Tag Archives: proset wlaf 1991

NFL, WLAF

Harris, Elroy

ultwlaf92 eharrisCards: ProSet WLAF 1991, Ultimate WLAF 1992, Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2016, C/o Home
Sent: 2/15    Received:  3/5    (18 days)

At the time of his departure from EKU (Eastern Kentucky University) fireplug Elroy Harris was the All-time leading rusher in school history with 4,555 yards in 3 years, a whopping 5.9 yards per carry, and scored an Ohio Valley Conference Record 58 career total touchdowns. Among Elroy’s accolades was being named the Conference player of the year in 1988 after accumulating 1,543 yards, which led all Division I-AA schools.

Elroy was a 3rd round pick of the Seattle Seahawks in the jam packed 1989 NFL super draft.  Looking for a change of pace in the backfield the Seahawks were stuffed with talent at RB with guys like Curt Warner, John L. Williams, James Jones, Derrick Fenner, and Kevin Harmon. Thankfully Chuck Knox and his infamous ‘Ground Chuck’ offense required so many backs to share the load. Elroy did what it took to make the roster and was utilized primarily on special teams. As a returnman he made appearances in 14 games for Seattle, returning 18 kicks for 334 yards.

wcwlaf92 eharrisElroy was not retained for the 1990 season, but with the WLAF on the horizon, he made an excellent candidate for the league. Originally a draft pick of the Montreal Machine, Harris had a speedy debut against the Birmingham Fire.  Elroy managed to squeeze out 250 yards and 2 TDs, but found himself cut after Week 4. It’s always been a mystery to me as to why it happened, but regardless, the Machine were content with Ricky Johnson taking the lionshare of the workload to go along with Broderick Sargent.

Elroy did not go unemployed for long. He quickly was picked up by a familiar foe- the Birmingham Fire, whose coach, Chan Gailey is a mastermind (even today) of squeezing the most out of players that he can in his offensive systems. Harris stepped into the lineup and contributed another 290 yards and a TD, finishing 4th in the league in rushing, and helping the Fire make the playoffs.

Elroy returned to the Birmingham Fire for the 1992 season, and put up a respectable 470 yards on the ground and 5 TDs, sharing the backfield with Jim Bell as the Fire returned to the playoffs.

psetwlaf91 eharrisWhy looking for Elroy Harris for 7 years sticks out in my mind is because he has a card in each set that’s very nice looking.  I thought that finding him was going to be much easier than this, but who would’ve thought there were hundreds of Elroy Harris’s across the United States? It took a bit of extra effort cross referencing cards and public data to finally track down the elusive Fire runningback. While I just threw a prayer to the wind, I had a gnawing feeling that this address was the one. I was just surprised to get a response so quickly, and a nice note to boot. Elroy is currently a head mechanic and a coach at his local high school. Apparently he gets little fanmail, as he was really happy to receive this treat letter from me and wished my father and me all the best.

NFL  14/0     RUSH 8   YDS 23   AVG 2.9    TD 0   LG 8
REC 3   YDS 26    AVG 8.7   TD 0   LG 11
KR  18    YDS 334     AVG 18.6     TD 0   LG 25

WLAF   RUSH 271    YDS 1010   AVG 3.7    TD 8  LG 41
REC  17     YDS 83     AVG 4.9      TD 1     LG 16

NFL, WLAF

Frank, Garry

psetwlaf91 gfrank

Card: ProSet WLAF 1991
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Home
Sent:  5/16    Received: 10/26      (163 days)

Garry Frank was a valued offensive lineman at Mississippi State, where he demonstrated versatility playing center and guard on offense, and nose guard on defense.   Frank was also a distinguished shotput and powerlifting champion.

He’d be selected in the 7th round of the 1988 draft by the Broncos. After being released by Denver, Frank signed with the Atlanta Falcons, but spent his entire season on injured reserve.

In 1991 Frank was selected by the Frankfurt Galaxy of the WLAF during the first round of the offensive line portion of the draft. It was a homecoming of sorts for Garry as he was born in Germany. After the season he’d earn First-team All World League Honors. After the season he signed a free agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs, but did not make the squad. He’d play again for the Galaxy in 1992 and return stateside when the league decided to reorganize after the season.

Frank returned to the weight room where he became a force in the weightlifting community setting world records in power lifting.

NFL, WLAF

Sign, Bobby

psetwlaf91 bsignCard: ProSet WLAF 1991
Acquired: TTM 2015,  C/o Work
Sent: 8/3    Received: 8/19
(16 days)

Bobby was considered one of the best centers in the country, playing 3 years for Pitt and a final year at Baylor. It made sense to Sign to play in the SWC since he was from Texas. Unfortunately in that final year at Baylor (1988), knee injuries sidelined him for a good portion of the season.

Undeterred, Bobby signed with the Oilers as an undrafted free agent in 1989, but was cut before the beginning of the season. Sign was definitely a WLAF candidate, and the Saints signed him in 1991 and sent him to the WLAF for experience.  The Barcelona Dragons signed him via the enhancement allocation draft.  He’d anchor down an impressive offensive line along with Barry Voorhess and Scott Adams. For the season the line only allowed 22 sacks- good for second best in the league. This allowed the team to advance all the way to World Bowl I against the London Monarchs.  Bobby returned to the WLAF for 1992, and helped the Dragons win the division. Barcelona lost in the playoffs again to the eventual champions- this time to the Sacramento Surge 17-15.

Bobby returned to the Dallas area. After a bit of detective work I found that he is working for a high end clothier and tailor of quality suits.  I sent this card to him via the store where he has built himself quite a reputation for customer service. He sent me back a nice note along with the signed card, where he told me that he was blessed to play in the WLAF and sad when the league decided to go on hiatus after the 1992 season.