Tag Archives: Gridiron Football

AAF, NFL, usfl, WLAF, XFL

Riley, Mike (2)

CARD: Topps AAF 2019 Certified
ACQUIRED: Private Acquisition, 2022
FAILURE: TTM C/o Home 2019, 2020

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

NOTES:

Picking up where we left off, Mike ended up back at Oregon State, where he became the school’s most winning coach. In 2014, he’d be pried off the Beavers by Nebraska. After a difficult tenure at Nebraska, Mike was welcomed back to Corvallis with open arms as an assistant coach.

When the Alliance of American Football was announced, I knew he’d be at the top of their list. I was excited to see Mike return to SA (from his days with the Riders of the WLAF) to coach the team. He was excited to take a walk down memory lane with me when I showed up with my Riders hat on at the Commanders unveiling. The team very much resembled the Riders, and finished 5-3 during the AAF’s season.

I had narrowly missed getting Mike’s autograph on his Topps AAF card during pregame warmups against the Salt Lake City Stallions. I had sideline passes and thought that he’d be a shoe-in to get later TTM. Oddly though, he’s dodged my TTM requests since then.

After the AAF folded, much to everyone’s dismay, Mike was hired on to be the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Dragons of the XFL in 2020- just because it wasn’t more local to Texas.

Recently it was brought to my attention that Mike and head coach Jim Zorn had a disagreement about who should be starting quarterback. The row was so bad between the two that Mike left the team for the first 3 games of the season.

He joined the new USFL as head coach of the New Jersey Generals, and led the team to a 9-1 record in 2022. The team zoomed out to a 2-1 record in 2023, before dropping their next 5, en route to a 3-7 record.

When the XFL and the USFL combined to form the new UFL, the Generals were not retained for 2024.

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Jones, Eric (2)

Ultimate WLAF 1992, #20

Card: Ultimate WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o Home
Sent: 7/3 Received: 7/11 (8 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

NOTES:

I had been after Eric Jones forever and a day on this card, but due to the commonality of his name, I was unable to locate him. I had done some research that led me down a rabbit hole that he was working for a medical device manufacturer, but the trail went cold- so I gave up. Thankfully Mark, of Mark’s Signing Bonus came to the rescue. He shot me a line and I was able to get Eric on this card. He also included a nice note thanking me for being a fan. Unfortunately, I do not believe that Mark ever got his autograph back from Eric… And since that point the address has grown cold.

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Wilson, Walter ‘Bug’ (2)

ultwlaf92 wwilsonCard: Ultimate WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Home
Sent: 8/22   Received: 8/31  (9 days)
See Also: Walter Wilson ‘Bug’

Walter Wilson at the time set an ECU record of 91 receptions for 1,670 yards and 16 touchdowns. He led the team in receiving for 3 consecutive years, and was very durable- only missing one game in 4 seasons.

The Ohio Glory selected Wilson in the 4th round of the 1992 WLAF draft. He went on to lead the league in receptions and ranked 3rd in receiving yards, as the Glory frequently played from behind.  I had  Walter sign two previous cards after the infamous ‘Hail Storm Game’ that the Riders and Glory played back in 1992, however at that time, I did not have a card of him in his Ohio threads.

I have been looking for Wilson aggressively since- 2010 when I started this, and was genuinely surprised to receive this back in 9 days flat.

WLAF       Rec 65       Yds  776       Avg 11.9       Td 2       Lg 52