Tag Archives: San Antonio Riders

CFL, NFL, WLAF

White, Robb

wcwlaf92 whiteCard: Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent: 8/7     Received:  8/16   (9 days)
Failure: 2011, C/o Work

Originally hailing from Amberdeen, South Dakota, homegrown Robb White went collegiality to South Dakota University. By the time he left the Coyotes, Robb would become one of the best defensive tackles to play at the college. Starting the final 25 games over his career with the team, Robb was a two-time All-North Central Conference selection both in 1986 and 1987. He finished his career at the college with 206 tackles, 3 fumble recoveries, 15 sacks, and 18 tackles for loss.

Robb went undrafted but was signed by the Washington Redskins in 1988,  finishing the season on the roster of the New York Giants. He’d remain with the Giants through the 1989 season, and be signed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1991. As part of the NFL Enhancement Program allocating players to the WLAF, Robb joined the San Antonio Riders for the 1992 season. A member of quite a formidable front, he teamed up with Willie Fears, Chris Thienamen, and Dick Chapura to control the trenches in the Riders 3-4 defense.  He’d make  4 sacks for the team that season. With the CFL inheriting most of the talent from the WLAF after the World League’s suspension, Robb went on to play for the Sacramento Gold Miners from 1993 to 1994.

Robb has worked in the fluid lubrication industry for some time, and I had been chasing him as members of the Riders franchise take precedence in my WLAF searches.  The first time I found him, there was no response so I assumed he had moved on, and it was back to the drawing board. After a few years I picked up a new Meiselman and shot him out a letter at his home address. Robb kindly responded in under a month, thanking me for bringing back those wonderful memories, and enclosed a business card. Robb was inducted into the University of South Dakota Hall of Fame in 2005.

NFL 25/1   Tac n/a    Sac 2.5   Fum 0
Int 0     Yds 0     Avg -.-      Td 0      Lg -.-

WLAF         Tac  n/a    Sac 4.0  Fum 0
Int 0     Yds 0     Avg -.-      Td 0      Lg -.-

CFL  18       Tac 33    Sac 2   Fum  n/a
Int 0    Yds 0     Avg -.-      Td 0      Lg -.-

WLAF

Pickens, Dwight “Pick”

ultwlaf92 pickensCard: Ultimate WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2013, C/o Andre Alexander
Sent: 1/4    Received: 1/25 (21 days)

While I had no luck getting in touch with Dwight Pickens via Facebook, I did Andre Alexander, and he offered as a bonus to help me get Dwight, an elusive member of the San Antonio Riders. A college teammate of Alexander, Pickens was a dangerous receiver, he finished his college career with 61 catches for 1169 yards and 8 TDs. He also carried the ball 16 times for 156 yards and 4 TDs. An equally shifty punt return man, Pick had 32 returns for 472 yards and a TD. Selected in the 8th round of the 1990 draft by the San Fransisco 49ers, Pickens did not make the roster of the team.

He’d be subsequently drafted by the San Antonio Riders of the WLAF in 1991 as a Supplemental Selection. The Riders had quarterback issues with Jason Garrett, Lee Saltz, and Mike Johnson all taking snaps. Pick posted modest numbers in the Riders offense, which was modeled after the ‘Skins offense of the late 80s. He had 20 receptions for 249 yards and 2 touchdowns, including a barn burner that was the team’s longest play from scrimmage at 82 yards.  I am unsure as to why he didn’t return to the team in 1992, but the team had high turnover at the position anyway, with only Lee Morris returning from 1991.

Still good friends with Alexander to this day, Pick and Andre frequently get together at alumni events.  Dwight currently lives in SoCal.

Rec  20    Yds 249    Avg 12.4     Td  2      Lg 82t   |
Kr  3     Yds 63   Avg 21.0    Td  0   Lg 32  |
Pr  3     Yds 42   Avg 14.0   Td 0    Lg 19

Arena, CFL, NFL, WLAF

Fears, Willie

jo93 fearsCards: Wild Card WLAF 1992, Jogo 1995
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent: 1/7       Received: 1/16    (9 days)

Willie Fears took a strange,winding, inspiring route, to his dreams of being a professional football player and coach. Undrafted out of Northwestern Louisiana St in 1985, Willie played 5 games for the Ottawa Rough Riders in the CFL.  Invited to the Miami Dolphins minicamp, he showed up admittedly out of shape and had to put his career on hold.  He became a corrections officer at the Arkansas State Maximum Security Prison, but along came the NFL Players Strike in 1987. At 6’4″, 280, Fears had the frame to still play, and probably had the greatest vacation time ever from work, spending 3 weeks as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals. Afterwards he went back to the CFL, playing for both Ottawa and Toronto in 1988 and 1989, before returning again to the NFL in 1990 as a member of the Minnesota Vikings.

Willie was then drafted by the WLAF San Antonio Riders in 1992. Willie’s technical precision, skillset, and size, allowed the team to shift him into any of the 3 places on the line, which was invaluable to the Riders 3-4 alignment. An experienced force on the line, he proved difficult for offensive linemen to handle, and helped the Riders be one of the staunchest defenses in the league.  After the league went on hiatus, Willie begun a career playing in the Arena Football League. He’d sign with the Cleveland Thunderbolts and played for them through the 1993 season, before hopping back into the CFL with the Sacramento Gold Miners. In 1994 the Gold Miners moved to San Antonio and became the Texans. He’d join them there back in his old stomping grounds. Afterwards, Fears joined the AFL again, playing in 1996 for the Tampa Bay Storm, and then in 1997 for the Nashville Katz.

wcwlaf92 fearsHe then continued his dream by becoming a football coach.  In the ArenaFootball2 league, he’d coach with the Arkansas Twisters for 3 seasons, before joining Jay Gruden on the Predators to coach the linemen. Ironically, later Pat O’Hara, joined the staff replacing Gruden as head coach. Pat was a member of the Ohio Glory and probably felt Willie breathing down his neck more than once during the Riders 17-0 stomping of the Glory back in 1992. Fears remained with the Predators through 2011. Currently he lives in Arkansas. My first success from the Meiselman 2014 list, I had been looking for Willie for quite sometime, and had been unable to locate him since his stint ended with the Predators. He was kind enough to not only sign the Wild Card WLAF 1992 card I enclosed, but like Billy Hess also enclosed one of his own from the Jogo 1995 set. Unfortunately both of the autographs were smudged as he signed with an overhead Vis-A-Vis instead of a Sharpie. The Riders card was smudged beyond recognition, so I resent it back out with a team photo of him and the other linemen for Willie to keep. He sent it back in about 2 weeks signed with the marker I gave him.

AFL    Tac  46     Sac 9    FF 2    Int  0   Yds   0   Avg  -.-   Td 0   Lg -.-
WLAF  Tac   N/a    Sac   2   FF  0    Int 0   Yds 0   Avg -.-   Td 0  Lg -.-
NFL  2     Tac  N/a    Sac 0   FF 0   Int  0  Yds 0   Avg -.-   Td 0  Lg -.-
CFL  N/a