. It’d be in 1994 that Tom finally made a rare positional move from quarterback to punter. One could also argue at this point, that Tom had become the best emergency quarterback in the NFL. In 1996, Tupa signed with the New England Patriots and punted for them through the 1998 season.

In 1999, Tom had his finest season as a pro playing for the New York Jets. He’d earn Pro Bowl and All Pro Honors after the season punting 81 times for 3659 yards. Tupa played for the Jets through the 2001 season, before playing for the Buccaneers for 2002 and 2003.  His final season came in 2004 with the Redskins – a year in which Tom set career highs for punts (103) and yards (4544), earning him an invitation as a Pro Bowl alternate.

In a small bit of trivia, Tom is known as ‘Two Point Tupa’, for scoring the league’s first 2 point conversion, and repeating it two more times later in the season.

Tom as of 2016 was a coach at a local high school in Ohio. He signed these 3 cards for me in a bit over a week. ProSet had a major soft spot for Tom and I wasn’t really sure why, covering him in their 1990 and 1991 entries. Notably Score and Topps didn’t make early first or second year cards of Tom.  Fleer 1990 was the company’s first foray back into the football card market in many years. The set was novel looking enough, with nice action shots, but the design of the card itself did not age well with the abstract metal football logo, and the random team helmet just sort of haphazardly thrown on there.

G/GS 220/13     ATT 504      COMP 259       YDS  3430       PCT  51.5%
TD 12       INT  25       RAT 60.5
RUSH 53      YDS 187     AVG 3.5     TD 1       LG   17
P  873      YDS  37862      AVG  43.4        LG  73

NFL

Brooks, Michael

flr90 mbrooksCard: Fleer 1990
Acquired: TTM 2016, C/o Home
Sent:  3/16    Received: 4/23    (34 days)

One is better than none- I always say as Michael Brooks returned only this Fleer 1990 card from among the four cards I sent. You never know why he decided to only send one back, but I will assume that it is because he didn’t have the other cards in his personal collection.

Michael Brooks was a 3rd round pick of the Denver Broncos from the 1987 draft.  His draft stock plummeted after Michael had a major knee injury during his final year at LSU. It took Brooks some time to recover, and the Broncos brought him along slowly his rookie year.  Michael eventually made a really nice compliment to Karl Mecklenburg in the linebacking corps. From 1989 to 1992 Michael logged at least 120 tackles in each season, including 2 seasons with over 170 (1990- 175, 1992- 170).  He earned his only Pro Bowl appearance for his 1992 season.

Brooks career continued with the New York Giants in 1993, where he put together 3 more solid 90+ tackle seasons. He’d play 4 games in the 1996 for the Lions, retiring after the season. Brooks is immortalized in Tecmo Super Bowl, and was inducted into the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.

G/GS   138/113        TAC   962              SAC 7.0               FUM   9
INT 4          YDS  34          AVG 8.2          TD 0            LG 17

NFL, NFLE

Stouffer, Kelly

flr90 kstouffer pset89 kstouffer pset92 stouffer pset90 stouffer
Cards: Fleer 1990, ProSet 1989, ProSet 1992, ProSet 1990
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Home
Sent:  12/30 /15   Received: 1/11/16     (12 days)

Kelly Stouffer had some fine cards for having such a short career in the NFL. He always titillated us as the future of the Seahawks at quarterback, but Seattle always fell in love with another quarterback before his time actually came.

The greatest quarterback in Colorado State history, the St. Louis Cardinals fell in love with the statistically heavy quarterback and drafted him with the 6th overall pick of the 1987 draft. The team envisioned him as the heir apparent to Neil Lomax. The plan made perfect sense except for one thing: The Cardinals could not come to terms with Stouffer the entire year. It was a big blow to St. Louis, so the team opted to trade him to the Seattle Seahawks. Seattle had long been the domain of another savvy aged quarterback, Dave Krieg- and he would not go down without a fight.

Kreig though was injured, and with his backup ineffective, Stouffer was given a chance to step in. He’d post a 3-3 record in relief of Dave, including a game in which Stouffer completed 26 of 47 passes for a then NFL Rookie Record 370 yards and a touchdown in a loss to the New Orleans Saints.  He’d return to the bench with the return of Kreig.  Dave took pole position for the whole 1990 season.

The Seahawks in the meantime became enamored with quarterbacks, drafting Dan McGwire in the first round of the 1991 draft to be the new future of the franchise. As Krieg became more brittle behind the Seahawks porous offensive line, no less than 4 QBs started that season for the team, including Stouffer for a game.

With Kreig signing as a free agent with the Chiefs in 1992, the quarterback competition was wide open.  Stouffer actually won the job in camp, and flashed some signs of former brilliance in 7 starts, but eventually found himself on the bench both yielding to McGwire and Stan Gelbaugh.  After the season the team released Stouffer, as they planned to draft Rick Mirer.  Stouffer briefly popped up again on the radar as a backup for the Dolphins and Carolina Panthers, before he retired in 1996.

Stouffer went into broadcasting, honing his skills as a commentator in the NFLE.  He then moved back to stateside broadcasts, working college broadcasts for the Mountain West Conference. As of 2016 he’s a member of the ESPNU crew as a college football analyst.

G/GS   22/16   ATT  437    COMP 225    YDS  2333    PCT 51.5
TD 7     INT  19    RAT  54.5
RUSH  30        YDS  75       AVG  2.5     TD 0       LG  17