Tag Archives: london monarchs

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Brown, Marlon ‘Spacedog’

psetwlaf91 mbrownCards: ProSet WLAF 1991, ProSet WLAF 1991 World Bowl, Ultimate WLAF 1992.
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Home
Sent: 5/15    Received: 6/8  (24 days)

Marlon Brown is a member of the deep 1989 NFL class. He was a 12th round pick of the Cleveland Browns after setting the Memphis school record with 19 sacks. His career highlights include a 4 sack performance against Louisville, which garnered him Associated Press Defensive Player of the Week Honors in 1987.   Brown joined the British Columbia Lions of the CFL in 1990 as a defensive end, recording 3 sacks and 7 tackles.

pset91 mbrown WBWith the unveiling of the WLAF in 1991, the London Monarchs selected Brown with the 4th overall pick among linebackers in the inaugural positional draft.  A key component to the Monarchs’ WLAF title run in 1991 and top rated defense, Marlon Brown finished on the All-World League Second Team.  Spacedog had 42 tackles and 7.5 sacks. His 5.5 sacks in a 22-7 win over North American rival New York-New Jersey stand as a single game league record, and he was named player of the week.  In World Bowl I, Marlon also contributed a sack in the Monarchs 21-0 shutout of the Dragons.

Marlon was traded after the season concluded. His fortunes basically went from first to worst, as he’d join the Ohio Glory. He finished his career in the WLAF as a member of the New York-New Jersey Knights.

ultwlaf92 mbrownFrom time to time I network with other collectors about the hobby. I’ve always admired Mark’s Signing Bonus. As a respected collector, I think he is a wonderful resource who cares about TTM and autographs as much as I do. I finally worked around to asking him about a few player successes he had, chief among them- Marlon. (I had emailed a lead  before, but it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.)  Mark kindly helped me out and before I knew it, Spacedog had responded and included a nice note asking for a copy of his WLAF Ultimate 1992 card.

Marlon barely has even noticed that almost 25 years have passed. He’s still in pretty good physical shape and runs his own trucking business out of Memphis that keeps him on the road a good portion of his time.

CFL   G  5     Tac  7      Sac   3.0    Fum N/a
Int  0     Yds 0     Avg -.-      Td 0     Lg -.-

WLAF         Tac  42     Sac 7.5      Fum  N/a
Int  0      Yds 0    Avg -.-       Td 0      Lg -.-

 

WLAF

Alexander, Philip

psetwlaf91 alexander ult92 alexander

Cards: ProSet WLAF 1991 AW, Pro Set WLAF 1991, Ultimate WLAF 1991, Ultimate WLAF 1991 KL
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Crystal Palace UK
Sent: 7/5   Received: 7/26   (21 days)

ult92 alexander scPhilip Alexander was one of the WLAF’s Operation Discovery success stories. After playing professional soccer in New Zealand from 1982-1986, and then playing American football with the Farnham Knights of the British Football League, Alexander earned a tryout with Ditka’s Chicago Bears. By 1991 though Alexander was looking to get a further taste of American Football. Things changed when the World League came calling, and Philip joined their ‘Operation Discovery’ program. The idea was that the program was to foster growth of American football in different countries by having teams sign international players to their rosters. Many of these players had no previous American Football experience, little less NFL experience. (Initially rules were suggested that one international player must be on the field at least once a drive or set of downs. Thankfully this rule was struck down before it even made it to the field.) Still this allowed for an additional four spots on rosters for teams to stash players. The Monarchs made the most of it, as both Philip and Victor Edubuike were placed on their OD rosters in 1991.

pset91 alexander CCAlexander made the best of his time with the Monarchs and not only earned Operation Discovery Honors as an outstanding international prospect, but also was named First-Team All-World League that season leading the league in scoring with 64 points and going 9/13 on field goal attempts. In 1992, he’d go 9 for 14 on field goals and score 46 points. The league would reorganize after the season, not to be seen again until 1995.

Philip returned to soccer (aka football) and eventually moved into the front office. I had been looking to get him for quite a while, but I kept putting it off after I had gotten stung by another long distance WLAF request a few years back. Still I reached out to the Crystal Palace organization and contacted him through email to confirm it’d be okay, and surprisingly I got a response back within a month. Amazing considering that the envelope travelled a grand total of 4,917 miles and back in one piece. This is one of those success stories that has to be chocked up just as much to the UK Royal Air Mail and the USPS, as it was for Philip signing this card.

WLAF 20/20   XPA/XPM 59/56    FGA/FGM  27/18     PCT 66.6%      Lg 52      Pts 110

WLAF

Williams, Rickey

wcwlaf92 rwilliams ultwlaf92 rwilliamsCards: Ultimate WLAF 1992, Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Work
Sent: 6/14     Received: 6/19    (5 days)

Linebackers were not in short supply in the WLAF and a few teams, such as the London Monarchs drafted them quite well. The team had Danny Lockett and Marlon Brown,  but also stole former Razorback Rickey Williams in the 7th round of the 1991 WLAF linebacker draft.

A two year starter during his collegiate career for Arkansas, Rickey was a 2 year semifinalist for the Butkus award both in 1986 and 1987.  One of the leaders of a stellar defense alongside Steve Atwater and Wayne Martin, Rickey was the leader in tackles on defense, but got little recognition from the national media. The SWC you see suffered from a media bias, and the Conference was not well received on the national level. Still he earned many accolades from his Alma Mater and also from the SWC as an All-Conference Selection in 1987. Rickey went undrafted in the NFL. Perhaps it was his size that worked against him at 5’11”, 227, but Rickey didn’t let that deter him from following his dreams of playing professional football. He signed with the Pueblo Crusaders of the Minor League Football System in 1990 and played one season for the team.

During his 1991 run with the Monarchs, Rickey recorded 76 total tackles (47 unassisted), 4 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles, en route to a World Bowl victory over the Barcelona Dragons 21-7.  A speedy linebacker, Rickey was an excellent cover man and frequently blanketed opposing team’s tight ends and runningbacks. One of the league’s most underrated players, Rickey’s numbers were outstanding considering the star power on the roster, but he’d be overlooked for WLAF honors. Rickey returned to the WLAF for 1992 and again started for the team, finishing with an additional sack on the season. After the season the WLAF reorganized while Rickey returned to the states and eventually his hometown of Little Rock.  Rickey was named to the Arkansas Razorbacks All-1980s team and today is still one of the college’s career leaders in tackles despite only starting 2 seasons for them. He’s coached football and realized his fire is still burning for the sport and helping others achieve their dreams of playing at a higher level. He’s put his energy and talent to a good use, forming Life Champs, a charity dedicated to providing high quality, professionally-run youth sports leagues, camps, and tournaments to kids in Central Arkansas and providing them with guidance, purpose, and mentoring.

I used the power of the internet again to track down Rickey. Note that his Wild Card WLAF 1992 issue is misspelled ‘Ricky’- This is an uncorrected error. Anyway I shot him an email and we got to talking and he agreed to sign these two cards for me. A class act, Rickey told me he was excited to have received all the extras I had sent to him.

Tac N/a      Sac 5.0      Fum 3         Int 0       Yds  0      Avg -.-      Td 0      Lg -.-