Tag Archives: kansas city royals

College Football HoF, Heisman Trophy Winner, NFL

Jackson, Bo

Action Packed 1990, #128

CARD: Action Packed 1990
ACQUIRED: 2022, In Person Signing

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Bo Jackson was a tremendously talented athlete, being selected first round by the New York Yankees (1982) before he even hit college.
  • Opting to go to Auburn, Bo went hog wild as a RB running for 4,303 yards over his college career.
  • He was also an accomplished track and field star.
  • After winning the Heisman Trophy, he’d be selected in the first round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
  • Bo refused to sign with the team, citing that they attempted to sabotage his budding baseball career.
  • He’d sign instead with the Kansas City Royals- who selected Bo in 1986.
  • While playing with the Royals, the Bucs gave up on Jackson, relinquishing his rights.
  • Bo was then drafted again- this time by the Los Angeles Raiders, in the 7th round of the ’87 NFL Draft.
  • After a bit of arm twisting and fan service, Bo signed with the Raiders, with the understanding that the team would not interfere with his baseball career.
  • Bo for the next 4 seasons would miss training camp and 6-9 weeks while he was wrapping up his baseball commitments with the Royals.
  • In his rookie year, he quieted doubters with a sensational MNF performance where he ran over the Seattle Seahawks and Brian Bosworth for a then Raider record 221 yards rushing.
  • He had 81 carries for 554 yards and a whopping 6.8 yards per carry and a 91 yard TD in 1987.
  • In 1989, Bo ran for a career high 973 yards and a 92 yard TD.
  • By this point Bo was becoming a multi sport star and one of the major darlings of sports marketing.
  • In 1990, he returned again to the Raiders, and helped galvanize the team to the playoffs, bursting for an 88 yard TD and 698 yards on 125 carries.
  • That year he became the first athlete to be named to both the Pro Bowl and the All-Star Game.
  • During the playoffs against the Bengals, Bo was tackled from behind where he suffered a hip injury that was later determined to be a career ending injury to his football career.
  • Bo was cut by the Royals soon thereafter, signing with the Chicago White Sox.
  • He’d be exclusively a baseball player and a DH, before spending his entire 1992 season rehabbing from the hip injury.
  • Bo played a final season for the California Angels in 1994- retiring after the season was ended due to a strike, to spend more time with his family.

ACCOLADES:

  • Heisman Award 1985
  • Pro Bowl 1990
  • Auburn #34 retired
  • College Football Hall of Fame
  • AL All-Star 1989
  • All-Star Game MVP 1989
  • 1990 Pro Bowl (reserve)

NOTES:

Bo, is of course, fondly remembered by fans of Tecmo Bowl for being an unstoppable force in the game. When my friends and I played, and one of us was the Raiders, about the only way to stop him was to actually select Bo’s run play on every play of the game, lest you take a chance that he runs for a TD on you on the one play you forgot to.

Outside of what media he already appeared in before he retired, Bo’s done a lot of stuff since retirement otherwise, dabbling in TV and commercials. He loves to do archery, and donates and raises a lot of money for charity.

I spent the most money ever on getting an in person autograph of Bo Jackson. I’m not sure what I was expecting. To him it was a transaction but to me I wanted it to be an experience. I guess I was ultimately disappointed.

My friend Jeff and I bought tickets to the event at Barton Creek Mall. We thought it’d be in a retail outlet, but instead it was in an open area where tables and memorabilia had been set up in the mall.

Once Bo sat down, he didn’t really have much to say, rushing us through, even telling Jeff he should have his items ready to be signed when he walked up. Later when I went through the line and got his autograph, he took the card of the guy in front of me and slightly bent it intentionally while he was talking to him before he signed it. Thankfully since I had a stiff Action Packed card, he didn’t have a chance to do the same thing for me.

Unfortunately Bo remains a strong set need for me, as I need him in multiple sets.

NFL

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MLB

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NFL

Weeden, Brandon ‘Weeds’

Card: Topps Valor 2013  (#68/70)
Acquired: 2017, Ebay

Brandon Weeden. What an interesting road it has been for him, and so, a fortuitous one for him and the Houston Texans. Weeds took a different approach to the NFL, as he was a baseball player first that was drafted in the second round of the 2002 MLB Amateur Draft by the Yankees. He pitched in the minor leagues with them, then later the Dodgers, the Royals, and after the 2006 season quit the sport all together to focus on football, enrolling at Oklahoma State where he was a 2 year starter. He posted some impressive numbers, and set school single game and season records for the Cowboys.

He’d become the oldest player selected in the first round (28), by the Cleveland Browns in 2012. The Browns have been a cesspool for quarterbacks since they returned to the NFL.  He’d beat out Colt McCoy for the starting job and after a rough start posted a club rookie record 3,385 yards passing- nevermind his 14 to 17 TD to INT ratio or his 5-10 record. The winds of Cleveland blew fiercely and the 3rd new head coach in 4 years (Rob Chudzinski) was not impressed by Weeds.  After 5 ineffective starts, Brandon was unceremoniously benched for Brian Hoyer.  Although Brandon was on pace to improve in only his second season as a starter in the NFL, it was obvious his time was short with the Browns. During that season with Cleveland, Brandon threw a 95 yard TD to lead the NFL.

It was a new world in 2014 for Brandon. Considered a part of Pat Shurmur or Rob Chudzinski’s aborted regimes, new head coach Mike Pettine cleared house.  Weeds signed with the Dallas Cowboys to compete with Kyle Orton for the backup job behind oft injured Tony Romo. Beating out Orton in camp, Weeden saw some limited playing time during his first season with the team. The Cowboys considered him a lucrative insurance policy for Romo.

The wheels fell off the Cowboys in 2015. With a season ending injury to Tony, Brandon assumed the role as the starting quarterback during week 2. After posting a 0-3 record as starter for the Cowboys, Brandon quickly found himself on the outside looking in, when Matt Cassel replaced him in the lineup- largely to the same results.  It must have been difficult for Weeds, as the coaches and ownership paid him plenty of lip service both in the clubhouse and in public- nonetheless, he was cut in mid-November.

The Texans have had a hard time keeping a quarterback upright for a full 16 game slate going back to 2012 (Matt Schaub).  2015 was no different. Ironically former Brown Brian Hoyer won the job in camp fighting off the imploding Ryan Mallett. The legend TJ Yates returned after the team had enough of Mallett, but after Hoyer was placed in concussion limbo, the team scrambled to find a backup for Yates. Enter: Brandon Weeden.

I remember when the Texans signed Brandon the following day after being cut by the Cowboys. Honestly, I was terrified.  He was a heartbeat away from being the Texans starting quarterback if Yates was injured. Houston controlled their own destiny to winning the division but was involved in a dogfight with the Colts.

It’d be in that game, in Week 15 against the Colts at Indianapolis- a place that the Texans had never won, that Weeden would finally come alive. With Yates tearing his ACL early in the game, Weeden came in and deftly executed the offense. He went 11 of 18 and threw for a TD to Jalen Strong early in the 4th quarter. The Texans, won 16-10 and took the driver’s seat for the division that the Colts had held nearly all season.  The following week the Texans dominated the hapless Titans 35-6. Weeds threw for 200 yards on 15 of 24 passing, including 2 passing TDs and a rushing TD. While he’d return to the bench the following week as Hoyer finally cleared the concussion protocol, Brandon Weeden cleared his little place in Texans lore that season- and earned a fair amount of respect from me.

Brandon in 2016 did not see any playing time behind the erratic Brock Osweiler or Tom Savage.  He’d be among the Texans final cuts before the season began in 2017 as many teams were only electing to keep 2 quarterbacks on their roster. A few weeks later he’d find a home and join the Tennessee Titans.