Tag Archives: Minnesota Vikings

Leslie, Jordan

Topps AAF 2019 Certified, #AU-JL

Card: Topps AAF 2019
Acquired: 2019, EBay

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Jordan Leslie played college ball for 3 years at UTEP from 2011-2013.
  • He racked up 125 catches for 2015 yards and 15 TDs.
  • In 2014, he played his Senior season for BYU catching 55 passes for 779 yards and 6 TDs.
  • Undrafted, Leslie signed with the Vikings in 2015, but didn’t make the squad.
  • He’d then spend time on the off-season and practice squad rosters of the Jaguars, Falcons, and Titans, before finding a home on the Browns from 2016-17.
  • Leslie made his first NFL catch in 2017, and then was later placed on IR and subsequently released.
  • After some more practice squad and offseason action with the Broncos in late 2017 and through a good portion of 2018, Jordan decided to sign with the Salt Lake Stallions of the AAF.
  • On the season he caught 10 passes for 79 yards and a TD.
  • When the AAF folded in 2019, he signed with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the CFL, but asked to be released soon thereafter.
  • His Instagram lists him as a ‘retired NFL receiver’ and owner of OYD Sports Academy in Chandler, AZ.

NOTES:

Pretty sure after the conclusion of the hard fought contest between the Stallions and the Commanders in SA, as I was leaving I was walking behind Leslie and his family. He was complaining about how the team wasn’t giving him or the WRs enough chances to make plays. Not sure why I didn’t ask him for his autograph but it may have been because he was so frustrated.

Beavers, Willie

Topps XFL 2020, #171

CARD: Topps XFL 2020
ACQUIRED: IP, XFL 2023 Championship Game

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Willie Beavers was a 4th round pick out of Western Michigan by the Minnesota Vikings in 2016.
  • Beavers has kept the dream alive and his agent busy since then, seeing tours with the Vikings, Patriots and Seahawks in 2016-’17.
  • After concluding his time with the Seahawks in 2018, spent a bit of time with the Bears as well that year.
  • After a short stint with the 9ers in 2019, played for the XFL Dallas Renegades in 2020.
  • Great film allowed him to return to the NFL, where Willie got practice squad for the Falcons later that year and into 2021.
  • Signed with the Commanders in ’22, but was injured and released.
  • Returned to the XFL to play with the Arlington Renegades in 2023, starting 5 contests.

NOTES:

The Renegades had just pulled off a huge upset in the XFL Championship game over the Defenders, and after the celebration at midfield, Dallas players were rightfully a combination of delirious, elated, and exhausted. Willie was slowly milling off the field, and as the throng of people around me called him over, he didn’t budge until I called him by name. He slowly ambled over took selfies and signed a card for me. I told him how much I appreciate every one of them and to keep living the dream!

Tice, Mike

Gameday 1992, #473

CARDS: Gameday 1992, Pacific 1991
ACQUIRED: TTM 2023, C/o Home
SENT: RECEIVED: 9/16/23
FAILURE: TTM 2023, C/o Home

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Played college football for Maryland but was not selected in the 1981 NFL Draft.
  • He’d join the Seahawks as a free agent, primarily used on special teams and as a blocking TE.
  • Over the next 8 seasons, became a seldom used fan favorite.
  • After a one year stint in Washington (’89), returned to Seattle for the next two years.
  • Played for the Vikings in 1992-’93, and a final season in ’95.
  • Moved into coaching almost immediately as a positional coach for the Vikings in ’96.
  • Named the Vikings’ interim head coach in 2001.
  • Officially retained as head coach in 2002 and remained head coach through the 2006 season.
  • Team reached the pinnacle of offensive production setting modern NFL records for total yards in 2003, after leading the NFL in offensive yards in 2002.
  • Wasn’t retained following the 2005 season.
  • Has served a variety of assistant coach and positional coaching jobs with the Jaguars (2006-09), Bears (2010-12), Falcons (2014), and Raiders (2015-17).
Pacific 1991, #488

NOTES:

I thought Mike might make a good fit for the XFL, but he seems content to stay semi-retired. I needed Mike for the Gameday 1992 set, but I figured I might as well toss in the Pacific card, since it was from his Seattle days. A good signer TTM, he had moved and my cards were RTS but I got the golden forwarding address.

Mike must have a great personality as he seemed beloved in both Seattle and Minnesota.

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