Tag Archives: gameday 1992

NFL

Carrier, Mark (WR-2)

Cards: Upper Deck 1992 Bucs Checklist, GameDay 1992, Topps 1990 1000 Yard Club, Action Packed 1990
Acquired: 2019, C/o Home
Sent: 1/2 Received: 1/11 (11 days)
See Also: Mark Carrier WR

Well 2019 is off to a good start with my first official success in Mark Carrier former Bucs, Browns, and Panthers receiver. Along the way with all three franchises he seemed to leave an indelible and respectable mark on each franchise. It wasn’t until 2018 that wide receiver Mike Evans of the Bucs broke Mark’s single season receiving yardage record for the franchise during the last game of the season. A stellar TTM respondent, Mark signs virtually everything- provided you of course don’t confuse him with the defensive back from the same era. As this is the 10th year I’ve been back at the game, I’ve decided to dust off the books and write some of those players who responded to me over the years. Mark was one of those who responded way, way back in 2011, signing a slew of cards for me.

In 2014, Mark announced the Panthers second round pick at the draft. As of this post he is the Director of Player Relations for the team.

A player with a stack of amazing cards, I had wanted to reload and get back to Mark again for a few more that I had overlooked.

Probably my favorite of this stack is the Upper Deck 1992 Buccaneers Checklist. The artwork is just amazing on this card. They just don’t make them like they used to anymore. The bold outline around the card is just right and frames the image in a very classy way. I especially like how Mark’s profile image and him catching the football take precedence over the buccaneers by simple boldness of color.

His 1,000 Yard Club card was like most cards from Topps to me at the time- always at least a distant 3rd or 4th in quality or interest to me. While the look is quite dated, that is part of the charm of this card. The boldness of the yellow combined with the orange and green is typical of design from that era. Still it is a great photo of him and at the time it was the only glossy card that was in each pack.

As usual during this period for the most part, Action Packed set a high bar for others to follow in terms of photo quality. This card was no different, and is an exciting action shot of Mark. Most photos it seemed were also framed from this distance in the set as well in a very comfortable ‘in your face’ distance. I didn’t have this card but when I saw it, I knew it’d look amazing autographed so I picked up one.

The GameDay 1992 card feels like the weakest to me of the group. Maybe because it is the only one with a defender in the image, or the fact that the rules of the card are for only the main subject to be in color, take away from the overall shot, but regardless- this was more of a set need than anything else.

Mark has a pretty solid autograph all the way around. The looping C in his last name really makes his mark go.

NFL

Lipps, Louis

Cards: ProSet 1989, ProSet 1990, GameDay 1992
Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o Home
Sent: 7/8    Received: 7/18   (10 days)*
* Fee enclosed

Louis Lipps is a highly reliable TTM respondent, provided you insert his very nominal fee. He’s got a great signature with two very nice loops in it, which accentuates these cards very nicely. Once ProSet and Score came out, a bevy of really nice action shots popped up of him. Among my favorites are these Proset entries and the Gameday card I got autographed. I always hesitated getting Lipps- much like many members of the Steelers, because of the rivalry that they shared during the late eighties and early nineties with the rise of the Oilers.  He always seemed to bring his best games against the shoddy secondary of the Oilers there for a while, until Cris Dishman and Darryll Lewis stepped up.

Louis Lipps slipped onto the NFL radar and into the first round of the 1984 draft. Selected by the Steelers out of powerhouse Southern Mississippi, Louis had a stellar rookie season, under the tutelage of grizzled veteran John Stallworth. Louis went on to become NFL rookie of the year, with 656 yards in punt return yardage, to go along with 856 yards on 45 passes and 9 TDs. He also earned a Pro Bowl berth and AP honors. His best season as a receiver came the following year, when he posted 59 catches for 1,134 yards and 12 TDs. A solid barn-burning option, Louis had 4 seasons over his career where he averaged 18.9 or more yards a click. While he’d never crack the 1,000 yard plateau over the rest of his career, Louis twice peaked at over 900 yards with 973 in 1988, and 944 in 1989- a year in which he was named team MVP.  He finished his career taking a flyer with the Saints for 2 games in 1992, in an otherwise unremarkable season.

 Thanks in part to playing during the highly forgettable era of the mid to late 80s (for Steeler fans), and a swath of unheralded quarterbacks, Lipps largely is ignored for his contributions and numbers in the Steelers stat books. He also was surrounded by talent from other eras such Lynn Swann, the aforementioned John Stallworth, and then in the current era by guys like Antonio Brown. Louis currently lives in the Pittsburgh area.

G/GS 110/98     REC 359     YDS   6019    AVG   16.8     TD 39    LG  89T
PR  112     YDS  1234     AVG  11.0     TD  3     LG   76T

NFL

Davis, Wendell (WR)

Cards: ProSet 1990, ProSet 1992, GameDay 1992, Topps Stadium Club 1992
Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o Home
Sent: 3/15     Received: 4/16  (30 days)

Wendell Davis was one of the top receivers in the 1988 NFL Draft. He played 3 years collegiately for LSU, racking up 183 receptions for 2708 yards and 19 touchdowns. His best year came in 1986 when the sure handed receiver caught 80 passes for 1244 yards and 11 touchdowns. He’d be the final pick of Round 1 by the Chicago Bears.

The Bears receiving corps was aging, and the team which was a run first smash mouth franchise, never really put much thought into it. With deep threat man Willie Gault departing for greener pastures with the then Los Angeles Raiders, this selection made total sense by the Bears front office.  Davis was not allowed to claim a starting position right off the bat. He’d have to fight up a roster that included Ron Morris, Dennis Gentry, and Dennis McKinnon, who were not only good receivers, but fine run blockers as well.  He didn’t start a game his rookie year, but Wendell had 15 catches for 220 yards. His numbers slowly increased over the next few seasons partially due in fact to the team’s maturation at quarterback under young Jim Harbaugh. Wendell had his best season in 1991 when he posted 61 receptions for 945 yards and 6 touchdowns. To put these numbers in perspective- Davis’ receiving numbers were the best by a Chicago Bears’ receiver since Dick Gordon in 1970!  While Wendell’s numbers slipped in 1992, all signs still pointed towards a solid 1993 campaign.

It was during a game in 1993 against the Philadelphia Eagles, Davis was going up to make what would be considered an ‘ordinary’ NFL catch, but as he laid back, his feet got caught on the exposed astroturf and he tore both of his patella tendons completely off, causing his kneecaps to go up into his thighs. Davis’ career was over.
Still, if there was a silver lining to what happened, Davis’ injury paved the way for the modernization and safety improvement/ removal of turf all over the league.  In 1995 Davis attempted a comeback with the Indianapolis Colts, but did not appear in any games.

He’s made his way into coaching with the 49ers, and at both the high school and college level since then. Currently he lives in Chicago.

I feel like the Topps Stadium Club, Pro Set 1992, and GameDay cards are all part of the same photographic sequence. It focuses on what Davis did best over his career: Hauling in the long bomb from whatever quarterback was currently under center for the Chicago Bears.  Overall, these are some very nice action shots, with the GameDay again being my favorite. Davis really nailed the autograph on this one however, and of the batch that I have received back in 2018, his certainly matches the excitement of his cards the best.

G/GS  81/54   REC 207    YDS 3000    AVG 14.5   TD 14    LG 75t