Tag Archives: proset 1990

NFL

Ryan, Buddy (1934-2016)

Card: ProSet 1990
Acquired: Canton Acquisition 2012

Buddy Ryan’s coaching career spans almost 5 decades of football stretching back to the 1950s. After completing his military service Buddy began positional and defensive coordinator coaching in college with Buffalo, Pacific, and Vanderbilt Universities. In 1968 he became the defensive line coach of the New York Jets, and employed exotic blitz packages (at that time) to foil the Colts in Super Bowl III. He’d coach there through 1975 and shuffle over to the Vikings in 1976. Buddy wasn’t there for too long before the rival Chicago Bears dialed his number, promoting Ryan to defensive coordinator in 1978. It was in 1982 that Mike Ditka was hired by the Bears. Ryan felt snubbed for the head coaching job, and he and Ditka never saw eye to eye. This would become a Ryan hallmark of: “Us against them,” or “defense versus offense”- even on the same team. Ryan implemented his 46 defense and the Bears leaped into the Super Bowl behind one of the greatest defensive performances of all time. Chicago won Super Bowl XX and probably could have won more of them, but Ryan jumped ship for Philadelphia, which offered him the head coaching job to him in 1986.

The Eagles at the time, were not the consistent playoff foe that people remember today. The team was going through a transition in nearly all phases of the team.  Buddy came in and made the hard decisions, benching Jaworski in favor of Cunningham, and then going into the draft and mining out gems that filled the team defense. Guys like Seth Joyner, Clyde Simmons, Eric Allen, Jerome Brown, were all products of Ryan’s drafting. He also got some scrappy role players on offense like Keith Byars, Fred Barnett, Calvin Williams, Cris Carter, and Keith Jackson.

Ryan was not without controversy in Philadelphia, where he openly feuded with Cowboys coaches Tom Landry and Jimmy Johnson. The latter accused him of bounties on his players, in what was referred to as the “Bounty Bowl”. I remembered the promo for the game on CBS vividly, as they had wanted posters of the Cowboys with bounties on the bottom and shot holes through them as they went through the cast of Troy Aikman and Luis Zendejas.  Ryan also did not have problems settling and running up scores on opponents. Buddy won a division title in 1988, and while the team saw the playoffs under his tenure 3 times in a row- he’d be fired after the 1991 season.

Buddy briefly served as a commentator and then returned to the sidelines, this time as defensive coordinator of the Houston Oilers in 1993. The Oilers had a historic collapse the previous season, losing in the playoffs to the Buffalo Bills.  Bud Adams put his foot down and the taciturn Jack Pardee was forced to fire his defensive coaching staff and turn over the defense to Buddy Ryan. Ryan hated the run ‘n shoot offense, and most of all- had a strong dislike for offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride. He continued his usual ‘us against them’ mentality and it was even rumored that the defense ate at different tables than offensive players. Buddy had the Oilers trade for Wilber Marshall, turned Lamar Lathon into a monster, and the Oilers defense seemed to play with more bite than the offense.  After a sloppy start and adjustment to the 46 defense, the Oilers won 11 straight, clinched the division title, and was to play at home in the first round of the playoffs, but then Buddy pulled his greatest stunt yet. With the Oilers leading against the Jets near halftime in the shadow of their own endzone, Cody Carlson under center fumbled the ball and the Jets recovered. Buddy lost his temper with Gilbride, walked over and socked him in the face. Curtis Duncan, Al Smith, and Keith McCants, get into the middle and are forced to break up the skirmish on the sideline but it didn’t matter as it was all caught on video. The team imploded the next week and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Kansas City Chiefs. -When I look back at things now, this was when the Oilers started their long march towards becoming the Tennessee Titans. Buddy moved on and was hired as head coach of the Arizona Cardinals the following season. Buddy was gunning to be a head coach again and didn’t care about what a mess he contributed to. He left behind defensive coordinator Jeff Fisher, who later was promoted to head coach when Jack Pardee resigned during the 1994 season.

Buddy coached the Cardinals for the next 2 years. After making the same lavish predictions he made in Philly, Buddy was done in Arizona, unable to get consistency on the offensive side of the ball- or anywhere else for that matter. The silver lining was that his sons, Rex and Rob, both got some valuable coaching experience learning under him there at Arizona.  Buddy retired after the season and breeds racehorses in Kentucky.  He loves watching his sons coach football, and does not comment on who he roots for when the pair’s team play against each other. Buddy has battled Melanoma over the past 40 years, but is tough as nails and keeps coming back.

Buddy Ryan punches Kevin Gilbride: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPK3cDl7Ftw

W 55   L  55    T 1      Pct .500

UPDATE- On June 28th 2016, Buddy Ryan passed away after a lengthy battle from Cancer. He was 85.

 

 

 

NFL

Baxter, Brad “Smooth”

sky92 baxterCards: Proline 1992, Skybox 1992, ProSet 1990, Action Packed 1991
Acquired: TTM 2013, C/o Home
Sent: 10/31     Received: 11/15    (16 days)

Looking back at Brad Baxter’s relatively modest NFL career, it was surprising he didn’t go higher. While at Alabama State he finished with 3,728 yards, 30 touchdowns, and 19 100 yard games. These accolades alone would garner strong praise in today’s NFL scouting circles, but he probably carried the ‘small school’ stigma. Originally an 11th round long shot out of Alabama State by Minnesota  in the legendary 1989 draft, Brad Baxter did not make the roster of the talent deep Vikings. In fact, while the ’89 draft is considered one of the stronger ones in the modern era, it was disastrous for the Vikings’ front office. Still even after being cut by the Vikings, Brad believed in himself, and embraced his underdog status. The New York Jets picked him up quietly and placed him on their developmental squad before the season was out, and he played on special teams in the team’s season finale.  As head pset90 baxtercoach Joe Walton was shown the door after the 1989 season, the Jets front office decided to bring in Bengals offensive guru Bruce Coslet to coach the team. With Coslet, came a new offensive philosophy, and for Brad, -an opportunity. The Jets in fact had so much confidence in Baxter, they let incumbent 1st round choice Roger Vick go.

Brad did not disappoint. He’d be one of the best blocking backs in the league, handling the load for guys like Blair Thomas, Freeman McNeil, and Johnny Hector. The team as a whole was 4th in the NFL averaging 132.9 yards per game. Baxter also got into the act rushing for a club rookie (on technicality) mark with 6 rushing TDs, and paired with Thomas to be the first duo of Jets rookies to finish with 500+ yards rushing in a season. In fact Baxter’s 539 yards, were only second to Thomas among all AFC rookies that year.

Mr. Hit and Run followed up 1990 by leading the AFC with 11 rushing touchdowns in 1991, matching a team record, as the Jets discovered Smooth’s nose for the end zone. His 666 yards rushing ap91 baxterwere second again to teammate Blair Thomas. In 1992 Baxter led the team and ran for a career high 698 yards as the Jets struggled under a quarterback transition from Ken O’Brien to Browning Nagle. Johnny Johnson assumed the majority of the running load from Blair and Brad, as Boomer Esiason joined the team at quarterback in 1993, but Brad still managed to garner 559 yards and 20 receptions. Again, Brad survived another coaching transition with Pete Carroll taking over for Coslet in 94, and Rich Kotite for Carroll in ’95.

In the meantime Brad had gotten into an odd side business- cattle hauling. This caused quite a stir when he opted not to show up at ‘voluntary’ mini camp over the summer in order to manage it. OC Ron Earhardt apparently took it as a cardinal sin, and gave the job to Richie Anderson. Baxter, while a fine blocker and rusher, did not tally high numbers receiving and the new coaching staff saw his lack of willingness to participate in mini camp as a liability.  Baxter was cut after 7 seasons. The Jets then went 1-15.

Many fans today still consider Brad as the best blocking back the franchise ever had, as even in those lean years through all thosepline93 baxter bad teams and a turnstile of coaches, Baxter could be counted on the champion the runningback in the ground game, clearing paths, or finding a little wiggle room himself.

I absolutely detest the Proline 92 set. While it was ground breaking at the time, with its nameless cards, and displaying players frequently not playing football, this card of Baxter absolutely charmed me. It is so wacky, and really frames everything about that era of the sport. I had to get it signed. Brad also was a nasty one two punch along with Blair Thomas in Tecmo Super Bowl.

G/Gs  94/72  Rush 779  Yds 2928  Avg 3.8   Td 35  Lg 31   |
Rec  80    Yds 587   Avg 7.3    Td 0    Lg 34

 

 

 

NFL

Bentley, Albert

pset89 bentleypset90 bentleypset91 bentleyap90 bentley

Cards: ProSet 1989, ProSet 1990, ProSet 1991, ActionPacked 1990
Acquired: TTM 2013, C/o Home
Sent:  6/6   Received: 6/22    (16 days)

To most fans, Albert Bentley achieved fame for the Indianapolis Colts as Eric Dickerson‘s teammate during the late 1980s. In fact, early versions of the Nintendo game Tecmo Bowl featured Eric Dickerson initially as the starting runningback, as Tecmo was unaware that he was not a member of the NFLPA. In later production releases of the game, Dickerson was replaced by Bentley in the lineup with the same rushing abilities. Obviously when I played the Jack Trudeau led Colts, I relied heavily on Bentley screaming at my friends,” Here comes the Bentley!,” Referring of course to the luxury car brand by the same name.

An amazing transformation from walk on to starter, Albert helped Miami win its first national championship, scoring the winning touchdown in the 1983 Orange Bowl against Nebraska.   Going undrafted, Albert, (like his Miami teammate Jim Kelly,) elected to join the USFL in 1984, signing with the Michigan Panthers. The very next season the team merged with the Oakland Invaders and after injuries decimated the squad, Bentley moved to fullback. He’d champion the ground game with 1,020 yards, in an offense that featured such future NFL players as Anthony Carter and Bobby Herbert. As the USFL collapsed the NFL held a supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players. The Colts grabbed Albert’s rights in the second round with the 36th pick. The slasher-back became a jack of all trades for the Colts, averaging well over 1,000 all-purpose yards from 1985-1990. Eric Dickerson joined the squad in 1987,  and he and Eric went on to become the first pair of Colts runningbacks to each surpass 1,000 yards from scrimmage in the same season. He finished second in the league with 1,578 yards from scrimmage.  After he emerged as the Colts fulltime fullback in 1989, Bentley, Bill Brooks, and Andre Rison became the first trio of Colts to combine for 50 or more catches in a season that year. Albert checked in with 52 of them and  he’d follow this up in 1990 with a career high 72. An injury riddled 1991 ended Bentley’s season just after 1 game though. He’d sign with the Steelers in 1992 but not see any significant playing time, retiring after the season. Looking back at his time with the Colts, it was obvious that Bentley was one of the toughest and finest conditioned athletes on the team. His 7,775 all-purpose yards rank 7th all time in Colts history. Versatile and difficult for linebackers to cover one on one out of the backfield, Bentley is one of seven Colts backs to amass more than 200 receptions in their career.

Inducted into the Miami Hurricanes Sports Hall of Fame, Albert currently lives in Florida where he works in finance and investing.

G/Gs 90/33    Rush  526   Yds   2355   Avg  4.5    Td 19    Lg 70  |    Rec  226   Yds 2245   Avg  9.9    Td 8  Lg 73
Kr  149    Yds  3192   Avg 21.4   Td 0  Lg 48