Tag Archives: green bay packers

College Football HoF, IFL, NFL, University of Texas

McMichael, Steve “Mongo” (2)

Card: UT UD 2011
Acquired: C/o Home, 2012
Sent:       Received: 7/14  (days)
See also: Steve McMichael “Mongo” 

Steve McMichael and Ray Childress were my favorite defensive linemen when I was a kid, so to meet both of them during my younger years was quite a treat to me. I had already gotten back around to Ray, and had been looking for a good excuse to write Steve again, so when the University of Texas Upper Deck 2011 set came out, I thought I had the best justification to do so, and put 3 cards in the mail. Well, I’m guessing Steve didn’t have his UT Upper Deck All American card or his All Time Alumni card as he kept those. Still the fact that he signed his base set card, was what I really wanted most, so to just get only one back from him was fine by me.

McMichael gained notoriety while playing with the Bears for having a penchant to come up with big plays when they mattered. He also started 101 straight games at defensive tackle. Mike Ditka called McMichael the toughest player he ever coached.  Now let me stress that again… Mike Ditka called him that.  He’d later go on to enjoy a strong wrestling career in the WWF and WCW as Mongo. I even saw him live at the Erwin Center in Austin where fans who remembered were happy to see him. Steve was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2010.  He currently does radio for the pregame show of the Bears outside of Chicago and is head coach of the Chicago Slaughter of the Indoor Football League.

NFL

Highsmith, Alonzo

Cards: ProSet 1989, Action Packed Rookies 1990
Acquired: TTM 2012, C/o Home
Sent: 4/5   Received: 6/22  (77 days)
See Also: Official Autograph Souvenir

Alonzo joins the Hall finally. I’ve missed out a few times on Highsmith. While I got his autograph on an official Houston Oilers Souvenir page back in 1988, it did not strike me at the time to get him on cards. Then when he was traded to the Cowboys, he was not at Cowboys training camp for me to get his autograph on. Finally I was still in California when he was at Fan Fest II in Houston last year. Had been working my way around to him since I got started, and for the longest time didn’t see any replies out of the former Houston Oiler, but recently he lit up sportscollectors.net, so I shot him out a request as soon as possible. I noticed that the response times were erratic, so I was happy to get a return in a bit under 80 days.

Alonzo Highsmith was a strong downhill runningback from the University of Miami where he played for Jimmy Johnson. He was the third overall pick of the 1987 draft by the Houston Oilers, and after an acrimonious holdout, he started 3 games at running back and ran for 106 yards. Jerry Glanville moved him to fullback to best utilize his skills, after a logger jam developed at runningback between Mike Rozier, Allen Pinkett, and recent draftee Lorenzo White.  His best season as a pro came in 1989 when he ran for 531 yards and 4 TDs, and caught another 18 balls for 201 yards and 2 TDs.  Frequent knee issues were taking their toll on Highsmith though.

aprks90 highsmithIn 1990, the Oilers had new head coach Jack Pardee and with a conversion to the Run ‘N Shoot full-time, the Oilers had even less room for runningback, little less a fullback.  Houston traded Highsmith to Dallas where he was reunited with former Hurricanes coach Jimmy Johnson. He’d start 6 games mid year for the resurgent Cowboys that season, and then sign with the Buccaneers where he finished 1991 and 1992, before retiring.

Alonzo followed the route of some other players after their playing days are over, becoming a professional heavyweight boxer. He’d go 27-1-2 with 23 KOs before returning to football as a scout for the Packers organization. Recently he moved up in the organization, and will be moving to Green Bay with his family to live fulltime in the Summer of 2012.

G/Gs 65/42    Rush 283   Yds  1195    Avg 4.2     Td  7   Lg 42    |
Rec 42     Yds  428    Avg  10.2  Td 3   Lg  33

CFL, Heisman Trophy Winner, NFL, XFL

Salaam, Rashaan (1974-2016)

Cards: SkyBox Impact 1995, Topps XFL 2001
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home.
Sent: 9/2/11  Received: 3/24/12  (204 days)

Well I had chocked it up to the mail gods that I would not be receiving this one back, but after a 200+ day wait, I received these two beauties back in the mail. Salaam had been signing at a breakneck pace, and I had been tracking him through Sportscollectors.net, so I shot these two cards out as soon as I had a chance back in September of last year. It appears that I was in the first round of signings that had to wait a while. Still I am really happy to add Salaam to my collection and he was kind enough to inscribe the cards with his Heisman year.

Rashaan Salaam first came to my attention when Texas joined the Big 12. An imposing runner, he had 2,055 yards in 1994- still one of the highest numbers in college history. He’d have his best game against the Longhorns, galloping for some 350+ yards against them, (-obviously a CU record), becoming the first Buff to win the Heisman, and grabbing Unanimous All-American honors. While I thought that the Buffs would continue to provide a rival to the Longhorns, unfortunately their 3rd place national ranking after the season was their best, for the rest of Colorado’s time in the Big 12.  Salaam declared for the NFL draft after his amazing 1994 season.

The Chicago Bears in 1995, now led by head coach Dave Wannastedt, tapped Salaam with the 7th pick overall in the 1995 draft. Salaam had a decent rookie season. In his rookie campaign, he amassed over 1000 yards rushing and had 10 touchdowns.  The runningback Sophomore jinx struck in 1996 as Salaam started only 6 games that season, plagued by injuries running for a shade under 500 yards. It also didn’t help that Rashaan didn’t protect the rock well, and after a short 1997, the writing was on the wall with the addition of Curtis Enis to the roster in 1998. Salaam was a free agent, and played briefly for the Browns and Packers in 1999.

Salaam was a rare breed as far as backs go. He could do it all, but the abuse he took running for Colorado clearly had taken its toll by the time he emerged onto the NFL scene. The double-edged sword to Salaam was that the more carries he got, the more dangerous he became. After sitting it out for a few years, the XFL called wanting to know if he was interested in reviving his career in 2001. Salaam took the opportunity by the horns, and was drafted by the Memphis Maniax. In his first game Rashaan ran for a league high 156 yards, but was injured with 4 games left in the season. He’d accumulate 528 yards on the ground (4th), 5 TDs rushing (3rd), 88 YPG (2nd), and  key the Maniax’s league leading rushing game.  The league disbanded after the season.

Salaam attempted a comeback to the NFL, with the Detroit Lions in 2002, but did not make the cut. He then spent a brief time with the Argonauts in the CFL, and retired after the season. Salaam also made an appearance in Tecmo Super Bowl Final Edition for Super Nintendo where he was a very good budget runningback for the Bears.

NFL  G/Gs 33/21 Rush 471   Yds 1684   Avg  3.6     Td  14    Lg 42
Rec 16   Yds  120   Avg 7.5   Td  1   Lg 18

XFL  G/Gs 6/6   Rush  114    Yds 528      Avg   4.6     Td   5     Lg  39t
Rec   6   Yds  41    Avg  6.8     Td 0     Lg  8

UPDATE 12/6/2016: Rashaan passed away today at the age of 42. His body was found at a park less than two miles away from the stadium where he starred at the University of Colorado.  It is believed at this time that he passed away of natural causes.