Tag Archives: proset 1990

NFL

Parcells, Bill ‘Big Tuna’

 


pset90 SBXXV BCards: ProSet 1990 Super Bowl Card, Action Packed 1991 All Madden Team
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Home
Sent: 11/12    Received: 12/3   (18 days)

Bill Parcells is one of the more memorable coaches in NFL history. Not only was he an excellent orchestrator of coaches and evaluator of talent, he was quite the personality during press conferences.

Bill Parcells was actually selected in the 7th Round of the 1964 NFL Draft by the Detroit Lions, but he was cut before he played a single game, so he almost immediately hopped into coaching (at Hastings) after graduating from Wichita State. He coached linebackers at Hastings, Wichita State and then later at Army before being promoted to defensive coordinator at Army in 1968. In 1970 he returned to coaching linebackers with Florida State, and the later Vanderbilt and Texas Tech, before taking his first head coaching job with Air Force in 1978.

Parcells briefly took a job as the defensive coordinator for the Giants under Ray Perkins in ’79- but quit the job.  He returned to coaching the following year as linebacker coach for the Patriots in 1980. It wasn’t that long thereafter before he returned to the Giants as their defensive coordinator and linebackers coach in 1981.  He converted the defensive alignment to a 3-4 and succeeded Ray Perkins as HC in 1983. After a bumpy start and being on the hot seat, Parcells righted the ship and led the Giants back to the playoffs. In 1986 the Giants won their first Superbowl (XXI), as New York posted their best franchise record (14-2) led by their stellar defense and Phil Simms. The NFC East at the time was the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, the Cardinals, and the Washington Redskins. While the Cowboys were in a steep decline and the Cardinals were rarely a threat, the Giants had a rough and tumble time with both the Redskins and Eagles. It took another 4 years, but in 1990 the Giants returned to the Super Bowl (XXV) in a game considered to be one of the most exciting in NFL history. The Giants defeated the Buffalo Bills 20-19 led by stellar defensive play and a plodding offense that soaked up the clock led by grizzled veteran RB Ottis Anderson. Parcells retired after the game, citing health reasons.

Briefly Bill did sportscasting with NBC from 1991-1992, but was chomping at the bit to return to the game. In this phase of his coaching career, Parcells became known as a rags to riches coach. He came in and immediately turned around the fortunes of the franchises he coached. It can be attributed to Parcells for fixing the Patriots, restoring the franchise to respectability, and beginning the dynasty that has lasted into today. He coached for the Patriots from 1993 to 1996, with the team appearing in Super Bowl XXI- a loss to the Green Bay Packers. The following season Bill joined the New York Jets thanks in part to disagreements with the Patriots owner Robert Kraft over front office decisions. The Jets had to pay the Patriots a king’s ransom in draft picks to get him in the end, but Bill proved to be worth the price, turning around the moribund Jets. (In 1998 the Jets finished with a 12-4 record but lost in the AFC Championship.) He retired again from coaching in 1999.

Jerry Jones was desperate to fix the Dallas Cowboys who were beginning to become the laughing stock of the NFC East. Three consecutive 5-11 seasons were enough for Jones to approach Parcells hat in hand to lure him out of retirement. Bill’s price for Jones was steep: Head coach and general manager and no interference from Jones. The year was 2003. As with his previous stops, Bill had the magic touch leading the Cowboys to the playoffs, but over the next few years, he just couldn’t get Dallas over the hump. Before the 2007 season, Bill retired for the 3rd time.

He briefly did studio analysis for ESPN, but was lured out of retirement for a 4th time by the Miami Dolphins into an executive role at the end of 2007. As in the past, Bill fixed the Dolphins, cutting fan favorites, signing stacks of cheap free agents, firing coaches, bringing back into the fold mercurial RB Ricky Williams, and Miami responded with an 11-5 record. He retired, presumably for a final time in 2010.

Bill has an extensive coaching tree, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2013.  He lives in Florida and does some volunteer consulting from time to time. Currently he is retired… or is he mulling another comeback?

W 183      L   138     T 1       PCT .570

Arena, NFL

Dixon, James (2)


Cards: Score 1990, ProSet 1990, Topps 1990
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent: 8/21    Received: 9/12    (21 days)
See Also: James Dixon

James is notable as he helped rookie Troy Aikman break the NFL rookie passing record (at the time) with 203 yards receiving, including that 75 yard bomb.  He also set the club mark with his 1,181 kick off return yards, breaking the mark previously set by Mel Renfro back in 1964- all in his rookie season.  Still he’s fallen into relative obscurity over the years and lives comfortably in Texas.

James Dixon was quite lucky. He played on a terrible Cowboys squad, but stuck out enough to get noticed before he faded off into obscurity. It was enough that 4 major brands (Topps, ProSet, Score, and Action Packed) all put out cards of him. After returning to the hobby, I was surprised that he didn’t appear in any lists on websites or any fans were clamoring for his address, so after many years, I decided to go ahead and do some sleuthing and figure out where he was at. He did not disappoint, signing these 3 cards in under a month.

 

NFL

Tupa, Tom ‘Two Point Tupa’

pset90_ttupapset91_ttupa
Cards: Proset 1990, Proset 1991, Fleer 1990
Acquired: TTM 2016, C/o Home
Sent:  4/7      Received: 4/15    (8 days)

Tom Tupa was selected in the 3rd round of the 1988 draft by the then Phoenix Cardinals out of Ohio State. Unbeknownst to even the Cardinals, the franchise was at the beginning of a long search to find an answer at quarterback to replace long time quarterback Neil Lomax– whose career quickly declined after 1988, due to injury and an arthritic hip. After Lomax’s sudden departure left Phoenix in a lurch in 1989, the Cardinals staffed a platoon at quarterback with Gary Hogeboom, Timm Rosenbach, and Tom sharing the workload. Tom threw for 973 yards and 3 TDs- to 9 interceptions, while suiting up for 14 contests.  He also got to showcase his impressive skills as a punter filling in for injured starter Rich Camarillo in a pinch. After not seeing any playtime in 1990, Tom spent one final season in Phoenix. He’d win 4 games in 11 starts and throw for a career high 2053 yards and 6 TDs.

1991 led to a short stay in Indianapolis for Tom. Afterwards he bolted for Cleveland. He spent the next three seasons with the Browns. It’d be in 1994 that Tom finally made a rare positional move from quarterback to punter. One could also argue at this point, that Tom had become the best emergency quarterback in the NFL. In 1996, Tupa signed with the New England Patriots and punted for them through the 1998 season.

In 1999, Tom had his finest season as a pro playing for the New York Jets. He’d earn Pro Bowl and All Pro Honors after the season punting 81 times for 3659 yards. Tupa played for the Jets through the 2001 season, before playing for the Buccaneers for 2002 and 2003.  His final season came in 2004 with the Redskins – a year in which Tom set career highs for punts (103) and yards (4544), earning him an invitation as a Pro Bowl alternate.

In a small bit of trivia, Tom is known as ‘Two Point Tupa’, for scoring the league’s first 2 point conversion, and repeating it two more times later in the season.

Tom as of 2016 was a coach at a local high school in Ohio. He signed these 3 cards for me in a bit over a week. ProSet had a major soft spot for Tom and I wasn’t really sure why, covering him in their 1990 and 1991 entries. Notably Score and Topps didn’t make early first or second year cards of Tom.  Fleer 1990 was the company’s first foray back into the football card market in many years. The set was novel looking enough, with nice action shots, but the design of the card itself did not age well with the abstract metal football logo, and the random team helmet just sort of haphazardly thrown on there.

G/GS 220/13     ATT 504      COMP 259       YDS  3430       PCT  51.5%
TD 12       INT  25       RAT 60.5
RUSH 53      YDS 187     AVG 3.5     TD 1       LG   17
P  873      YDS  37862      AVG  43.4        LG  73