Tag Archives: proset 1991

CFL, NFL

Kramer, Erik ‘Brass’

Cards: ProSet 1991, GameDay 1993, Action Packed 1992
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent: 3/20      Received: 4/17     (28 days)
Failure: TTM 2011, C/o Home

I’m not sure where to start with Erik Kramer. I tried him back in 2011- shy a few months before his son tragically died of a drug overdose. Things spiraled out of control so much that Kramer in 2015 attempted to take his own life with a gun. Somehow he managed to survive and over the past two years has been rising from the ashes of his own personal pain.

Kramer went to college at NC State. He was the team’s starting quarterback in 1985 and 1986.  Posting solid numbers as starter, over his time with the Wolfpack, he threw for 4,602 yards, 30 TDs/ 28 INT, on 334 completions and 616 attempts. Kramer also posted an 11-11-1 record as a starter and earned ACC Player of the Year honors as a Senior.  He went undrafted in 1987 and initially signed with the New Orleans Saints, but was subsequently released. Quickly he was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as a replacement player during the 1987 strike.

Erik joined the Calgary Stampeders in 1988.  Playing in 5 contests he threw for 5 TDs and 964 yards. The next season he’d blow out his knee and not see a snap under center. Afterwards he was released by the Stampeders. Erik’s story could’ve very easily ended there, but he chose to give it another shot in the NFL, signing with the Detroit Lions after getting spotted during a tryout by offensive coordinator Mouse Davis.  Kramer’s string of bad luck continued, as he suffered a season ending shoulder injury during the 1990 preseason.

The Lions had a classic quarterback rivalry going on between Andre Ware and Rodney Peete going into 1991. Erik Kramer was an afterthought on the squad.  This worked to his advantage as he was a consummate professional in preparation for each and every game. He supplanted Ware and then bode his time until Peete was injured. Kramer picked up and after a rough start or two, he led the Lions on a 6 game winning streak to conclude the season. The Lions made the playoffs, and Erik set team playoff records with 29-of-38 passes for 341 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Lions ambushed the Dallas Cowboys. It’d be the Lions first playoff victory since 1957.

It would be safe to assume that after the season Kramer would’ve been chosen to be the hands down starter for the Lions, right? Well this is the Lions and that didn’t happen. Instead 1992 opened again with another open quarterback competition- this time lasting into the regular season. While it finally took Kramer being named starter and then rallying Detroit to a 3-1 record down the stretch to win the division title, the Lions lost a home wild card game to Brett Favre and the Pack 28-24. Detroit had another bumpy season in 1993 and while Kramer went 3-1 as a starter, the Lions ran out and signed Scott Mitchell, effectively ending their quarterback carousel in 1994.   Erik in the meantime took a flyer with the division rival Chicago Bears.  While his first season there was met with mixed results due to a separated shoulder, there is no question that he had an impact season in 1995 setting personal highs and franchise records going 315 of 522 for 3,838 yards with 29 TDs to only 10 interceptions. Kramer hung around with the Bears another 3 injury plagued seasons before abruptly retiring midway through the 1999 season with the Chargers due to a persistent neck injury.

Kramer was the definition of the ‘walking wounded’ during his playing career in the league. He gave up his body to injury leading Detroit and Chicago back to periods of respectability. Concussions may have also contributed to his severe depression as well.

It is said that the bullet traveled through Erik’s chin, tongue, nose, and out the top of his head. Amazingly, the damage was so clean, and the medical attention paid to him was so quick, he survived.  Much like his playing career- Kramer quickly has moved to rise from controversy and loss, making an impressive recovery- and coming to an understanding that life is worth living for.

Pro Set struck gold in Erik’s initial release in their 91 update set with a nice straight on shot of him. This was Proset at their best: minimal design, dynamic action photography, and an unobtrusive logo. I was a big fan of Action Packed- but their 92 set annoyed me by flipping profile information on the back. The player name type was also just a tad too small. Gameday barely tweaked an overall successful design over the entire lifetime of the brand. I liked this 1993 issue of Kramer in the elements.

G/Gs 83/67        Att 2299      Cpd 1317       Yds  15337       Pct 57.3
TD 92    Int 79      Lg 85t
Rush  153       Yds 217      Avg 1.4      Td 5     lg 31

NFL

Allen, Terry

Cards: ProSet 1991 Update, ProSet 1992, Action Packed 1992
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Clemson
Sent: 12/31/15    Received: 4/20/17  (477 days)

Well it sure did take a while for this one to get back around so I was quite surprised to see this one show up in my mailbox at a bit under 500 days. I had sent out for Terry back in 2015, but it was the end of the year, right before Clemson lost the National Championship game. Allen and the rest of the coaches probably had a lot to do, and after winning the National Championship game in 2016, this gem showed up in the mail a few months later.

Terry Allen played his rookie season in 1991 for the Minnesota Vikings at fullback, blocking for Herschel Walker. He had a pretty solid year rushing for 563 yards on 120 carries. Allen took over fulltime runningback duties the following year in 1992 setting the Vikings’ single-season rushing record with 1201 yards. After losing his entire 1993 season to injury, Terry returned to form in 1994 rushing for 1031 yards.

Terry joined the Redskins in 1995, and in 1996 rushed for a career high 347 carries for 1353 yards (Redskins single season record) and a league leading 21 TDs. During that stretch from 1992 to 1996, Terry rushed for nearly 5,000 yards and 52 TDs. (He was also a very sneaky fantasy football pick in the early days of the sport.) Although he’d not see the same success over the remainder of his career, Allen remained a solid and dependable runningback, playing for New England (1999), New Orleans (2000) and Baltimore (2001).

Originally a 9th round pick of the Vikings in 1990, Terry sat out all of the season rehabbing an injured knee.  He finished second at Clemson with 2,778 career rushing yards- including  1,139 yards as a Junior in ’88 earning All-Atlantic Coast Conference Honors.

Terry has some really nice entries here. His rookie card was from the ProSet 1991 Update. It’s a pretty nice shot, but had a heavy amount of artifact in the photo so it wasn’t completely clear. On the other ProSet card, they made an ugly switch midway through the 1992 set, but the ugly design really lent itself to this dynamic photo of Allen’s running style. The vertical gray gradient is not necessary and the stair step action for the Vikings logo makes absolutely no sense. We don’t really need to talk about the ProSet logo.  Action Packed went more for this as well with the vertical gold stripe. It makes sense because of the embossed canvas that the attempt was to make players look as though they were leaping from the card but among Action Packed from when I was collecting the set, it was my least favorite.

G/GS 130/114     RUSH 2152    YDS 8614     AVG 4.0      TD 73     LG 55
REC 204      YDS 1601     AVG 7.8    TD 6      LG 38

NFL

Baker, Stephen ‘The Touchdown Maker’

Cards: ProSet 1991 SBXXV, ProSet 1991, Score 1989
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent: 2/6   Received: 2/24     (22 days)

Stephen Baker the Touchdown Maker. Back in the Stone Ages of Giants football, before they developed an aerial attack of note (well except for that fluke season when Simms passed for 5,000 yards) the Giants just had no… panache to their wide receiver corps. They had lunch pail guys like Lionel Manuel and Odessa Turner, but relied heavily on a plodding ground game and Mark Bavaro to make the offense click.  In stepped Stephen Baker, a dangerous speedster out of none other than Fresno State.

Fresno State provided a wonderful wide receiver pipeline to the NFL during the 80s. A JC transfer, Stephen saw two years of action with the Bulldogs, posting gaudy numbers with 29 receptions for 844 yards, a 29.1 average, and 3 TDs in 1985, and 33 receptions for 785 yards and 7 TDs in 1986.  The Touchdown Maker was selected in the 3rd round of the 1987 Draft by the New York Giants.  Baker did not disappoint in his long range antics. Over his 6 seasons in the NFL he posted no less than 16 yards per reception, including a career high 20.8 YPR in 1990. The season also marked his most impressionable under the gun, as he scored a TD in the Giants 20-19 win over the Bills in Super Bowl XXV.  (The game to me is considered one of the most exciting Super Bowls in league history.)

Baker went on to play for the Gaints for two more additional seasons after the Super Bowl.

The Giants had gone through some coaching changes after the Super Bowl win. Bill Parcells left the team in Ray Handley’s hands. The Giants slipped in both seasons and by 1993 Dan Reeves was coaching the team.  Baker was released. He toyed with the idea of signing with the Browns and reuniting with Bill Belichick, but completely blew out his back. He consulted many doctors, but they advised him to retire.

As of 2017, the Touchdown Maker enjoys fan meet-and-greets for the Giants, and spending his spare time in photography. He also avidly flies radio controlled helicopters, planes, and quads.

The Score 1989 card of Stephen Baker is one of the reasons Topps got clobbered in the market that year. It’s a high quality photo of Baker in action about to make the catch and the shadows and color really pop.  Stephen Baker signed these 3 cards for me, and included a really nice note encouraging me to connect with him through social media.

G/Gs 90/52     Rec 141      Yds 2587       Avg 18.3      TD 21    LG 85t