Tag Archives: los angeles rams

NFL, usfl

Fuller, William

Card: SkyBox Impact 1992
Acquired: In Person 1993, Houston Oilers Training Camp

Defensive end William Fuller would leap to the NFL after playing two note worthy seasons for the Baltimore Stars of the USFL. After leaving the USFL he would report to the Rams, but they subsequently traded his rights to the Houston Oilers as part of the trade that sent Jim Everett to Los Angeles. At first it appeared that the Rams got the better end of the deal, as while Jim Everett passed for good numbers and established himself as a top end quarterback Fuller’s sack numbers were slow to increase. Despite his slow production by 1988, Fuller tied for a team high with 8.5 sacks under coach Jerry Glanville. His 1989 and 1990 seasons would also show marked improvement.  1991 would be his best season as a pro as Fuller would finish 2nd in the NFL in sacks with 15, and be named to the ProBowl for the first time. After a down year in 1992, Fuller would return to double digit form again in 1993 making 10 sacks but Bud Adams made good on breaking up the Oilers, and let the venerable defensive lineman go via free agency to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1994.

William would pick up where he left off, making 35.5 and 7 fumble recoveries over the next 3 seasons for the Eagles. Each season he’d also be named to the Pro Bowl, but after 1996 he’d leave via free agency again for the San Diego Chargers, and retire after the 1998 season.  At the time of his retirement his 100.5 sacks ranked him top 25 all time.

Since retirement Fuller has been named to UNC’s sports HoF, the 50th Anniversiary team, and has is active in programs to help prevent diabetes.  He has donated time to coach at the local high school in Virginia Beach and is a real estate developer.

SkyBox too attempted to create a premium line of football cards in 1992. While Stadium Club was impressive, and Fleer was lowering the bar, Skybox’s Impact was just- well confusing. You just didn’t get which brand was actually the premium brand of SkyBox’s football line with a Primetime and Impact line that were both pretty nice looking. The real problem was Skybox didn’t trade for a year or two before they came out with a the premium line, so the market just got muddled down. While their team MVP cards and special mini poster insert cards were amazing, Skybox’s general design for their Primetime cards left much to be desired- much as in the William Fuller card above. It’s strictly okay by design standards with a generic shadow on a gray-silver plane, but what is up with the | | | | in the background? Skybox also had this penchant for gigantically displaying their logo on their cards, which was equally distracting, especially with the background isolated in a single color. The team name “Oilers” goes up the side on the right which is a complete design gaffe. Take one moment to look at your DVD collection. Do you notice on the spine of every DVD the type goes down the right?  It’s just easier to read that way and it has always been sort of an unspoken standard for many years. I like how they added the number, but it’s turned into a disastrous tangent with his fist slightly obscuring the 9 on the 95. William’s name is tracked out, which is maybe a bit much, but the other tangent as his name almost taps the top of his helmet is equally annoying. I wasn’t a big fan of this line of Skybox cards in the end, but the “Impact” series that they debuted earlier that year was cutting edge at the time.

G/Gs  194/160   Tac  483    Sac  100.5   Fum 19   Int  2     Yds 9     Avg 4.5   Lg 9   Td 0

NFL

Jones, Jimmie


Card: Score 1990
Acquired: In Person 1991, Dallas Cowboys Training Camp

Jimmie Jones was another one of Jimmy Johnson‘s Miami Hurricane connections in Dallas. Knowing what he was getting from Jones, Johnson snatched up the defensive lineman in the 3rd round of the 1990 draft. At 6’4″, 285- he had great height, but needed to put on a bit of weight if he wanted to be an every down lineman; However utilized situationally as a speed rusher- Jones was ideally suited for what the Cowboys were doing. Jones would also contribute along the line on special teams. His rookie season was strong. Jimmie would finish with 7.5 sacks and 60 tackles starting in 6 games at left defensive tackle. Following that up in 1991, he’d add 2 sacks and 2 fumble recoveries in 6 games shifted to right defensive tackle making room for fellow Hurricane Russell Maryland. In 1992 and 93 he’d continue his tear as a speed rusher, making a total of 10.5 more sacks despite being deployed in a rotation with other linemen. During SuperBowl XXVII, Jones would not record a single tackle, but would recover 2 fumbles, scoring a touchdown on one of them. The 2 fumble recoveries would tie a SuperBowl record.

Jimmie would capitalize on his Super Bowl performance and be signed by the Los Angeles Rams in 1994, where he was finally given a starting role next to Sean Gilbert. He’d respond by making 10.5 sacks in 44 starts for the team, but was released in 1997 as salary cap casualty. In Jones’ twilight, he would finish out his career with the Eagles in 1998, in the role that made him a star with the Cowboys- as a situational pass rusher making 2.5 sacks.

Jimmie Jones is not to be confused with the defensive end by the same name, but a different era, playing for the Jets and Redskins from 1969-1973.

G/Gs 121/60      Tac 248      Sac  32      Fum 2       Int  0      Yds 0    Avg -.-    Td 0    Lg -.-

NFL

Millen, Hugh

Cards: GameDay 1992, ProSet 1991
Acquired: TTM 1992, Patriots Blitz, In Person 1993, Dallas Cowboys Training Camp

Hugh was a veteran journeyman whose best years as a quarterback came playing for the New England Patriots for Dick MacPherson during the early 90s. Millen was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams out of Washington in the 3rd round of the 1986 draft. After breaking his ankle in training camp he became an unlucky casualty of the Jim Everett trade the next season. For the next two seasons, Millen would back up oft injured Chris Miller in Atlanta, starting 3 games and picking up some garbage time. Heading Plan B to New England in 1991 and 1992, he’d share time with Tom Hodson and Scott Zolak as starting quarterback of the team. His most notable game was when the team upset the Oilers on the weekend of ‘Babygate’ throwing to Greg McMurtry in the final minutes of the game. With the team’s collapse again in 1993, Millen would be traded to the Cowboys and the Patriots would select Drew Bledsoe.  He wouldn’t play in a game, but would sign my Game Day card in camp that season- as he would be released with the signing of Bernie Kosar. With Aikman, Kosar, and Jason Garrett, Hugh was once again expendable and would sign with the Dolphins. In 1994, Hugh would sign with the Denver Broncos where he’d finish out his career over the next two seasons backing up John Elway. For the 1996 season he’d sign with the New Orleans Saints but would not make the roster of the team and retire. He currently lives in Washington.

GameDay really had a nice card set when they came out in 1992. Its unique design coupled with innovative Photoshop masks to desaturate the background,  leave the players firmly in the focus of the image. Well tracked type, does not cloud the picture plane and helps activate the white space outside of the image area. When I got signatures on GameDay cards it was because most of them had a certain “whoa” factor that really caught my eye.

G/Gs  40/25      Att 928     Comp 560     Yds 6440    Pct 60.3      Td 22    Int 35     Rat  73.5