Tag Archives: indianapolis colts

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Bell, Kerwin (2)

Cards: WildCard WLAF 1992, Ultimate WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2012, C/o Jacksonville University
Sent: 1/10        Received:  2/17  (38 days)
Previous Post: Kerwin Bell
Failure: TTM 2010, C/o Jacksonville University

I had tried previously in 2010 to get the former Florida and WLAF Orlando Thunder signal caller on a few additional cards, but didn’t have any luck there. Recently there have been a few signings by Bell passed through SportsCollectors.net so I decided to take another chance C/o Jacksonville University again. With these two cards being signed, I can officially close the book on Kerwin Bell, unless I was to stumble upon a Jogo card or two of him in his CFL gear.

A Florida Gators quarterback from the 80’s, Bell finished his Senior season with 2687 yards and 21 TDs. After bouncing around the NFL for a few seasons, the WLAF would call his number in the first round of their positional draft in 1991. He’d be on fire the first two weeks of the season and rake in Offensive Player of the Week honors both weeks for the Orlando Thunder. Kerwin set the league season game records for most completions (29), most TDs passing (5), most attempts (43), and most attempts without an interception (44).

Inexplicably, the Thunder turned around in 1992 and picked up Scott Mitchell from the Dolphins and gave him the keys to the car. Bell would ride the bench, but would go onto greater glory after the season, playing in the CFL for the Sacramento Goldminers, Edmonton Eskimos, Argos, and Blue Bombers. He’d also have a brief stop with the Colts during this period, completing 5 of 5 passes for a TD, retiring in 2001. Unofficially it is the highest QB rating among non-qualifying quarterbacks in NFL history.

Bell was inducted into the Gator HoF as a Gator Great in 1997.

 

NFL, ufl

Rhodes, Dominic

Card: Top Notch UFL  2011
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o The Virginia Destroyers
Sent: 10/25/11   Received 2/2/12 ( 100 days)

A seemingly ageless runningback, Dominic Rhodes has seen stints with the Colts, Raiders, and Bills, since going undrafted in 2001 out of tiny Midwestern State. In his first season he ran 1104 yards, setting an NFL record for undrafted rookie runningbacks. Dominic also played in Superbowl XLI for the Colts, rushing for 113 yards and a touchdown against the Chicago Bears. After 6 seasons, Rhodes would play one season for the Raiders, and a preseason with the Bills.

In 2010 Rhodes signed with the Florida Tuskers of the UFL. He responded by leading the league in rushing with 547 yards, 10 touchdowns, and 919 net yards. His 260 yards on 12 kick returns were second in the league as well.  After the season he’d play for the Colts again briefly in 2010, before returning to the Tuskers in 2011, (who had moved to Virginia and been rechristened the Destroyers,) under the leadership of Marty Schottenheimer. Playing in his famous ‘Marty-Ball’ offense, Dominic ran for a league record 217 yards and 3 touchdowns, against the Sacramento Mountain Lions. After the 5 game season in which Dominic ran for 410 yards, he’d be named league MVP and also rush for 96 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries in UFL Championship Game III. At this time in 2012 he is the career leading rusher for the UFL.

I wrote Dominic courtesy of the Virginia Destroyers late last season. He responded in a flat 100 days and said that, “He’d love a copy of this card I designed.” I’ll shoot him out another high quality copy of the card in a few weeks when I have a bit more time.

Arena, NFL, WLAF

Simmons, Stacey (2)

 Cards: Pacific 1991, Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2010, C/o Stacey Simmons Sports Training
Sent: 6/11/10   Received: 1/11/12  (579 days)
See Also: Simmons, Stacey

A track man, Stacey was part of a team at Florida that set the nation’s fastest time in the 4×200 relay with 1:26:31.  The first pick of the Colts in the 4th round of 1990 that played both receiver and punt returner, Stacey saw playing time also with the Buccaneers, before heading over to the Orlando Thunder in 1992.  After a short off-season with the 49ers, Stacey found a home for 8 seasons in the Arena Football League playing for the Tampa Bay Storm, winning two AFL Championships.

I have to give credit to Sotl for this find, as I had given up on this one some time ago. Seeing his name on the website, I easily recognized him as a member of the Orlando Thunder and nudged him a bit for those autographs and amazingly they arrived a bit over a year and a half later setting a new record at a fat 579 days.
He also included a nice note for it taking so long and welcomed me to check out his site at www.staceysimmons.com. It’s amazing looking at these autographs from the two posts gotten some 20 years apart, and realizing that the autograph is authentic, because the signature is still the same.