Tag Archives: gameday 1992

NFL

Williams, Harvey

Cards: Action Packed Rookies 1991, Action Packed Rookies 1992, Gameday 1992
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent: 8/1     Received:  8/11  (10 days)
Failure: TTM 2010, C/o Home

Harvey Williams is an intriguing story in football history.  A tricky inside runner with really nice hands, Harvey played for the LSU Tigers from 1986 to 1990. His best season came in 1987 when he had 1001 yards on 154 carries and 11 TDs, along with 20 receptions. He finished 3rd in school history with 2,660 yards rushing, and set a few records along the way. He rushed for a single game high 213 yards against Kentucky, and tied a school record with 4 TDs rushing against Miami, OH.  With intriguing size and speed, scouts were concerned about lingering knee injuries and his consistency entering the pro level.

Harvey was the second runningback taken during the 1991 Draft. He’d go at #21 overall to the Chiefs surprisingly- a team that was deep with Christian Okoye, Barry Word, and Todd McNair at runningback. Still Harvey was pictured as the game breaker that the Chiefs needed for their Martyball offense. (Notably the 1991 draft is a graveyard of runningbacks. Among them, the most successful is probably Gary Brown– and he was converted from Safety.)  Harvey had a pretty decent run his rookie campaign.  He led the team in yards from scrimmage with 1,118 yards putting in time as a kick returner (524 yards), and change of pace back (97 carries, 447 yards, 16 receptions 147 yards). He also scored 2 TDs receiving and 1 rushing.   He continued to bide his time in 1992 as a kick returner and 3rd down back.  After the backfield moved on from KC, Harvey got beat out by future HoFer Marcus Allen for the starting gig in 1993.  Things got worse when Harvey suffered a frightening hit that left him motionless on the turf.  While he recovered, it pretty much ended his season and his time in KC.

He finally reached his potential when he signed with the Raiders the following year in 1994. Harvey was a true Raider through and through. He walked the walk and talked the talk.  During his first season with the Raiders he ran 282 times for 983 yards and 4 TDs. He also got to display those impressive hands, snatching 47 receptions for 391 yards and 3 TDs. In 1995 he had his best season as a pro registering 1114 yards on the ground and 9 TDs, along with 54 receptions for 375 yards. While he lost the starting job to Napoleon Kaufman in 1996, Williams continued to play for the Raiders and even made a memorable transition to TE/ H-Back, retiring after the 1998 season.

Great cards here of Harvey. It was impossible to choose even my top 5, as all the vendors at the time had great photos of him in action. These 3 cards were among my favorite. Both of his Action Packed entries really stand out with their vibrant color and just bursting with action. Even though I am very disappointed in the dying marker he used to sign my cards, I was happy to finally get Harvey’s autograph.

G/Gs  110/47    Rush 1021    Yds 3952     Avg 3.9     TD  20     Lg 60
Rec  193     Yds 1442   Avg 7.5    Td 7   Lg 32
KR  54   Yds 1135   Avg 20.3    Td 0   Lg 76

 

NFL

Byner, Earnest (2)

ud91 byner MVP pset89 byner

Cards: Upper Deck 1991 Team MVP, ProSet 1989, ProSet 1989 Traded, Skybox 1992, GameDay 1992
Acquired: 2012, Canton Acquisition. 2016, Future Considerations.
See Also: Earnest Byner

After his stint as a coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars runningback coach from 2010 to 2011 Earnest Byner was signed to the Tampa Bay Buccaneer staff in 2012 serving under Greg Schiano. Unfortunately Shiano’s style didn’t mesh in the pros, and he was gone after two seasons. Byner was not retained as ownership decided to clean house after 2013.

Since that time Earnest has addressed ‘The Fumble’ in public, apologizing to fans for what happened, and giving a tear-jerking recollection of it during the 30 for 30 ESPN documentary “Believeland”.   Time heals all wounds though and the vast majority of Browns fans really embrace Byner as one of their own without judgement.  It goes without saying that it’s great that Byner has been able to move on from what happened- something that he said stuck with him and changed his playing style for the remainder of his career in the NFL.

Earnest has done a lot of motivational speaking too. He also has no problem engaging his fans in public and is very popular in Cleveland. My friend DeadHorse scored these Byner autographs for me along with Kevin Mack and Greg Pruitt at an Ohio based Cleveland Browns event they attended.  DeadHorse was kind enough to accommodate me on the 3 cards which I felt were his best action shots of Byner (Skybox 1992, ProSet 1989 CLE, and GameDay 1992).

NFL

Woodson, Darren (2)


Cards: Topps Finest Hitmen 1996, Fleer 1995, GameDay 1992
Acquired: TTM 2016, C/o Home
Sent: 6/16     Received: 6/27   (11 days)
Failure: 2015, C/o Home
See Also: Darren Woodson

I had gotten Darren Woodson just once at training camp way back at St Edwards in 1992. It was the last year I’d enjoy going to training camps full time during the summer as school, girls, and work took more of priority after High School. Looking back, it was just perfect timing for me to go to camp during those years in the early 90s, as not only was I in that transitional point moving into being a young adult, but also the Cowboys were building their dynasty, multiple great cards were appearing on the market, and players were still relatively eager to sign for free.

I always wanted to get Darren’s GameDay 1992 entry signed. The one I had made it back to camp the following years, but it never made it into his hands. It’s a great rookie card technically- one of the first to picture him in his Cowboys uniform.  The other two here, are really just filler from sets that I liked after the fact. Although I liked the gaudyness of the Topps Hitmen cards, I think the luster of Darren’s uniform is lost in all the gloss and metal sheen.  The Fleer 1995 was audacious as ProSet 1992 in its design, and as such it was just as disastrous in my mind. The chaotic design which varies per team, really can be a negative on the presentation on the card itself. This one for example breaks multiple design rules. The most annoying among them being Darren’s position listed quarter circling the star. I don’t know what is up with the fingerprint effect either. (It also didn’t help that the Cowboys joined in the ugly trend during the mid-90s of plastering the team logo on the shoulder of the uniform.) Still for many of the rest of the teams in this set outside of the Cowboys and a few outliers, the design is clever and daring with the player information displayed on the front.

I had failed previously to get Darren’s autograph back in 2015. I fired out another attempt in 2016 when he started popping up on the scene around Dallas events. I was really surprised to see this back in 11 days flat.