Tag Archives: orlando predators

Arena, CFL, NFL, WLAF

McGowan, Paul

pset91 mcgowanCards: ProSet 1991, ProSet WLAF 1991, Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent: 1/24     Received: 2/18  (25 days)

Paul McGowan led all Florida State defenders in tackles for 3 straight seasons from 1984-1987. In his Senior season he was a First Team All-American as he made 150 tackles including 13 for losses, and won the Butkus Award as the nation’s preeminent linebacker, however he waited until the 9th round to hear his name called by the Minnesota Vikings. A final cut in the preseason, McGowan joined the Browns but was also cut as well. At 6’0″, 222, many teams felt he was undersized and slow for the position, but the numbers said otherwise.

Paul was signed by the Ottawa Roughriders of the CFL in 1989 and made 42 tackles, and ended up being cut early in 1990. He was drafted by the Birmingham Fire in the first round of the WLAF’s linebacker draft in 1991, and was a force to be reckoned with in the team’s 3-4 alignment. The team’s tenacious defense led the Fire into the playoffs, psetwlaf91 mcgowanand McGowan was charged with leading the linebacker corps with 59 solo tackles and 3 fumble recoveries. Head coach Chan Gailey called McGowan a ‘glue guy’; Basically, a player who makes sure that every player is lined up right and ready. Equally impressive linebacker teammate John Brantley, however won the WLAF Defensive MVP award. McGowan returned in 1992, and so did the Fire to the playoffs, losing again to Barcelona in the first round. Paul expressed interest in returning to the Fire for the 1993 season, however the WLAF reorganized shortly there after.

Paul joined the Orlando Predators of the AFL in 1993. As an ironman league at the time McGowan got to play both sides of the ball in the league’s traditional LB-FB switch off. He’d play for the team through 1997 when he decided to go into firefighting instead. In 1998 Paul was inducted into the Predators Ring of Honor and at the time of his abrupt retirement was the team’s career leader in sacks. In 2010, McGowan was ranked in a poll as the 11th greatest Florida State player of all time.

wcwlaf92 mcgowanI followed the internet rabbit in order to find this one and struck gold. Paul signed these cards and also included a nice note with them, thanking me for the reminder of the great memories.

WLAF     Tac  N/a     Sac  1.0    Fum N/a
Int  3    Yds  29     Avg  9.7    Td    0   Lg 12

AFL   LB   Tac  97   Ast  39    Sac 17    Fum 6
Int  0    Yds  0   Avg -.-   Td 0   Lg -.-

FB   Rush 139    Yds  555      Avg       Td   11
Rec  25     Yds 227     Avg     Td 2

 

Arena, CFL, NFL, WLAF

Fears, Willie

jo93 fearsCards: Wild Card WLAF 1992, Jogo 1995
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent: 1/7       Received: 1/16    (9 days)

Willie Fears took a strange,winding, inspiring route, to his dreams of being a professional football player and coach. Undrafted out of Northwestern Louisiana St in 1985, Willie played 5 games for the Ottawa Rough Riders in the CFL.  Invited to the Miami Dolphins minicamp, he showed up admittedly out of shape and had to put his career on hold.  He became a corrections officer at the Arkansas State Maximum Security Prison, but along came the NFL Players Strike in 1987. At 6’4″, 280, Fears had the frame to still play, and probably had the greatest vacation time ever from work, spending 3 weeks as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals. Afterwards he went back to the CFL, playing for both Ottawa and Toronto in 1988 and 1989, before returning again to the NFL in 1990 as a member of the Minnesota Vikings.

Willie was then drafted by the WLAF San Antonio Riders in 1992. Willie’s technical precision, skillset, and size, allowed the team to shift him into any of the 3 places on the line, which was invaluable to the Riders 3-4 alignment. An experienced force on the line, he proved difficult for offensive linemen to handle, and helped the Riders be one of the staunchest defenses in the league.  After the league went on hiatus, Willie begun a career playing in the Arena Football League. He’d sign with the Cleveland Thunderbolts and played for them through the 1993 season, before hopping back into the CFL with the Sacramento Gold Miners. In 1994 the Gold Miners moved to San Antonio and became the Texans. He’d join them there back in his old stomping grounds. Afterwards, Fears joined the AFL again, playing in 1996 for the Tampa Bay Storm, and then in 1997 for the Nashville Katz.

wcwlaf92 fearsHe then continued his dream by becoming a football coach.  In the ArenaFootball2 league, he’d coach with the Arkansas Twisters for 3 seasons, before joining Jay Gruden on the Predators to coach the linemen. Ironically, later Pat O’Hara, joined the staff replacing Gruden as head coach. Pat was a member of the Ohio Glory and probably felt Willie breathing down his neck more than once during the Riders 17-0 stomping of the Glory back in 1992. Fears remained with the Predators through 2011. Currently he lives in Arkansas. My first success from the Meiselman 2014 list, I had been looking for Willie for quite sometime, and had been unable to locate him since his stint ended with the Predators. He was kind enough to not only sign the Wild Card WLAF 1992 card I enclosed, but like Billy Hess also enclosed one of his own from the Jogo 1995 set. Unfortunately both of the autographs were smudged as he signed with an overhead Vis-A-Vis instead of a Sharpie. The Riders card was smudged beyond recognition, so I resent it back out with a team photo of him and the other linemen for Willie to keep. He sent it back in about 2 weeks signed with the marker I gave him.

AFL    Tac  46     Sac 9    FF 2    Int  0   Yds   0   Avg  -.-   Td 0   Lg -.-
WLAF  Tac   N/a    Sac   2   FF  0    Int 0   Yds 0   Avg -.-   Td 0  Lg -.-
NFL  2     Tac  N/a    Sac 0   FF 0   Int  0  Yds 0   Avg -.-   Td 0  Lg -.-
CFL  N/a

 

Arena, NFL, WLAF

Shaw, Ricky


Cards: Ultimate WLAF 1992, WildCard WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent:  10/6  Received: 10/17 (11 days)

A 4th round pick out of Oklahoma State in 1988 by the New York Giants, Ricky Shaw recovered a fumble playing primarily on special teams his rookie year. Cut midway through the 1989 season, the NFC East rival Philadelphia Eagles would sign Shaw where he’d spend the rest of the season and 1990. Originally meant as a replacement for Paul McGowan, the Birmingham Fire of the WLAF would draft Shaw to play in their 3-4 defense alongside John Brantley and Maurice Oliver, at linebacker in 1992, but the London Monarchs had different plans and traded to get Ricky from the Fire.

The London Monarchs, fresh off of their World Bowl I victory, had their work cut out for them – reassembling the team from coaches to players as much of their staff had been picked clean for NFL and CFL rosters. They’d make the move and Shaw would provide valuable depth to a depleted Monarchs team notching .5 sacks during the season. After the season the WLAF would reorganize and Ricky would return stateside.

He’d play in the Arena Football League for the Orlando Predators, then in 1995 sign with the San Jose Sabrecats and play alongside WLAF veteran Pat McGuirk through 1996, recording 5 receptions for 28 yards and a touchdown, to go along with 7 tackles and a sack. In 1997, Ricky played one final season for the Miluaukee Mustangs and retired.

Post retirement, I stumbled Ricky through Sotl.com, and found that he was working as a school teacher. He was more than happy to sign a few cards for me and signed these 2 cards in 11 days. I also included a few duplicates for him to keep and pass out to his students.