Tag Archives: New York Giants

CFL, NFL

Christie, Steve

pset90 christieCards: Score Supplemental 1990, ProSet 1990, GameDay 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent: 4/1    Received: 4/17   (16 days)

Steve Christie left William & Mary as the school’s All-Time leading scorer in 1989 with 279 points. He was signed as a free agent by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1990. The Bucs had a solid kicking game with Donald Igwebuike, but Christie beat him head to head in camp and won the job outright. Through Week 7 of the 1990 season Christie was the leading scorer in the NFL with 57 points and hit all of his XP, and was 14 of 16 of field goals.  By the end of the season Steve was named All-Rookie by the UPI, as he finished second in the NFC with a .852 field goal percentage.  After another solid season in 1991 with the Bucs, Christie was left unprotected by the team, controversially after he made promises not to leave the team.

The Buffalo Bills had finally decided that it was time for longtime kicker Scott Norwood to go. They offered Steve twice the salary he was making in Tampa to come to Buffalo.  Christie didn’t look back. scosup90 christieHe’d later cite that the ‘lack of winning tradition’ in Tampa as factoring into making his decision easier, because, “You get quite depressed only winning 3 games a season.”
Christie distinguished himself with the Bills almost immediately. and played with the franchise through the 2000 season, erasing many of the previous kicking marks held by Norwood. Steve set the franchise records that he set were the longest field goal (59 yards), the longest field goal in playoff history (54 yards), and the most career field goals in the playoffs (9). Steve is the franchise’s All-time leading scorer with 1,011 points, and set a franchise record with 14o points in a single season (1998).

In 2001, Steve signed with the San Diego Chargers after a somewhat contentious divorce from the Bills. A preseason injury forced the Bills to offer Christie an injury settlement- an offer that he rejected. So the team with no real choice at that point placed him on injured reserve, and then finally granted his unconditional release a few weeks later. He played with the Chargers through the 2003 season. From there he spent some time with thegday92 christie Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants in 2004.

Christie then entered a period of semi-retirement. He briefly played for the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL in 2007 as a favor to general manager Mike Clemons- a teammate from William & Mary. Afterwards he signed a one day contract with the Buffalo Bills to officially retire as a member of the franchise in 2008.  He’s done some football commentary since then and has worked in the CFL as a player agent. As of 2014, Steve’s 1,476 points ranks 16th in NFL history and his 336 field goals rank 13th.

In this day and age, kickers have become more interchangable between franchises, but the best clutch kickers such as Christie, Stenerud, Anderson, and Andersen, have just become more and more rare, especially when they were able to pull of long stints with one team.

G  229           XPA 473         XPM 468         PCT  98.9
FGA 431         FGM 336         PCT  78.0          PTS 1476

 

 

 

NFL

Howard, Erik

s&s92 howard sco91 howard

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cards: Stars & Stripes 1992, Score 1991
Acquired: 2012, Canton Acquisition

Erik Howard was an unheralded nose tackle for the Giants 3-4 defense that plugged up the middle rushing lanes. He demonstrated the versatility, speed, motor, and size to actually play all three down linemen positions. A second round pick of the Giants in 1986, Erik split time backing up Jim Burt, winning the Super Bowl after his rookie season. He started his first full season in 1989, recording 5.5 sacks, 1 FF, and a career high 69 tackles. Howard earned his only Pro Bowl nod for his 1990 efforts, with 3 sacks and 67 tackles. He’d win his second Super Bowl title following the season against the Buffalo Bills. Erik played with the Giants through the 1994 season, when he had a career high 6.5 sacks playing defensive tackle. He left via free agency in 1995 for the Jets and retired there following the 1996 season.

G/Gs 139/95   Tac 377    Sac 33     Fum 2     Int 0    Yds 0    Avg -.-  Td 0    Lg -.-

 

NFL

Allegre, Raul

sco89 allegreflr90 allegre
Card: Fleer 1990, Score Supplemental 1989
Acquired: 2/16/2013, Longhorn Neighborhood Foundation Bowling Tournament

Raul was the last autograph that I got from the LNF Bowling Tourney. It was one of the more memorable ones as Rod Babers came up and harassed Allegre about his picture on the back of his 1989 Score Supplemental card. He laughed and remarked about how young he looked, and Rod told Raul’s son that he looked just like him. Raul is an extremely active member of the NFLPA and is Vice President of the Austin chapter. He’s an ESPN Deportes commentator and has also handled the color commentary for Monday Night Football in Espanol.

Raul Allegre excelled at soccer in high school, which led him to become a kicker in football. He attended Montana and then later the University of Texas where he was 67/69 on extra points and 28/46 on field goals. A free agent signee by the Colts in 1983, Allegre stepped in and actually went to the Pro Bowl following the 1985 season going 16 of 26 on field goals and 36 of 39 on extra points. Following the 1985 season, Allegre lost a pitched training camp battle to Dean Biasucci. He did not see action until midway through the 1986 season, when he was an injury replacement for the New York Giants. He held the position down with the Giants through their 1986 and 1990 titles. He was notable during his stint with the Giants for his accuracy under pressure. Cut in 1991, he quickly signed with the Jets, but retired in 1992 after losing out to Jason Staurovsky in training camp, citing lingering back injuries. In 1992 he briefly entertained a comeback with the Houston Oilers and was considered for the kicker job there, but lost out to Al Del Greco. Raul is a member of the original Tecmo Bowl as the Giants’ kicker.

G/Gs  92/92    XPA  190    XPM 183   Pct 96.3%     FGA 186    FGM 137    PCT 73.7%    Pts 594