Tag Archives: fort worth calvary

Arena, NFL

Weatherspoon, Chuck

Wild Card 1991, #134

Cards: Wild Card 1991, Pacific 1991
Acquired: TTM 2021, C/o Home
Sent: 8/2 Received: 10/9 (62 days)

CAREER PROFILE:

  • Had a prolific career playing for the Houston Cougars from 1987-1990.

  • Was the bellcow runningback in the Coogs fabled Air Raid offense.

  • On 395 attempts, ran for 3,247 yards and 27 touchdowns ,  and also had 1,375 yards and eight touchdowns on 117 receptions.

  • His best year came in 1989, when he ran 119 times for 1146 yards, 10 TDs.

  • Drafted in the 9th round by the Philadelphia Eagles.

  • Spent the 1992 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, dressing for 4 contests.

  • Played one year in the Arena Football League in 1995 with Fort Worth, playing both ways for the Calvary.

ACHIEVEMENTS:

  • SWC’s All-time leader in all purpose yards with 5,715.

  • First Houston Cougar to rush for 1000 yards in 3 straight years.

  • Tied for the NCAA record with a career mark of 8.2 yards per carry.
Pacific 1991, #656

Arena

RUSHYDSAVGTDLG
31461.55N/a
RECYDSAVGTDLG
4112.80N/a
TACSACFUM
11.51.00

NOTES:

I loved me those SWC Cougars! I had high hopes for Chuck’s career in the NFL. I think both the Eagles and the Bucs saw him more as a fullback though. He was a gifted receiver too, but looked like a downhill bowling ball rolling down the field. Sometimes you get this feeling that if you just reach out to some of these guys, they will respond to your personal connection, and with this one I was quite happy that he did.

Arena, NFL

Dixon, James (2)


Cards: Score 1990, ProSet 1990, Topps 1990
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent: 8/21    Received: 9/12    (21 days)
See Also: James Dixon

James is notable as he helped rookie Troy Aikman break the NFL rookie passing record (at the time) with 203 yards receiving, including that 75 yard bomb.  He also set the club mark with his 1,181 kick off return yards, breaking the mark previously set by Mel Renfro back in 1964- all in his rookie season.  Still he’s fallen into relative obscurity over the years and lives comfortably in Texas.

James Dixon was quite lucky. He played on a terrible Cowboys squad, but stuck out enough to get noticed before he faded off into obscurity. It was enough that 4 major brands (Topps, ProSet, Score, and Action Packed) all put out cards of him. After returning to the hobby, I was surprised that he didn’t appear in any lists on websites or any fans were clamoring for his address, so after many years, I decided to go ahead and do some sleuthing and figure out where he was at. He did not disappoint, signing these 3 cards in under a month.

 

Arena, CFL, WLAF

McGuirk, Patrick ‘Pat’

 

Cards: ProSet WLAF 1991, Ultimate 1992
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent: 9/2 Received: 9/12 (10 days)

After playing in Junior College at San Mateo and raking in an All-Golden Gate Conference choice and team MVP honors,  Patrick McGuirk would play at Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo) making 42 tackles and a pick. He’d sign with the Blue Bombers of the CFL in 1990 but not make the squad.

In 1991, the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks, coached by Roman Gabriel, selected Pat in the 8th round of the league’s positional draft.  Despite the team’s woeful 0-10 record, McGuirk had a banner season, with 37 tackles, 9 passes defensed, 3 fumble recoveries and tied for third in the league with 6 interceptions. He would be snubbed for All-World honors.

After the season, the Skyhawks were euthanized by the league, and the players were put back into the WLAF’s draft pool. The Frankfurt Galaxy selected him in the 5th round of the league draft in 1992. He’d play for them that season, but did not notch a turnover.  (His Ultimate WLAF card is considered a major error card, as they note that he is a rookie, and omit his previous season’s statistics, even though he played for the Skyhawks.) The WLAF would be reorganized after the 1992 season but Patrick found new life, -in the AFL.

The young Arena Football League was the perfect landing spot for Patrick. In 1994 he’d sign with the Fort Worth Calvary, crushing ball carriers with 54 tackles, 21 pass blocks, 2 forced fumbles and 5 interceptions. Patrick quickly moved back to his home area in 1995 signing with the San Fransisco 49ers and was assigned to their practice squad.  He’d continue playing in the Arena leagues in the interim, but this time for the San Jose Sabercats where he’d have another impact season with 9 picks for 202 yards and a td. Pat’s followup 1996 season would culminate with 7 picks and 15 pass breakups which earned him first team All Arena honors, and earned him another shot to play on the roster of the 49ers and their practice squad. After the 1998 season, McGuirk would retire from football. He’d finish his career in the Arena leagues with 5 seasons under his belt, 258 tackles, 81 pass blocks, 3 forced fumbles, 29 interceptions for 317 yards and a touchdown.

He didn’t have far to go, as he retired to the San Fransisco area where he was born and currently works in the telecommunications industry.

Finally got another Facebook response. I started off really hot with contacting players through Facebook and getting their permission to send to TTM to their address (Howard Feggins, Corris Ervin, and Jon Horton,) and then just went stone cold. I shot out an email to Patrick in July since he is of the elusive Raleigh-Durham Skyhawk family, that I am woefully short of autographs from, -as they only lasted one season. In late August he got back with me and gave me his address, so I quickly turned around and sent him two cards to sign and a few to keep as momentos. He kindly responded in 10 days.  A real nice return on a hard to find team.

WLAF
Tac N/a   Sac 0       Fum 3   Int   6     Yds    60   Avg 10.0    Td  0    lg  34