Tag Archives: San Antonio Riders

AAF, NFL, usfl, WLAF, XFL

Riley, Mike (2)

CARD: Topps AAF 2019 Certified
ACQUIRED: Private Acquisition, 2022
FAILURE: TTM C/o Home 2019, 2020

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

NOTES:

Picking up where we left off, Mike ended up back at Oregon State, where he became the school’s most winning coach. In 2014, he’d be pried off the Beavers by Nebraska. After a difficult tenure at Nebraska, Mike was welcomed back to Corvallis with open arms as an assistant coach.

When the Alliance of American Football was announced, I knew he’d be at the top of their list. I was excited to see Mike return to SA (from his days with the Riders of the WLAF) to coach the team. He was excited to take a walk down memory lane with me when I showed up with my Riders hat on at the Commanders unveiling. The team very much resembled the Riders, and finished 5-3 during the AAF’s season.

I had narrowly missed getting Mike’s autograph on his Topps AAF card during pregame warmups against the Salt Lake City Stallions. I had sideline passes and thought that he’d be a shoe-in to get later TTM. Oddly though, he’s dodged my TTM requests since then.

After the AAF folded, much to everyone’s dismay, Mike was hired on to be the offensive coordinator for the Seattle Dragons of the XFL in 2020- just because it wasn’t more local to Texas.

Recently it was brought to my attention that Mike and head coach Jim Zorn had a disagreement about who should be starting quarterback. The row was so bad between the two that Mike left the team for the first 3 games of the season.

He joined the new USFL as head coach of the New Jersey Generals, and led the team to a 9-1 record in 2022. The team zoomed out to a 2-1 record in 2023, before dropping their next 5, en route to a 3-7 record.

When the XFL and the USFL combined to form the new UFL, the Generals were not retained for 2024.

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Chryst, Paul

Pro Set 1991 World League Insert, #9

CARD: Pro Set 1991 World League Insert
ACQUIRED: TTM 2022, C/o Wisconsin
SENT: 5/23 RECEIVED: 8/5 (74 Days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Played college ball at Wisconsin in ’87 and ’88.
  • Saw time in ’87 at QB going 5 of 7 for 81 yards, before hopping over to TE.
  • In ’88 caught 12 passes for 103 yards.
  • Quickly joined West Virginia as a graduate assistant in ’89, before hopping over to the WLAF in ’91.
  • He’d coach WR/TE/RBs with the Riders through ’92.
  • Chryst saw a mixture of college and CFL positional stops added to his resume highlighted with stops in Ottawa (1994), Saskatchewan (1996), Chargers (1999-’01) .
  • Named head coach at Pitt in 2012, after rising up the coaching staff at his Alma Mater Wisconsin.
  • In 2015, he returned to Wisconsin as head coach, and led the team to 6 bowl wins (7 appearances), and ranked after 4 of those seasons.
  • Fired during the 2022 campaign after the Badgers got off to a 2-3 start.
  • Compiled a 67-26 record at Wisconsin.

ACCOLADES:

  • Big 10 Coach of The Year 2016, ’17

NOTES:

Paul Chryst is a member of the Mike Riley tree. He’s crossed back over into Mike’s sphere of influence a few times with the Riders and then later at Oregon St. He signed this card for me only shortly before he was let go. Paul’s not a sexy name, but I think he’d make a fine coach at another major program, or perhaps in the XFL23 or ‘new’ USFL.

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Morris, Lee

Utimate World League 1992 Promo

CARDS: Ultimate World League 1992, Ultimate World League 1992 Defense, Ultimate World League 1992 Promo
ACQUIRED: TTM 2021, C/o Home
SENT: 12/14/21 RECEIVED: 1/3/22 (20 days)
FAILURE: TTM C/o Home, 2014, 2016, 2019

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Walked on to the Oklahoma Sooners football team in 1985.
  • Fairytale story continued as he contributed to the Sooners National Football championship that year, catching 5 passes for 96 yards and 2 TDs.
  • Went undrafted in 1987, but thanks to the NFL Players Strike, saw significant playing time starting 3 games for the Green Bay Packers.
  • Contributed career best 6 catches for 132 yards and a TD in win over Eagles during Week 3.
  • Among final tough cuts during 1988 training camp.
  • Joined CFL Toronto Argos late in season.
  • Had 5 catches for 86 yards and TD against Winnipeg a few weeks later.
  • Played following season for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
  • Selected by the San Antonio Riders in the 8th round of the WLAF 1991 positional draft.
  • Emerged as San Antonio’s most reliable receiver in 1991, contributing 23 catches for 409 yards and 2 TDs- including a franchise long 73 yard TD grab.
  • Returned for 1992 season but suffered season ending injury after catching 9 passes for 174 yards.
Ultimate 1992, Defensive Overview #191

NOTES:

I had been hunting for Lee Morris for quite some time- striking out at 3 different addresses over the years. From time to time I like to look at EBay. It’s a backdoor way to see who is signing TTM sometimes, and this one paid off. I found a listing on the site for Lee’s autograph on his Ultimate base card. Then I cross referenced the information I had on him and realized he signed from a previous address I had tried him at a few years ago. It made me quite ecstatic when I got these back. These cards are technically the first responses of 2022.

These are some great action shots of Lee. I remember leaving a game or two, and seeing kids chase Lee for his autograph on his Ultimate promo card that were inserted into the Gametime magazines. (I was quite jealous as I couldn’t find one.) He seemed quite happy that he had a card.

Later the base card appeared in all its glory. I love this shot of him jumping up in the air to make a grab, however it showcases the Riders and the league’s lackluster attendance woes.

I tossed in the Defensive Overview card as well, and since it had a receiver in the picture, it made sense to have Lee sign it. Oddly the back image has Surge helmets on it, but I’d assume it’s not an error card as the set itself is meant to introduce fans to football.

Ultimate WLAF 1992, #156

NFL

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CFL

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WLAF

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