Tag Archives: New York Jets

Arena, NFL, WLAF

Sterling, Rob (1966-2019)

Card: ProSet WLAF 1991
Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o Home
Sent: 12/7 Received: 12/21 (14 days)

A 5th round pick of the Orlando Thunder during the WLAFs inaugural positional draft in 1991, Rob Sterling played college ball at Maine. After graduating in 1988, he’d be selected by the Eagles, but spent the entire year on IR. Acquired via plan B by the Jets the following season, he didn’t make the squad, but returned to the Eagles where he saw time on the team’s developmental squad.

Still hungry to play football, Rob signed up with the fledgling Arena Football League, and played for both the Albany Firebirds and the Washington Commandos in 1990. In limited action, Rob had 5 receptions for 50 yards and a TD, and 8 total tackles- playing both ways.

A rangy playmaker with good speed, Rob finished 3rd on the Thunder in Tackles with 43 stops and 9 pass deflections- after sitting out the final game with a knee injury. Rob’s biggest highlight came when he took a lateraled interception 33 yards for a TD against the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks. He did not return to the league for the 1992 season.

I collaborate with fellow collector Mark (of Marks Signing Bonus) on a semi-regular basis through Sportscollectors.com. He and I send WLAF addresses back and forth of players we have gotten lucky on and while he claims that I am regularly on point, he comes up with some killer finds- including Rob Sterling. Rob originally hails from Jamaica, has got a pretty common name, and went to Maine (of all places), so I pretty much gave up on this one some time ago after doing a ton of research. Thankfully Mark passed this one along to me and Rob autographed this one in roughly 2 weeks.

G –WLAFTACSACFUMINTYDSAVGTDLG
9/10430.0103333.0133T
G- ARENATACSACFUMINTYDSAVGTDLG
80.0000-.-0-.-

**UPDATE**- Upon retiring from football, Robert join the private sector working for Jackson & Tull Aerospace in Greenbelt, Maryland. In the late 1990’s he accepted a job with Ball Aerospace and relocated to Denver, Colorado. He received numerous awards and recognition program awards for his outstanding work in the aeronautics field. While working at Ball, he attended graduate school and obtained an MBA at the University of Denver in Technology Management. He also obtained a Certificate for Corporate Entrepreneurship. Robert also had a passion for coaching. During his time living in Denver he coached football for several youth teams at the Boy’s Club in Denver.

In 2010, he later moved to California to pursue his other passion, fitness. He started Sterling Fitness & Wellness 4U, where he trained clients to reach their optimum fitness and health goals. He found his new business to be very rewarding and was excited about changing people’s lives.

Due to health reasons he relocated back to Maryland to be closer to his family. On August 23rd, 2019 Rob passed away at the Lorine Rehabilitation Center in Columbia, Maryland.

https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/silver-spring-md/robert-noel-sterling-8831719

AAF, NFL

Johnson, Charles

Card: Topps AAF 2019
Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o The Philadelphia Eagles
Sent: 4/10 Received: 7/26 (107 days)

Charles Johnson was the big bodied playmaker in Steve Spurrier’s Sun N Gun offense at Wide Receiver. Over 8 games, he caught 45 passes (70 targets) primarily from Garrett Gilbert, for 687 yards, 5 TDs and a 2 point conversion. His 687 yards and 70 targets were a league mark. Charles best game came against the San Antonio Commanders in Week 2, as he set AAF records with 10 catches for 192 yards and a TD.

“He’s done a fantastic job since he’s been here. He got himself acclimated to the system, and he and I have great rapport.”

– Apollos QB Garrett Gilbert

Charles Johnson’s football story starts at Antelope Valley Community College back in 2008. He caught 24 passes for 231 yards and 3 TDs, and then at Eastern Kentucky catching 3 passes for 63 yards. He transferred to Grand Valley and reshirted for a year. Returning to the gridiron in 2011 he blew the doors off of the college recording 56 receptions for 1030 yards and 15 TDs. Johnson followed that season up with an equally impressive Senior campaign with 72 receptions for 1,199 yards and 16 TDs.

Although he was not invited to the NFL combine in 2013, and hailing from a small school, Charles turned heads with his 4.39 40 on his school’s Pro Day. He parlayed his efforts to sneak onto draft boards as a 7th round pick of the Green Bay Packers. Earning a spot on the team’s practice squad, Charles was signed away by the WR needy Browns, where he spent 2013 and 2014.

He then spent the next 3 seasons with the Vikings from 2014-2016. It was with the Vikes Johnson saw the most success, cobbling together 31 catches for 475 yards and 2 TDs during 2014. Hampered by injuries and inconsistency, Johnson struggled through 2015 and 2016.

Charles signed with the Panthers in 2017, but did not make the squad. The following year in 2018 he joined the Jets, but was cut mid-year and elected to join the AAF.

After the disappointing end to the league, Charles signed within the first few days of the AAF free agent frenzy. When I saw his name popped up on the transaction boards for the Eagles, I didn’t hesitate for a second and sent out to him the following week.

As one of the older players in the AAF, Charles was of interest to many scouts in the NFL and there was a lot of chatter always surrounding what a great story he was for the league, and how just getting back to basics had really helped him fall back in love with the game. I got his autograph on his lone AAF card, and although they did come out with a Topps NOW card of him- I thought that Topps really missed out on the certified autograph boat with him.

NFL

Buckley, Terrell (2) ‘T-Buck’

Cards: GameDay 1992, Classic 1992, ProSet 1992
Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o Mississippi State
Sent: 9/8  Received: 9/29    (21 days)
See Also: Terrell Buckley ‘T-Buck’ 

After his stint at Florida State filling a variety of different roles through a 5 year stint, Terrell has had various 2 year stops around college football as a positional coach. He quietly coached Cornerbacks at Akron from 2012-2013, then was with Louisville from 2014-2015. Since 2016, Terrell has served as the positional coach for safeties at Mississippi State.  In 2018 he was named as a finalist for the College Football Hall of Fame- and had his ticket punched shortly thereafter for the 2019 class.

I had been wanting to get back to Terrell since I was a kid. Honestly after all these years I had wondered if those autographs that I had gotten from the Packers were ghost signed, but much to my relief they were not. 

I had wanted to get both the base Classic 1992 and the blister pack card signed, but couldn’t find the blister, so I went ahead and substituted in the ProSet 1992 card. I am fond of the look of none of these cards in particular, though I do like the Classic 1992 because he is in his FSU uniform. His ProSet 1992 card is humorous to me, strictly because he is wearing a jean shirt and the expression on his face makes me think that he was just blindsided by being drafted by the Packers.