Tag Archives: operation discovery

NFL, WLAF

X, Victor

Pro Set WLAF 1991, #76 A

CARD: Pro Set World League 1991
ACQUIRED: TTM 2022, C/o Work
SENT: 2/14 RECEIVED: 3/22 (24 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Victor was a rare player, who originally played American Football for English clubs, that was able to successfully make the transition to the World League.
  • His career started with the London Ravens, whom he played for from 1983-86.
  • Victor ran gangbusters over the league with 3770 yards, 66 touchdowns, with an average of 8.9 yards per carry.
  • After a brief foray to the states in ’86, Victor returned to England to play for the Manchester Spartans.
  • Ebubedike first grabbed the attention of the NFL in 1990, as the New York Jets expressed interest in trying him out.
  • Later on he’d be selected by the World League of American Football by the London Monarchs as part of the league’s ‘Operation Discovery’ program for play in 1991.
  • He’d score the first TD in Wembley Stadium by an English- American footballer against Orlando.
  • A fearsome hitter, Ebubedike also was a special teams gunner, logging 16 tackles that year.
  • Returned to the Monarchs for the ’92 campaign.
  • In 1995, he changed his last name to ‘X’, through his studies with the Nation of Islam.
  • At that time the World League was firing back up again, and Victor returned to the Monarchs that year.
  • He played the next 3 seasons with the team, finishing with 116 carries, 416 yards and 4 touchdowns.
  • After the London/ England Monarchs disbanded after 1998, Victor still wanted to play.
  • He’d return to playing football around Europe and then later England, playing his last game in 2013- at the grand old age of 47.
  • Considered a Black Pioneer of the sport, and an Ambassador of American Football in England.

ACCOLADES:

  • Operation Discovery 1991, ’92

NOTES:

Pro Set 1991, #76 B

Wow! First try and a success! I got extremely lucky to get Victor. Apparently one of his friends from Houston was visiting London, so he just handed the return envelope to him and he popped it into the mail when he returned to the US, avoiding any need to figure out Royal Mail return rates or send outs. The mail gods were truly on my side for this one! I was ecstatic to get this one back, and he slides into the top 5- mileage-wise, just a few miles behind fellow Monarch Philip Alexander.

I had been trying to find Victor X, aka Victor Muhammad, aka Victor Ebubedike since I started this project. I was aware that he was back in the mother-country, but wasn’t really sure where, since they don’t allow webcrawlers to aggressively aggregate information on people in Europe. Well I started digging and eventually was able to turn up from an article that he went through a few last name changes. From there I found another article indicated he was a fireman. -And from there… I found an article that he and his coworkers were hailed as heroes for saving some people from a fire. That article gave a station number, and from there I found the address and took a wild shot.

WLAF

RUSHYDSAVGTDLG
1164163.6446t
RECYDSAVGTDLG
331.006
WLAF

Alexander, Philip

psetwlaf91 alexander ult92 alexander

Cards: ProSet WLAF 1991 AW, Pro Set WLAF 1991, Ultimate WLAF 1991, Ultimate WLAF 1991 KL
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Crystal Palace UK
Sent: 7/5   Received: 7/26   (21 days)

ult92 alexander scPhilip Alexander was one of the WLAF’s Operation Discovery success stories. After playing professional soccer in New Zealand from 1982-1986, and then playing American football with the Farnham Knights of the British Football League, Alexander earned a tryout with Ditka’s Chicago Bears. By 1991 though Alexander was looking to get a further taste of American Football. Things changed when the World League came calling, and Philip joined their ‘Operation Discovery’ program. The idea was that the program was to foster growth of American football in different countries by having teams sign international players to their rosters. Many of these players had no previous American Football experience, little less NFL experience. (Initially rules were suggested that one international player must be on the field at least once a drive or set of downs. Thankfully this rule was struck down before it even made it to the field.) Still this allowed for an additional four spots on rosters for teams to stash players. The Monarchs made the most of it, as both Philip and Victor Edubuike were placed on their OD rosters in 1991.

pset91 alexander CCAlexander made the best of his time with the Monarchs and not only earned Operation Discovery Honors as an outstanding international prospect, but also was named First-Team All-World League that season leading the league in scoring with 64 points and going 9/13 on field goal attempts. In 1992, he’d go 9 for 14 on field goals and score 46 points. The league would reorganize after the season, not to be seen again until 1995.

Philip returned to soccer (aka football) and eventually moved into the front office. I had been looking to get him for quite a while, but I kept putting it off after I had gotten stung by another long distance WLAF request a few years back. Still I reached out to the Crystal Palace organization and contacted him through email to confirm it’d be okay, and surprisingly I got a response back within a month. Amazing considering that the envelope travelled a grand total of 4,917 miles and back in one piece. This is one of those success stories that has to be chocked up just as much to the UK Royal Air Mail and the USPS, as it was for Philip signing this card.

WLAF 20/20   XPA/XPM 59/56    FGA/FGM  27/18     PCT 66.6%      Lg 52      Pts 110