Tag Archives: New Jersey Generals

CFL, NFL, NFLE, usfl

Banks, Antonio

CARD: Playoff Contenders 2000 European Ticket
ACQUIRED: Future Considerations, 2020

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Antonio Banks played CB at Virginia Tech from 1993-’95.
  • A ballhawk, Banks posted 14 picks for 312 yards over his time playing for the Hokies, including 9 picks for 171 yards in 1996.
  • 4th round pick of the Minnesota Vikings in 1997.
  • Saw action in 24 contests over 3 seasons (’98-’00) primarily at S.
  • Played in the CFL in 1998 for the Blue Bombers.
  • Took two stints in the NFLE playing for the Admirals (’98), Galaxy (’00), and then back to the Admirals (’00-’01).
  • Had probably a CB NFLE single season, if not career positional record 5.5 sacks for Amsterdam in 2000.
  • Played in the CFL for the Alouettes (’02) and Blue Bombers (’03).
  • Has pursued coaching since retirement, taking his skills all over the world as an ambassador of the sport and back to America.
  • Coached for the Alphen Eagles (Netherlands, ’06), and then in Cairo (!!!) for the Bears (2016-’17), then back to the states working for IMG, and also as a Secondary Coach for the Generals of the USFL (2022-’23).

NOTES:

Antonio has really parlayed his NFL career into a literally well travelled coaching career. I mean Cairo- talking football? I know it was a big culture shock but still. That’s pretty impressive.

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NFL
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NFLE
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CFL
Arena, NFL, NFLE, usfl

Ruzek, Roger

Score 1991, #526
Topps Stadium Club 1992, #15
Score 1992, #308

CARDS: Topps 1992, Topps 1991, Topps Stadium Club 1992
ACQUIRED: TTM 2022, C/o Home
SENT: 8/22 RECEIVED: 8/27 (5 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Roger Ruzek played K at tiny Weber State (’79-’82), where he set NCAA Division I-AA records for field goal accuracy (84.2), and school career records in FG (46), FG in a game (4), and consecutive XP (30).
  • Unable to beat out Matt Bahr in Cleveland as an UDFA in 1983, Ruzek joined the New Jersey Generals in 1984.
  • He played 2 seasons for the franchise before the league folded.
  • In ’86 he got a tryout with the Cowboys but didn’t latch onto the team until the following season after a few bumps.
  • Ruzek ended up posting 22 of 25 on FGs, scoring 92 points.
  • Tied NFL record with 4 FG in 1 quarter against the New York Giants that year.
  • Set franchise mark with 5 FGs made against the Rams that year.
  • In ’88 had a contract holdout, but had a rough year- and was eventually cut during the ’89 season in favor of Luis Zendejas.
  • Quickly found a home with the rival Eagles that year, and returned to solid form.
  • The Eagles opted to keep Ruzek and he’d kick with the team through 1993.
  • During the ’93 season, the Eagles signed Matt Bahr after Ruzek strained a hamstring.
  • Ruzek again replaced Bahr, later in that season, and then again was released in ’94 as the Eagles opted to go with Eddie Murray.
  • With a cup of coffee out of the way with the ‘9ers in ’94, Ruzek played Arena ball with the San Jose Sabrecats in 1995.
  • He then hopped over to London to play in his final season for the Monarchs of the World League in 1996- making 8 of 11 FGs.

NOTES:

Back when I was a kid, I played a lot of soccer. When I started watching football I was all about the kicker. I was surprised, the guy who scored the most points, who had the most pressure on them to win games, didn’t get more love. On the Cowboys, (since that’s all we got here,) I really liked Ruzek, and was surprised the team didn’t stick by him longer during his later struggles with the team. He also made an appearance on the original Tecmo Bowl as a member of the Dallas ‘Wings’.

I had no clue that Ruzek had played for the World League. If I had known that I would have written him sooner. It’s just too bad all he had to sign with was a ball point pen. Regardless he was the shortest wait of 2022 coming in at a breakneck 5 days.

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USFL
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NFL
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Arena
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00-.-11872.339
WL
AAF, NFL, usfl, WLAF, XFL

Riley, Mike (2)

CARD: Topps AAF 2019 Certified
ACQUIRED: Private Acquisition, 2022
FAILURE: TTM C/o Home 2019, 2020

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

NOTES:

Picking up where we left off, Mike ended up back at Oregon State, where he became the school’s most winning coach. In 2014, he’d be pried off the Beavers by Nebraska. After a difficult tenure at Nebraska, Mike was welcomed back to Corvallis with open arms as an assistant coach.

When the Alliance of American Football was announced, I knew he’d be at the top of their list. I was excited to see Mike return to SA (from his days with the Riders of the WLAF) to coach the team. He was excited to take a walk down memory lane with me when I showed up with my Riders hat on at the Commanders unveiling. The team very much resembled the Riders, and finished 5-3 during the AAF’s season.

I had narrowly missed getting Mike’s autograph on his Topps AAF card during pregame warmups against the Salt Lake City Stallions. I had sideline passes and thought that he’d be a shoe-in to get later TTM. Oddly though, he’s dodged my TTM requests since then.

After the AAF folded, much to everyone’s dismay, Mike was hired on to be the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Dragons of the XFL in 2020- just because it wasn’t more local to Texas.

Recently it was brought to my attention that Mike and head coach Jim Zorn had a disagreement about who should be starting quarterback. The row was so bad between the two that Mike left the team for the first 3 games of the season.

He joined the new USFL as head coach of the New Jersey Generals, and led the team to a 9-1 record in 2022. The team zoomed out to a 2-1 record in 2023, before dropping their next 5, en route to a 3-7 record.

When the XFL and the USFL combined to form the new UFL, the Generals were not retained for 2024.