Tag Archives: ohio glory

NFL, WLAF

Rasul, Amir

Cards: Ultimate WLAF 1992, Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent: 7/27   Received: 8/29  (34 days)

An excellent rusher and receiver out of the backfield during college, Amir Rasul finished with 2072 yards rushing, 600 yards receiving and a total of 23 touchdowns during his career at Florida A&M.  The Buffalo Bills would draft him in the 7th round of the 1991 draft to fit the mold of a Thurman Thomas back in their offense. He would not make the roster of the team.

The WLAF would come calling and the expansion Ohio Glory would select Amir in the 6th round of the 1992 draft. Although playing for the abhorrent Glory, (which finished at an abysmal 1-9,) Rasul was always a threat out of the backfield, racking up 572 yards rushing and 4 touchdowns for the team. In the season opener against Orlando, not only did he score the franchise’s first TD, Rasul also set league records rushing 24 times for 152 yards and a TD.  He also earned Offensive Player of the Week Honors. His rushing yards would be good enough to rank 2nd in the league behind Ivory Lee Brown (SA) in the end. He would not earn All-World honors however for his efforts. That would be it for the WLAF though, as it would reorganize after the 1992 season.

Since that time Amir has lived in relative anonymity and went into construction where he is the owner of Diamond Construction Group, out of the Fort Lauderdale area. I was able to track him down utilizing Spokeo, as his unique name made him an easy find. I didn’t expect to get a reply, so to get his response on these 2 cards was quite nice in a bit over 30 days.

Below are his WLAF statistcs:

G 10   Rush 136     Yds  572    Avg  4.2   Td  4    Lg  36  |
Rec 20    Yds 117    Avg  5.8      Td 0   Lg 22

NFL, WLAF

Laufenberg, Babe

Card: Ultimate WLAF 1992
Acquired: In Person 1993, Dallas Cowboys Training Camp
Failure: TTM 2010, C/o Home

Most famously remembered as the Dallas Cowboys 3rd string quarterback during the late 80s and early 90s, Babe Laufenberg was also the #2 overall choice of the WLAF expansion Ohio Glory in 1992.

Originally drafted out of Indiana in the 6th round of the 1985 draft by the Washington Redskins, Babe would not see playing time with the team. In 1986, he’d sign with the Saints, suiting up one game, but not play. This trend continued for Babe as he returned to the Skins for 1987.

In 1988 however, Laufenberg signed with the Chargers and started 6 games for the team that year. He’d compile a 2-4 record as a starter, throwing for 778 yards, with 4 touchdowns to 5 interceptions.  He’d move to Dallas in 1989 as the 3rd string quarterback behind Troy Aikman and Steve Walsh. He’d suit up for 3 games in 1989, after Aikman went down with an injury, but Babe still did not see any playing time until 1990.

With Steve Walsh traded to New Orleans, Laufenberg was elevated to second string for the remainder of the season.  Once again, Aikman was  injured, this time during Week 16 against the Eagles. Babe finished out the game,  as the team lost 17-3, completing 13 of 36 passes for 140 yards…. and 4 interceptions.  Laufenberg then started week 17 throwing for 129 yards and a touchdown to Jay Novacek in a losing effort blow out to the Atlanta Falcons 26-7. It’d be the last time he’d start a game in the NFL.

In 1991, Laufenberg rode into camp I’d swear on a Vespa. A character- you could always count on Babe to say something quotable or give people appropriate nicknames, like “Moose“. The Cowboys were comfortable with newly signed Steve Beuerlein in camp behind Aikman and cut the Laufenberg early on into camp that year to give him a chance to catch on somewhere else.  He’d sign with the Chiefs for the season.

Babe wound up being drafted by the Ohio Glory of the WLAF in 1992. I remember in that preseason game against San Antonio at San Marcos, Riders fans heckled Babe, as he was sacked and intercepted multiple times, en route to a shellacking by San Antonio. The Glory returned to play the Riders later in the 1992 season, but by then the team was starting Pat O’Hara.

Fans were still wrathful about the Cowboys missing the playoffs in 1990, blaming Laufenberg for the loss to the Eagles and Falcons, but really the Cowboys had to win both games- and they never stood a chance against the Eagles in the first place. Sports is a great place for revisionist history however, and Babe to many fans, despite his popularity was scapegoated by fans in Dallas  at that time for those games. -Personally, I loved the guy. Great personality. Amazing to listen to talk.

After the WLAF folded, Babe went into broadcasting where through 2011 he is a successful color commentator and sports broadcaster in Dallas.

G/Gs   N/a    Att 115   Comp 62   Yds  622  Pct 53.9   Td  2   Int 6    Rat  53.6

NFL, WLAF

Koonce, George

Card: Ultimate WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent: 4/14 Received: 4/22 (8 days)
Failure: 4/27/2010 TTM 2010, C/o University of Milwaukee

George Koonce went undrafted out of college from the University of East Carolina in 1992 after an amazing career at the Junior College level.  He signed with Jerry Glanville‘s Falcons, but was waived during the preseason.

Undeterred Koonce was selected by the Ohio Glory of the World League of American Football in 1992.  He started at linebacker making 2.5 sacks for the team during the season. Afterwards Koonce would immediately sign with the Green Bay Packers where he’d play all 3 positions at linebacker in the team’s 4-3 alignment over the next 8 seasons. Although injured for the team’s Super Bowl appearance, Koonce was a solid pickup by the Packers and was competent in coverage, making a career high 3 interceptions for 84 yards and a touchdown in 1996. After the 1999 season, Koonce  would sign with the Seattle Seahawks in 2000, where he made 1 pick for 27 yards and a touchdown to cap off his career.  At the conclusion of George’s NFL career he managed to rack up 720 tackles, 9 sacks, 5 picks, and 2 TDs in 118 starts. Pretty darn good for a World League of American Football player!

Since retirement George has been inducted into the ECU Pirates Hall of Fame and earned his master’s degree in Sports Management. He also has a foundation for underprivileged children and has served in the front office of the Packers, Marquette University and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

I had previously attempted to contact him for his autograph through the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee but he had already left the college and it is assumed that those cards are lost. I saw that he had signed a few cards recently through the mail and through Sportscollectors.net so I gave his home address a shot. He responded in 8 days.

Koonce is a WLAF success story, (much like Tracey Simien, Doug Pedersen or Chris Mohr,) George was one of the original players who had a long and tenured career in the NFL that directly benefited from his involvement with the World League.  This Ultimate 1992 card is technically (for all points and purposes) his rookie card and his card photo was taken at the Riders/ Glory preseason game in 1992. Not one of my favorite cards. I mean couldn’t they have gotten him in a 2 point stance or cropped this photo differently.

G/Gs N/a   Tac N/a   Sac 2.5   Fum 0   Int  0   Yds  0    Avg -.-   Td 0  Lg -.-