Tag Archives: new york guardians

AAF, CFL, NFL, XFL

Williams, Marquise (2)

Cards: Panini Contenders Draft Picks 2016, Panini Prism 2016, Topps AAF 2019, Topps XFL 2020
Acquired: 2020, Box Breaker/ COMC
See Also: Marquise Williams

Marquise Williams played for the San Antonio Commanders in 2019. A dangerous scrambler with great pocket presence and a great touch on the ball, Williams was a great change of pace for the Commanders from starter Logan Woodside. Initially moonlighting on 2 point conversions, Williams saw his play time increase as injuries, and a porous offensive line plagued Woodside over the season. After the Alliance collapsed in April of 2019, Marquise was spotted at the XFL tryouts.

Williams was selected by the New York Guardians in the XFL 2020 draft. He’d back up Matt McGloin at quarterback as the Guardians traded for Luis Perez from the Wildcats. With McGloin melting down early in the season, Williams saw some gametime action in relief against the Defenders and the Battlehawks, but by late February Luis Perez was named starter for the Guardians. Two games later the XFL ceased operations due to COVID.

Marquise has some great authentic autographs, so I wanted to pick these up since I was never able to get them while he was with the Commanders. The XFL certified was a pull, and much like its AAF predecessor, showcases just a simplified, nice, wholesome press photo of Marquise. Panini Contenders was doing some interesting stuff at the time of this evolutionary cycle of design with an image of Marquise on a design focused canvas. I am not much for the gaudiness of the Prism sets, but I really liked how Williams’ blue uniform pops from this silver background.

AAF, NFL, XFL

Ginda, Frank

Card: Topps AAF 2019
Acquired: TTM 2020, C/o Home
Sent: 4/10 Received: 4/30 (20 days)

Frank Ginda played linebacker for the San Diego State Spartans from 2015- 2017. He started as a true freshman, and his numbers improved every year into his Junior campaign. In 2017, he led the NCAA in tackles with 173, and had 13 tackles for loss, 2 sacks and 3 pass deflections. Frank finished his college career with 351 total tackles, 29 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks, 6 forced fumbles, 4 pass deflections, and an interception for 16 yards.

Frank was not selected in the 2018 NFL Draft, and after a quick stop in Arizona, joined the Miami Dolphins. He had an outstanding preseason finale against the Falcons, but was one of their final cuts.

Frank returned home where he joined the Alliance of American Football signing with the San Diego Fleet. Behind the Fleet’s nasty 3-4 front, Frank led the team with 41 tackles- posting 4 for loss, 2 pass deflections, and a forced fumble against SLC that led to a TD recovery- despite only starting 2 of 8 contests. He also set the league record for tackles in a game, recording 15 against the Memphis Express, in their March 2nd contest.

” We all just bought into the system and we all dialed in and knew how much we wanted to play in the NFL. There were guys that played multiple years. There were guys that played preseason like I did and there were guys that didn’t play at all. Everybody bought into the system and bought into the playbook.”

-Frank Ginda

After the AAF folded, Frank didn’t stay unemployed for long. He’d be selected by the New York Guardians of the XFL 2020, where Ginda finished with 11 tackles and a sack in 5 contests.

Frank signed this awesome card of his and dropped a nice note on the back of it thanking me for my support.

AAF, NFL, XFL

Stockton, Justin

Cards: Topps AAF Certified 2019, Topps AAF 2019, Topps AAF Now 2019, Topps AAF 2019 Red Parallel (58/99)
Acquired: EBay, 2020.
In Person 2019, San Antonio Commanders v Arizona Hotshots
TTM 2020, C/o Home
Sent: 8/31 Received: 9/8 (8 days)

After the Arizona Hotshots defeated the Commanders in that final game of the AAF, many of the Hotshots stayed behind to talk to family and sign a few autographs behind the visitors side of the field. Arena staff was eager to shepherd fans out of the stadium, but I managed to haul in quite a few Hotshots including Justin. At the time, I was still one of the few fans who had their actual trading cards, and Justin hadn’t seen his base AAF card yet. He thought it was pretty awesome.

Anticipating that players might not have their cards yet, I went ahead and gave Justin the extra copy of the card I had on me that evening. Justin’s certified card is one of the few that also features an action shot him from the preseason, and he also signed the card with a thin, black ink pen, as opposed to the standard blue medium tip.

Justin played from 2014-2017 for the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Over 4 years he averaged a heathy 5.8 yards per carry, and finished with 1714 yards and 14 TDs on 294 carries. He also displayed a knack for catching the ball, recording 82 receptions for 872 yards and 10 TDs.

He would be allocated to the Arizona Hotshots of the Alliance of American Football after going undrafted in the 2018 NFL draft. Stockton was part of a 3 headed monster rotation alongside Tim Cook and Jhurrell Pressley. Despite this- Stockton managed to finish 11th in the league rushing for the Hotshots top flight rushing attack, with 43 carries for 233 yards and a 45 yard TD. His 45 yard TD came at an opportune time as it sparked the Hotshots to a victory over the Memphis Express earlier in the season.

After camp with the Lions, Stockton joined the XFL 2020 as a member of the New York Guardians along with former teammate Tim Cook. Justin made it count oddly, mostly, in the last game of the season against Dallas, rushing 5 times for 41 yards, had a catch for 8 yards for two points, and blew by the Renegades return unit for a 58 yard kick return. With COVID already hitting the league, the XFL shut down after week 5.

Oddly Stockton was not included in the XFL set, however, I finally got a copy of his Topps NOW card. I have been chatting with his RB coach for a while, and after helping him out with some design work, he hooked me up with the Hotshots RB corps addresses so I could get them on a few cards. Justin not only signed his Topps Now card, but I also had a red parallel he signed as well, and included a nice note- that almost felt like he was punching up, cleverly telling me, “That he always likes to run hard in San Antonio!”