Tag Archives: ohio glory

AFL, NFL, WLAF

Little, Larry

Cards: ProSet WLAF 2014 hack, Majestic 2010
Acquired:  TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent: 5/31    Received: 7/14      (43 days)

I remember vividly back when the Riders played the Glory, how the fans swarmed Larry for his autograph. The former NFL Great guard was kind and signed as much as he could after the game. Little was one of the few black head coach at the professional level of football in many years, and it was a big deal- even if it was the WLAF in 1992.  While the Glory finished with a dismal 1-9 record, the team was competitive in many contests. While Wild Card and Ultimate both contributed cards to the World League family in 1992, none outside of ProSet made any cards that showcased coaches- and ProSet bailed out on the WLAF market by 1992, so I made my own.

Larry played offensive line in college at Bethune-Cookman, but was not drafted in 1967. (It’s not known whether it was an issue of scouting or lack of film, but it was obvious that Larry was overlooked not only by the NFL but the AFL as well.) He’d sign as a free agent with the San Diego Chargers of the AFL. In 1969 Larry was traded to the Miami Dolphins where he quickly distinguished himself.  Larry was a key cog of the Miami Dolphins 1970’s dynasty, blocking up front for Jim Kiick, Mercury Morris, and Larry Czonka. He’d be named to the Pro Bowl 5 times (1969, 1971-1974,) and earn All-Pro 5 times (1971-1975) over his career.

After retiring from the NFL in 1980, Larry coached at his Alma Mater Bethune-Cookman from 1983-1991, before joining the WLAF with the Ohio Glory. Little was primarily known as a player’s coach. He returned to college after the WLAF went on hiatus, and coached at North Carolina Central from 1993-1998.

He’s earned numerous accolades from his playing career as well, being named to the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team, the Miami Dolphins Honor Roll, the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993, and The Sporting News 100 Greatest Football Players in 1999.

Larry signed these 2 cards for me through the mail. I should’ve actually included the Ultimate WLAF Ohio Glory Checklist but, maybe that’s for another time. I sent him the rest of the WLAF cards that I made for him to keep and he returned two of them, one inscribed with 17-0 and the other with HOF 1993.  The photo is of him from his interview with the WLAF Gameday Magazine from 1992 and it makes a solid, if not stoic impression of the former Glory coach. I really have warmed up to the Crown Royale Majestic line of cards from 2010.  While the card is very busy design-wise, it almost has a carnival appeal to me, emphasized by the typeface used for Majestic. How Majestic is lined up and off center within the marquee drives me a bit nuts, but otherwise the patch and autograph tie up this card nicely.

G/GS  183/157

NFL, WLAF

Patterson, Melvin

Cards: Ultimate WLAF 1992, Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent:  5/11           Received:  5/22   (11 days)

Melvin Patterson was quite the find. Since his time in the WLAF he’s tread a very unique life.  After a lot of cross referencing his football card to a variety of other sources I found an old post on the web imploring users of the designer drug Kratom to contact Patterson at the DEA. After a few months of soul searching, I decided to reach out to Melvin. It had taken me sometime because I was intimidated to be calling the D-E-A. Furthermore, what would his reaction be? Finally, for me it breaks a long standing rule and tradition of TTM requests to never contact the player directly. Mail is direct enough, but by phone- that is a higher level of communication and it could be construed as something alarming. Nonetheless, I went ahead nervously and gave it a shot.

Initially it was a rough call. I could read easily that Patterson’s tone was skeptical, but after stumbling through formalities and explaining the purpose of my call, my link to him through the WLAF, and how it had positively impacted my life, he opened up to me and we had a long and interesting conversation about the league. It was really enlightening for me, as most of my discussions with former players usually is through snail mail, and I could get knee jerk, honest answers immediately about Melvin’s time playing for the league from him. I also was able to reassure him of my purpose by being able to discuss these things at length with him, especially the infamous ‘Hail Storm Game’ that occurred between Ohio and San Antonio.  He shared with me that the game held significant importance for him as both his mother (who frowned upon him playing football because she was afraid he’d get hurt) and his future wife were in attendance at the game.

Melvin also shared with me the background behind his 99 yard TD grab against the Knights- the longest in league history.  Apparently they had tried the same play on the previous down, and it hadn’t worked. While in the huddle, Melvin was chirping in QB Pat O’Hara‘s ear about how open he had been for most of the game.  They decided to attempt the same play again, but flip it. O’Hara went back to pass and Melvin found the seam between the corner and the safety and before he knew it, the ball was in his hands. He split the defensive backs and stepped on the gas to take the ball to pay dirt.  Patterson also reminded me of the SFA connection and that many players including Patrick Action Jackson and Todd Hammel had made their ways through the WLAF. He was very curious in how his teammates and college players had been doing.  Melvin said he’d even put in a good word for me if I could track down Todd.   Like many players, he agreed that the NFL gave up on the WLAF (and its other incarnations) too soon, as we rattled off the lineage of players that went on to greater glory or have become coaches in their own right, thanks in part to time honing their skills in the league. In addition he told me he had been assigned to the Austin field office for a few years during his tenure at the DEA, and this was quite a charge to me, just reinforcing what a small world it is.

In 1987, Melvin led SFA with 31 receptions for 472 yards and 2 TDs. Melvin signed with the Dallas Cowboys as a Free Agent in 1988 and the Atlanta Falcons in 1989.

He joined the WLAF in 1991 as a 5th round pick of the Birmingham Fire.  Based on archival information, it appears that Melvin was a member of the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks at the end of 1991, finishing with 4 catches for 126 yards and a 72 yard long.  Patterson was signed by the Eagles and allocated back to the WLAF for 1992. He was selected by the Ohio Glory in the supplemental player draft.

To say that the Glory suffered an identity crisis on offense is an understatement. Not only was there problems at quarterback, the coaches argued over the philosophical offensive strength of the team. Still, Melvin managed to haul in 21 receptions for 395 yards and 2 TDs as a long bomb threat.  I’m sure that his mom shuddered every time the defense forced a punt,  as Melvin was the team’s primary returner with 25 returns for 173 yards.

These are some great cards of Melvin.  The photography for the Ultimate set was uneven, but with this action shot of Melvin was pretty solid. Even though he doesn’t have the ball, the photo is at the right distance and the framing is just right to make this shot stand out from the ordinary. The second image from the Wild Card set is a nice one. You can feel the ball hitting Patterson in the bread basket. I wasn’t the biggest fan of their design however.  I thought the stamp logo and the bright numbers down the side really took away from the main composition of the card.

Melvin has pretty much been a career man in DEA since football and is nearing retirement.  He wrote me a really nice note with the autographs he sent back to me and said that he gets requests every once in a while from fans for autographs.  Of note, Melvin’s gaudy receiving average of 20.8 ranks 4th in league history.

WLAF    REC  25    YDS  521    AVG  20.8     TD  2      LG 99T
PR  25      YDS 173     AVG  6.9       TD 0

NFL, WLAF

Wilson, Curtis

Card: ProSet WLAF 1991
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Home
Sent: 3/6/15   Received: 3/16/15  (10 days)

Curtis Wilson was a difficult player to track down- but with a bit of effort I was able to find him connecting a few dots. Wilson’s son plays football in Curtis’ footsteps. This gave me a tip leading me to a small town in Oklahoma. Cross referencing that information to Curtis’ data on his ProSet WLAF card cinched the deal. Curtis was the last player from the original ProSet WLAF 1991 set that I needed from the Sacramento Surge.

Curtis Wilson was originally drafted out of Missou by the New England Patriots in 1989. At Missouri, Curtis distinguished himself as a leader on the line when he was voted co-offensive captain as a Senior. His skillset, speed (4.95 40) and size (6’3″, 273) allowed him to play a variety of positions on the line. After being cut by New England shortly before the start of the ’89 season, he’d be selected in the 3rd round of the WLAF positional draft by the Sacramento Surge.

While the Surge had a difficult 1991 season finishing a dismal 2-8, Wilson was one of the up and coming stars of the offense. He’d help pave the way for Sacramento’s rushing attack from the Center position as both Paul Frazier and Victor Floyd averaged over 4 yards a carry in 1991.  He’d earn second team All-World Honors from the league.

Before the 1992 WLAF draft began, the Surge traded draft positions with the Ohio Glory to move up to the #1 overall spot. Sacramento traded the Glory Curtis in the exchange. The move represented the first trade in league history.  Unfortunately Curtis was injured during training camp and was lost for a good portion of the 1992 season.

Curtis included a nice note with his autographed card and wrote “God Bless You!”, on the back of his card next to his player profile picture.