The 23rd pick of the 1983 draft by the Los Angeles Raiders, Jessie Hester was a marvelous ‘straight ahead’ speedster out of Florida State. His rookie season was pretty solid. Hester would make 665 yards on 32 catches. As a deep threat the Raiders system really appealed to the young player as Jessie averaged a whopping 20.8 yards per reception. In 1984, Hester would then make 23 catches for 632 yards,- an incredible 27.5 yards a reception, but because Hester only made 23 receptions- he didn’t qualify as a league leader. (If he did, his 27.5 average would have made him second all time in the NFL books.) Jessie would play one final season in LA in 1987 and that’s when it’d hit rock bottom for him as he’d only make one catch that season for 30 yards. He would be cut by the Raiders after the season and suffer through another rocky year making 12 catches for the Atlanta Falcons. It was in 1990 that Hester would finally find his home with the Indianapolis Colts. He’d have his finest hour as a pro that season making a career high 924 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns. I remember NBC even talking during half-time about how the lowly Colts had at least one bright spot in Hester. Jessie would play the next 4 seasons there for the Colts, and held the record for most consecutive games with a reception for the team (until it was broken by Marvin Harrison). He’d garner somewhere over 3300 yards playing with the Colts during his time with them and then sign to play with the Los Angeles Rams, in their final season before heading out to St. Louis for a final season with them before retiring. Since football Jessie has served as a head coach most notably in Florida where he guided his school to the State Championship game twice. I attempted to get his autograph through his school in early 2010, but did not hear back from him.
Card: Score Supplemental 1990, Action Packed Rookies 1990
Acquired: TTM 1993, C/o The Green Bay Packers
A brutal hitter with good speed and excellent pass rusher- Tony Bennett was taken in the 1990 draft by the Green Bay Packers in the first round. (In retrospect the 1990 draft was a great linebacking class, led by Junior Seau, Chris Singleton, and James Francis.) Bennett would be the 6th linebacker taken in the top 18. The knock on Alligator Bennett was that he didn’t respect the run enough.
After a slow 1990, Tony would take off, sacking opposing quarterbacks 13 times in 1991 and 13.5 times in 1992. After a 102 day holdout in 1993, Tony would make 6.5 sacks- he’d leave via free agency to the Indianapolis Colts in 1994 and record 28.5 sacks over the next 4 seasons for them retiring after an injury plagued 1997. All in all a respectable career for 8 seasons logged. I got these two cards autographed by Tony after I had really good results mailing the Packers back in the early 90s for players like Darrell Thompson, Brett Favre, Reggie White, and Sterling Sharpe.
G/Gs 108/89 Sac 64.5 Tac 397 Fum 19 Int 0 Yds 0 Td -.- Lg -.-
Card: Pro Set 1991 WLAF Insert Acquired: In Person 1992, San Antonio Riders v. Montreal Machine
Ray Savage was originally an 8th round draft choice of the then Los Angeles Rams in 1990 after playing some standout ball for the University of Virginia, where he’d be beloved by fans and coaches alike for his tenacious play and – well- barking. He liked to bark like a dog before snaps.
Ray found himself on the short end of the stick after training camp with the Rams, but quickly was snapped up the next year by the Montreal Machine in the WLAF inaugural positional draft. Savage went on to put up good numbers in the Machine’s 3-4 front with 6.5 sacks in 1991, and finishing as the team’s career leader with 11.
After the folding of the WLAF in 1992, Ray was picked up by the Eagles, before he caught on with the Shreveport Pirates of the CFL.
Upon his return to the NFL, Savage actually negotiated his own contract with the Indianapolis Colts. He liked it so much he began to handle the job for other players as well. He retired at the age of 26.
Savage found his calling in contract negotiations for football players and had a small mortgage business at one point. In his spare time he also dabbled in coaching and has 2 great kids.
A hard fought game that included a punt return for a touchdown at Bobcat Stadium still resulted in victory for the San Antonio Riders, a staunch defensive WLAF team with a scrappy offense. The Machine were a fairly solid average team their first year, but slid in 1992 losing a few games by only a handful of points.
Games N/a Tac N/a Sac 11.0 Fum N/a Int 0 Yds 0 Avg -.- Td 0
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
