Card: Pro Set WLAF 1991
Acquired: In Person, 1992.  San Antonio Riders v Orlando Thunder.

Bobby McAllister is considered a hero at Michigan State from their glory days of the 1980’s, leading the team from 1987-1989. It was a team stocked with talent in Lorenzo White, Andre Rison, Willie Bouyer and the ‘Gang Green’ defense.    Bobby was not drafted after his senior season, and ended up on the Roughriders roster in 1989, playing briefly for the Argonauts later that year, finally landing on the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks roster in 1991. A scrambler by nature, he was extremely effective on the bootleg. Bobby would come off the bench that year and give the team a much needed boost playing admirably in two games, but the Skyhawks were folded after the 1991 season finishing a woeful 0-11.  McAllister would be picked up by ‘Team Dallas’, where he’d play on the league’s ‘taxi squad’. (Team Dallas functioned as a training ground for players so that they could quickly assimilate league and playbook terminology, keep players in peak shape, and quickly get out standardized game film of practices. They played no games that were tracked by the league.)   McAllister would eventually be signed by the San Antonio Riders late in the 1992 season, where he served as the number 3 quarterback behind Mike Johnson and Brad Goebel.

After the game against the Thunder, I caught Bobby coming out of the locker room and asked for his autograph. He was very excited because he had never seen his card before. He studied it intensely and autographed it with a big smile and offered to take a photo with me. We talked for a few minutes, and I told him if I ever got another card I’d give it to him. Unfortunately the league would fold before I could, as the Riders only played one more home game that season. After football Bobby has become a folk hero to Michigan State fans for his Rose Bowl heroics, and ardently supports the team to this day appearing in 2008 at the 20 year reunion to celebrate that fabled game. -By the way Bobby, I have that extra card for you now.

Games n/a      Att 195       Comp 91      Pct 46.7     Yds 1152        Td 7          Int 11           Rat 54