Tag Archives: kansas city chiefs

NFL

Crockett, Donald “Ray”

Cards: GameDay 1992, Action Packed 1992
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent: 6/23   Received: 7/1 (8 days)

Ray Crockett is another in a long line of defensive players that came from the University of Baylor in Waco, Texas. For some reason, Baylor always had the luck of having some immense talent with Mike Singletary, Robert Blackmon, Thomas Everett, Santana Dotson, James Francis, and Vann McElroy all being drafted and having some great playing careers during the 80s and 90s.

Originally a 4th round pick of the Detroit Lions during the deep 1989 draft, Ray didn’t get much playing time in the starting lineup his rookie season. In 1990, he’d make three interceptions starting opposite Leroy Irvin. Solidifying the secondary in 1991, Crockett became a feared defender during the final years of the last Lions’ playoff runs. He’d make 6 picks and return one 96 yards for a touchdown against the Cowboys.

In 1994 Ray signed with the Denver Broncos. As teams would throw to the other side of the field avoiding Ray, his statistics suffered, but he’d continue to provide blanket coverage against unfortunate receivers.  In 1998 and 1999, as a member of the Broncos Ray won Super Bowl titles with the franchise. Over his time with the Broncos, Ray logged 17 picks and a touchdown. After a nice season in 2000, in which he had 4 interceptions and a touchdown, Ray signed as a free agent with the rival Kansas City Chiefs for the 2001 season.  He’d wrap up his career in 2002 with his 35th and 36 pick.  Crockett over his career was also a fearsome corner blitzer, and was the career leader (surpassed by Rhonde Barber) at the position with 15.5 career sacks at his retirement in 2002.

Since retirement Ray has done a variety of things. Touched by the paralysis of his friend and teammate Mike Utley, Ray’s participated on Morgan Spurloch’s show “30 Days”,   spending 30 days in a wheelchair focusing on the everyday challenges that physically challenged people deal with in their lives. Ray has also done some game show work as well and currently lives outside of Dallas, Texas.

I got these two cards signed by Ray in no time flat. This Action Packed 1992 card is an exceptional photo with great lighting and focus and it’s among my favorite of the set.

G/Gs 214/174      Tac 802      Sac  15.5   Fum 9   Int 36     Yds 460      Avg 12.7       Td 3    Lg  96t

NFL

Richardson, John “Bucky”


Card: Star Pics 1992, SkyBox 1992, GameDay 1992, ProSet 1992.
Acquired: In Person, Houston Oilers Training Camp 1992. TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent: 7/5    Received: 7/14   (9 days)

John “Bucky” Richardson was a scrappy quarterback from Texas A&M in the dying days of the Southwestern Conference who did almost as much damage with his legs as he did with his passing arm. He finished his career as the SWC All-time leading rusher for quarterbacks with 2095 yards, and just had a knack for winning, finishing with a 24-6-1 record,  2 SWC Championships and 2 bowl games victories, in the Cotton and the Holiday Bowl.

The Houston Oilers would make the surprising grab in the 8th round of the 1992 draft and take Bucky with the 220th pick. (Brad Johnson went 7 picks later to the Vikings, but as of this date, no member of the 1992 draft has been enshrined.)

An immediate fan favorite due to the proximity of A&M, Richardson unseated Houston 3rd string quarterback Reggie Slack for the position and rode the bench squarely behind Warren Moon and Cody Carlson. Bucky was a great athlete and with a ‘do it all’ mentality, even contributing on special teams for the Oilers. At training camp demand for his autograph even rivaled that of Warren Moon, but I would manage to get his autograph on this really nice Star Pics 1992 card.

After the Oilers collapsed again the playoffs in 1993, owner Bud Adams made good on his threats and dismantled the Oilers, starting by trading quarterback Warren Moon to Minnesota. With Moon gone, Carlson was the defacto starter to begin the 1994 season, but fans began clamoring for Richardson during the preseason after his memorable last second Herculaneum heroics against the Dallas Cowboys. Carlson’s career in the meantime took a bad turn and injuries sidelined him for the majority of the season, leaving the starting job firmly in the hands of 3rd year pro Richardson.

While fans were overjoyed hoping to see the same heroics from Bucky that they had seen during the preseason, he would not be given any luxury to learn on the job as the team completely collapsed. He’d step in throw for 203 yards and 3 touchdowns in an opening loss to the Colts,  but after misfires in the following weeks, Carlson stepped back in only briefly, before Richardson would split time with Billy Joe Tolliver for the remainder of 1994. Although Richardson was good as a change of pace quarterback, he finished with a 1-3 record as a starter for the team- with his lone victory coming in the 24-10 season finale win over the New York Jets.

With Jeff Fisher now in place as the Oilers coach, Richardson was allowed to leave via free agency at the conclusion of the season. The Dallas Cowboys signed Richardson in 1995, converting him to fullback but he would not see any playing time. He’d be on the move again in 1996 as Bucky signed with the Chiefs, ironically beating the Cowboys again in the preseason at quarterback. He’d finish his career sitting on the bench in Kansas City.

Since football Bucky has retired to Houston where he’s still remembered fondly by the A&M faithful for his playing days in the SWC. He also runs a water treatment facility and coaches little league football. I sent off for the Skybox, ProSet, and GameDay autographs last month, and received a response in under 10 days.

The GameDay card is an odd card with 4 players occupying the image. Of note this is probably the only card that exists for the trio of Davis, Dafney or Brown in their Oilers uniforms. Unfortunately none of them made the squad and Dafney and Davis would become journeymen, respectively at their positions. The ProSet 1992 Series 2 card is quite garish. Bad design, bad logo change, and don’t you think they could’ve gotten a photo of Bucky with his helmet on in action? -Unfortunately this is when ProSet really started cutting corners.  This Skybox one though is really nice, even though they sacrifice promoting the company on the card front. Exceptional framing, especially with Bucky silhouetted against the word “ROOKIE”. By far my favorite of the group, outside of the Star Pics offering.

G/Gs  16/4     Att  185    Comp  97     Yds  1257   Pct  52.5
Td   6    Int   6     Rat  71.4  |
Rush  33     Yds  225   Avg  6.8    Td 1    Lg 18

NFL

Okoye, Christian “The Nigerian Nightmare”

Cards: ProSet 1990 PB, ProSet 1990 LL, Score 1990 HC, Score 1990 GF, Action Packed 1992
Acquired: In Person 2011, Okoye Youth Sports Clinic
Failure: TTM 2010, C/o The Okoye Foundation

The last time I attempted to get Christian’s autograph was in February of 2010. He’d be the first RTS I’d notch on my way back into the collecting field. I really wanted to get his Pro Set 1990 LL card, Score 1990 Hot Card, and his Score 1990 Ground Force cards signed. I put the cards back into my box and forgot about them. I recently decided to do some volunteer work since this job market has been so frustrating. After doing a bit of research I recalled that Christian had a youth skills camp that he runs in Rancho Cucamonga- which is literally down the road from Pasadena. I shot his foundation off an email and asked them how I could volunteer and I received a fairly prompt response and soon I was in contact with Christian himself- which felt really odd- since he was an amazing runningback for the Chiefs back in the late 80s and early 90s.

I worked at the youth skills camp on June 19th and was able to grab his autographs on these cards after doing a lot of just different general things to help out. I was basically a jack of all trades, taking photos, helping with set up, and providing Christian a marker to autograph kids shirts with. I was amazed at how many kids didn’t know who he was or that he played professional football. When I broke it to them who he was they reacted with surprised glee. The whole process was very rewarding for me as I met a couple of players and shot the breeze with Chris Hale, Ricky Ellis, and Derrick Harvey (RB San Diego St) about a variety of things from the Houston Oilers being a horrible organization to player benefits pre 1990. There’s just this worthwhile feeling I got from watching these kids learn from professional players drills, secrets of the game, and general words of encouragement.  It was also nice feeling helpful and useful, but it was odd to have Christian ask me for my phone number so we could brainstorm some things for him in the future.

Christian Okoye was born in Nigeria where he came to the United States to run track at Azusa Pacific. Initially, he really didn’t care for American football, but when his nation refused to accept him for the Nigerian Olympic team, he channeled that frustration into pummeling opponents on the gridiron. Okoye was a surprising combination of power and speed, reminiscent of powerback Earl Campbell, and would be drafted in the 2nd round of the 1987 draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. (Brent Fullwood, DJ Dozier, Roger Vick, Paul Palmer, Kenny Flowers and Terrance Flagler would all come off the board before Okoye’s name was called.)

Okoye would have a subpar rookie season in 1987, rushing for 660 yards. In 1988, despite injuries, he’d pull in another 473.  With the hiring of Marty Schottenheimer in 1989, Okoye would explode out of the gates, leading the NFL in rushing and narrowly beating out rookie Barry Sanders for the NFL rushing title with 1480 yards. He would also lead the NFL in carries with 370, and be named to the ProBowl and All Pro after the season. 1990 would see Christian again limited by injuries rushing for 805 yards, but he’d rebound in 1992 with 1031 yards and another ProBowl nod. In his final season in 1993 Okoye would be limited to primarily goal line situations, and retire after the season after 6 seasons as the franchise’s all time leading rusher (since surpassed).

When I met Christian I mentioned Tecmo Super Bowl to him, he told me that he was aware of the game. I explained to him that in the game that he was virtually unstoppable and  he just tossed players aside on the field like rag dolls, which he found to be pretty funny. Blessed with good speed and tied for the highest hitting power in the game at a whopping 94, you just had to select Okoye plays on defense to keep him from scoring. He was truly a Tecmo Super Bowl legend.

Since retirement Okoye has retired to the Rancho Cucamonga area. He is the president of the California Sports Hall of Fame, runs the Christian Okoye Foundation and also is very active on the NFL Alumni circuit. He also remains one of the most popular and requested Chiefs for public speaking and appearances.

G/Gs 79/65     Att 1246        Yds 4897        Avg  3.9          Td  40        Lg  59   |
Rec 42       Yds 294      Avg  7.0       Td 0      Lg  22

Here are the photos from the 2011 Okoye Youth Skills day I was at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wleebolton