Tag Archives: Los Angeles Raiders

NFL, NFLE, University of Texas

Jones, Brian (LB)

Card: University of Texas Upper Deck 2011
Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o Home
Sent: 4/13   Received: 5/7    (24 days)
Failure: 2015, C/o Home

Originally a UCLA commitment, Brian Jones was a rare transfer victory during the days of Coach David McWilliams. He played for UT from 1988 to 1990. In both 1989 and 1990 he garnered All-SWC Honors and posted 117 tackles in his Senior season.

He was selected by the then Los Angeles Raiders in the 6th round of the 1991 draft, however the Colts traded for Brian before the season even began. The next few years found Jones bouncing on and off the rosters of the Dolphins (1992) and Raiders (1994). He then joined the Scottish Claymores of the newly reconstituted WLAF or NFLE- where he found success and was spotted by the New Orleans Saints. He spent 4 seasons with the franchise before ultimately retiring in 1998.

Brian finished his communications degree in 2000, and went into radio. Later he moved to TV and has been in College Football and lifestyle programming ever since. I got lucky on this one after failing on another address last year.  Brian was one of my favorite linebackers growing up. I was really surprised that he was taken so late in the 1991 draft. Still he managed to carve out quite a career for himself and parlay it to the next level.

NFL 44/9       TAC 53       SAC  1.0       FUM 1
INT 0       YDS  0        AVG -.-       TD 0

NFLE          TAC N/a       SAC N/a        FUM N/a
INT N/a      YDS  N/a      AVG N/a       TD N/a

NFL

Green, Gaston

Cards: GameDay 1992, Score 1989
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent: 12/31/17 Received: 1/12/18 (12 days)

At the time of his graduation from UCLA, Gaston Green stood atop the Bruins’ career rushing charts with 3,731 yards. After trading Eric Dickerson, John Robinson was looking to reload the Rams offense. The Rams had other needs as well, but when the #1 back in the draft plops in your lap at #14, you take him. There were quite a few recognizable names in the 1988 NFL Draft. The most notable name was Thurman Thomas, selected near the top of Round 2. John Stephens, taken a few picks after Gaston, won the 1988 Rookie of the Year Honors. Other names that rounded out this group were: Lorenzo White, Ickey Woods, Brad Muster, Craig Heyward, and Lars Tate. With the surprise emergence of afterthought Greg Bell in LA, Gaston played sparingly for the Rams, biding his time primarily on special teams. After 3 seasons behind Bell, Cleveland Gary, Robert Delpino, and Marcus Dupree– Gaston was traded by the Rams to Denver in 1991.

The Broncos were a run first squad as well. It was good timing as starter Bobby Humphrey was holding out. Gaston took over as starter and didn’t look back. He had his best season as a pro posting 1,037 yards on 261 carries, and 4 touchdowns, earning Green his only Pro Bowl appearance. In 1992, he had 648 yards on 161 carries. After the season he signed with the Los Angeles Raiders, but opted to retire instead. It really worked out best this way for Gaston, as he retired before he was 30 with his health still intact.

Great cards of Gaston. In fact, nearly all the card images of Green from his playing days are amazing. It was really tough to choose between his GameDay, Action Packed, Score, and ProSet entries, but these two were among my favorites. I have a box that I keep of players that I really want and when Gaston popped up, I dashed a letter out the door to him the next day.

G/GS 58/28       Rush 551      Yds 2136      Avg 3.9      TD 6      LG 67t
Rec 32      Yds 232      Avg 7.3       Td 1      Lg 33
Kr 47      Yds 981       Avg 20.9      Td 1      Lg 99t

CFL, NFL

Ismail, Raghib ‘Rocket’ (2)

Cards: Fleer 1996, All World Promo 1991, Classic 1991, Atomic 2001
Acquired: TTM, 2018
Sent: 1/2       Received: 1/8   (6 days)
See Also: Rocket Ismail

Shortly after attending one of the Dallas Cowboys Rally Days where I met Rocket and got his autograph on a handful of cards, he started signing TTM again. I thought initially, “Oh well,” but knew I needed to double back to him to get a few more cards signed. So rolling over to 2018, what better way to kick it off by getting Rocket again as my first autograph of the year?

These cards really offer a cross section of his career starting at Notre Dame on this Classic 1991 promo card. Hand it to Classic trying to be edgy out of the gate, but the name line feels right aligned because the weight is tied to WR. I also wasn’t too big a fan of the brushed granite look, but it beats the cheetah pattern they later used. Overall, it’s a great photo of Rocket and there were quite a few of them to choose from.

From there we move on to the terrible All World CFL series, which tries to emulate the ProSet 1989 design by just angling the lines. There’s also the terrible color choices as the red and blue just feel like they clash a bit too much. It does not help that the Argonaut helmet just sort of -sits there arbitrarily on the canvas. As a promo however it sells what it is: The first set to have Ismail in his professional debut threads.

After his time in the CFL, Rocket jumped back to the NFL courtesy of the Los Angeles Raiders. It seemed to make sense. I mean the only other place with as bright stars and marketing would be Dallas, right? I liked this card. Fleer 1995 was all.. over.. the.. place.. design wise from team to team. It embodied everything I liked and hated in the 1990s sets as the companies started really embracing Photoshop. This one for example has a very unnecessary grain. I like the fearlessness of the design on the front, but it is a bit too much.

After his time with the Raiders, a stop in Dallas was next. It took me a while to come around to the sets of the early 2000s as I didn’t collect any while I was on my football hiatus. Among them I liked the die cut Atomic. I have a soft spot for gimmicky cards, and these certainly look better once you see one.