Dave McCloughan was a member of Colorado’s National Championship team in 1990. Over his 4 years for the Buffs, Dave had 129 tackles, intercepted 8 passes for 91 yards, and returned 34 punts for 559 yards and 2 TDs. His 15.9 yards per punt return his senior season led the nation.
McCloughan played 4 seasons in the NFL from 1991 to 1994. A 3rd round pick of the Indianapolis Colts in 1991, he had 10 combined tackles for the franchise his rookie season. He’d join the Packers in 92, and then Seattle for 1993 and 1994 before retiring.
In 1996, Dave joined the Raiders as a scout and served with the team from 1996-2004. He joined the 49ers and was dismissed from his position as the director of pro scouting in 2010. Dave returned to the Raiders in 2011 and served with the franchise through 2019.
Samkon Gado is one of those rare athletes who wasn’t really on the radar of scouts going into his final year playing college ball. In fact he was looking forward more to becoming a doctor than playing football, but as fate would have it, nearly the entire Liberty runningback corps was depleted, and Samkon stepped in and ran for 901 yards on 138 carries, scoring 11 TDs in 9 games.
It was all about being at the right place, at the right time for Samkon, and it seemed that scouts identified his intangible talent for rising to the occasion. After going undrafted in 2005, he was signed to the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad for a brief time. A month or two later, he was signed by the Packers. Then nearly the entire runningback stable went down one by one due to injury. First Ahman Green, then Najeh Davenport, and then finally Tony Fisher.
Gado saw extensive playing time in their absence after taking the starting runningback role. He’d have 3 100 yard efforts during the season, and set a franchise rookie record rushing for 171 yards against the Lions. Ultimately he too would end his season on injured reserve.
With new management in town for 2006, the Packers traded Gado to the Houston Texans after Week 1 of the season for Vernand Morency. The Texans were shoring up their runningback depth behind Ron Dayne and Wali Lundy. During the season he’d pitch back to back 60 yard efforts against Jacksonville and Buffalo.
In 2007, Ahman Green also joined the Texans runningback committee, and was the starter above Dayne. Gado beat out Lundy to make the final squad, scoring his first TD with the Texans in the season opener against the Colts.
He’d be cut at the end of October, and signed with the Miami Dolphins, after starting RB Ronnie Brown went down. Again, backup Ricky Williams, then himself also was fallen by injury, so Samkon had to step in again. He’d help contribute to the Dolphins only win on the 2007 season.
Samkon then played for the St. Louis Rams over the next two seasons, but saw little action outside of special teams. In 2010 he signed with the Tennessee Titans but did not make the final roster.
Samkon finished his medical degree and now is a doctor at Saint Louis University Hospital as part of the Otolaryngology program.
Card: Topps AAF 2019 Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o The Atlanta Falcons Sent: 4/18 Received: 6/20 (63 days)
Chris Odom played defensive end at Arkansas State from 2013-2016. Also renowned for his special teams prowess, Chris had quite the penchant for blocking field goals during his career. He’d finish with 87 total tackles, 23 tackles for loss, 15.5 sacks, 4 pass deflections, and 4 forced fumbles.
Chris signed with the Atlanta Falcons, after not being selected in the 2017 NFL Draft. A final cutdown candidate, Chris was claimed by the Packers and spent a year with the team logging 6 tackles. Later in 2018, he’d sign with the Salt Lake City Stallions of the AAF. Chris played in 8 games for the stacked Stallions defensive front. He’d post 10 total tackles and 2.5 sacks.
After the dissolution of the Alliance, Chris re-signed with the Atlanta Falcons. The next morning I dashed this card out the door that he signed in about two months. Chris was the first player in a 12 responses to request a copy of his trading card from me.
He’d join the Redskins practice squad in early September, and later be promoted to the active roster, where he saw action during Week 13. In 3 games he had 2 sacks, 19 total tackles, and 1 forced fumble. Currently he’s a free agent.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
