Tag Archives: philadelphia eagles

College Football HoF, NFL

Jackson, Keith “Boomer Sooner”

Cards: ProSet 1990, Action Packed Rookies Update 1992, GameDay 1992, Action Packed All Madden Team 1990.
Acquired: TTM 2012, C/o P.A.R.K.*
Sent: 8/28        Received: 9/10  (12 days)
*Autograph Fee $5 per card.

Keith Jackson was the highest rated tight end off the board in 1988 after a prolific career for the University of Oklahoma. A complete package at the position, Jackson had soft hands, and just about the right size, speed, and blocking ability to handle just about every duty assigned to him. Over his career at Oklahoma he racked up 1407 yards on 62 receptions- a whopping 23.7 yards per catch. He’d earn the appropriate nickname ‘Boomer Sooner’ from his teammates for his penchant to show up in big games, making big plays, leading the Oklahoma Sooners to a National Championship in 1986. During the National Championship game against Penn State, Keith caught a spectacular 71 yard touchdown pass.

He was selected in the first round of the 1988 NFL draft by the Philadelphia Eagles. Buddy Ryan, who was head coach of the time eschewed receivers, but loved the all around ability of Jackson and quickly put him to work.


It didn’t take long for Keith to become a fan favorite of the Eagles and Randall Cunningham, as he set the team mark for yards by a rookie with 869, to go along with 80 catches, and 6 touchdowns earning Keith his first Pro Bowl and AP nods. In a final accolade that season he won NFC Rookie of the Year Honors. 1988 was his best season statistically, but by no means did it represent the end of his career, as both in 89 and 90, he’d also be named AP and to the Pro Bowl for his solid seasons with 63 and 50 receptions respectively. After catching 49 balls his final season with the Eagles in 1991, Keith signed with the Miami Dolphins in 1992.

With the dawn of Free Agency and the Dolphins looking to add new weapons for Dan Marino, Keith quickly stepped right into the starting lineup for Miami, staying there for 3 seasons. Along the way Jackson scored 18 touchdowns on 146 receptions. Another ProBowl was in store for him in 1992, with 594 yards and 5 touchdowns. Keith moved on to the Green Bay Packers and became a nice redzone target for quarterback Brett Favre. Although his 1995 season was marred by injury, Keith recovered in time for 1996 scoring 10 touchdowns on 40 receptions. This earned Keith his final Pro Bowl nomination and culminated in the team’s victory over the New England Patriots in SuperBowl XXXI. He’d retire after the season.

Keith is a player who really hasn’t gotten his due, as he has never been considered for the Hall of Fame. Although the passing game has mutated into what it is today with tight ends that behave like wide receivers, Keith was an anomaly out of time. One surely wonders what sort of damage he would have done if he was playing during the current pass happy era of the NFL. Surely he would have posted some gaudy stats if things were different. Still when you look at the final count, in 9 seasons he was a 6 time Pro Bowler on 3 different teams, and a 3 time All Pro from his 3 seasons in Philadelphia. I had been long interested in adding Keith to my collection- as far back as 2009, but kept kicking the can down the road on this one. Wish I had sent out for this one sooner as it was a lighting fast reply c/o his charity P.A.R.K. He does color commentary on the radio currently for the Razorbacks, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2001.

I really liked all these cards. Pro Set actually liked the 1990 card they produced so much that they used it frequently for promotion. I can see why with the way the light perfectly hits Keith’s pads, lighting up the green in contrast to the black background. It provides quite a silhouette. I was never really a fan of the ‘All Madden Team’ Action Packed cards that were produced, although this shot in particular is a good one. The GameDay 1992 cards were superior and unique cards, and along with the Action Packed, made great cards to get autographed due to their look.
G/Gs 129/105     Rec 441    Yds 5283    Avg 12.0    Td 49    Lg 73t
NFL, WLAF

Berardelli, Paul

Card: ProSet WLAF 1991
Acquired: TTM 2012, C/o Home
Sent: 8/7     Received: 8/16   (9 days)

A three year starter while at Villanova from 1985-1988, Paul was teammates with Steve Gabbard on the Philadelphia Eagles developmental squad back in the 1989 season.  After a stint on the Packers in 1990, Paul was drafted in the 4th round by the London Monarchs during the WLAF’s positional draft. There he’d be reunited with Steve, (and along with Doug Marrone,) they’d become the most formidable offensive line in WLAF history allowing only 10 sacks on the entire season. He’d become the vocal ringleader of the offensive line, nicknamed ‘The Nasty Boyz. ‘ Thanks to the play of the line,  Stan Gelbaugh averaged roughly 280 yards passing per gam.  At the end of the season the Monarchs won World Bowl I over the Barcelona Dragons. Paul, Doug, and Steve, all received 1st team All-World Honors from the league as well for their outstanding blocking.  The NFL took notice, and poached the rosters of the more successful WLAF teams. Head coach Larry Kennan returned stateside, and while the Monarchs came in and put up a good fight to start the season in 1992, the team did not repeat as WLAF champs.

Retiring from football, Paul decided to enter into education after the season concluded. He’s since climbed the ranks from substitute teaching all the way up to principal at Delsea High School in New Jersey. Villanova also retired his jersey in 1998.

He considered future Sacramento Surge DE (and future Pro Wrestler)Bill Goldberg, to have been a bear to block, and looks back upon his time in the WLAF, the memories, and the players he met while he was with the Monarchs, very fondly.

I had actually been after Paul for sometime after identifying him on Facebook. Since he never responded to my emails, I went ahead and sent something out anyway and in the letter I talked about the WLAF and mentioned that I had spammed him on Facebook quite a few times. He wrote me back and dropped me a nice note and offered to answer any questions that I had about his time in the WLAF. It really is these gems that make this hobby special, especially when I get just as much out of reminiscing about it as a player does.

NFL, WLAF

Gabbard, Steve

Card: ProSet WLAF 1991
Acquired: TTM 2012, C/o Home
Sent: 7/6  Received: 7/28  (22 days)

Steve Gabbard played collegiality at Florida State as a defensive tackle, but his 6’3″, 293 frame screamed offensive line to coaches in the NFL. The Eagles signed him as a free agent in 1989, and moved Gabbard to tackle, stashing him on their practice squad. In 1991, the World League of American Football was just getting started and the London Monarchs used their first offensive line pick on him. It would prove to be bountiful for the Monarchs, as their line yielded only 10 sacks on the whole season.  Along with Steve, teammates Doug Marrone, and Paul Berardelli were named first team All World along the offensive line helping pave the way for an offense that averaged 380.6 yards per game.  After the season, Steve signed with the Green Bay Packers where he appeared in 4 games for the team.  He signed his lone WLAF card for me and wrote ‘God Bless!’, On the envelope. Really a nice find.