Tag Archives: San Antonio Riders

NFL, WLAF

Gilbert, Greg

scan0001Card: Pro Set 1991
Acquired: TTM work 2013, C/o Central Florida University
Sent: 2/5     Received: 2/28     (25 days)

Greg Gilbert played for the Crimson Tide of Alabama from 1985-1988 posting 256 tackles. In his banner  Sophomore season he recorded 103 tackles, (5 TFL), recovered 2 fumbles, and intercepted a pass. While he posted 90 tackles in his Junior season (second on the team,) an injury riddled Senior season sent his draft stock plummeting. Gilbert was drafted by the Chicago Bears in the 6th round of the 1989 NFL draft. He’d then spend the 1990 season on the roster of the Indianapolis Colts after some training camp action with the Raiders, a team that he returned to in 1991 after a training camp stop with the Eagles.

In 1991, the San Antonio Riders, (coached by Alabama alum Mike Riley,)  selected Greg Gilbert with the second overall pick of the league’s initial positional draft (after Wayne Davis, Orlando). Starting for the Riders at linebacker in the team’s 3-4 alignment, Gilbert starred alongside linebackers Tim Walton and Mark Ledbetter.  He’d make a pick for 15 yards that year, but by the end of the season was on the roster of the Barcelona Dragons. Greg played in 1992 with the Dragons again before the league suspended operations until 1995.

Gilbert is a player that I had been trying to find for a long time. Occasionally I will do Google searches of players, and sometimes, I get a hit. I happened to get lucky and find Greg working for Central Florida University where in 2012 he was named Associate Director of Athletics Development. Since 1995 Greg has been an outstanding member of the business community, working in communications, marketing, and consulting roles.  I immediately put a letter in the mail to him, and he responded in a little under a month. He enclosed a nice note to me, thanking me for the nice letter and how much it means to be remembered, and how great the league was, as they were all just kids trying to play the game they loved. Really nicely put.

G/Gs  N/a    Tac  N/a   Sac  N/a   Fum N/a    Int 1   Yds 15    Avg 15.0   Td 0   lg N/a

NFL, WLAF

Garrett, John

Card: Ultimate WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2012, C/o The Dallas Cowboys
Sent: 4/26  Received: 5/2  (7 days)
Failure: TTM 2010, C/o The Dallas Cowboys

The Garrett family has a long history in the NFL starting with their father, Jim, who had served in the league as a scout for almost 40 years. The boys, Jason, Judd, and John have all experienced a measure of NFL success, and all of them spent time playing in the WLAF during the early 1990s making their legacy quite unique.

John finished his career at Princeton leading all the receivers his senior season with 45 receptions for 617 yards and 2 touchdowns. He quickly signed with the Cowboys in 1988, eventually landing on the practice squad of the Cincinnati Bengals the next season where he made 2 receptions for 29 yards. John would later spend time in the off-season, with Buffalo Bills as well in 1991.

That year, all 3 brothers decided to play in the inaugural season of the World League of American Football.  John ended up being drafted by the San Antonio Riders in the second round of the WR positional draft, to catch passes from his brother, Jason.  (Judd was drafted by the Monarchs.) The Riders however had a rocky season, and injuries and inconsistencies eventually saw Jason split time with Mike Johnson at quarterback.  John finished the season though tied for 3rd on the Riders with 23 receptions. He’d also catch the last TD of Riders season from his brother Jason, during the final game  in a loss to the Knights. It is at this point that I am unsure if he was injured or cut before the 1992 season was underway. I do know he was at training camp for the Riders, and played in their scrimmage versus the Ohio Glory,  (as evidenced in the card pictured above,) who were the replacement franchise for the Skyhawks from the 1991 season.

He then returned to the NFL spending the next 12 seasons, with the Bucs, Bengals, and Cardinals in a variety of coaching postions. 2004 saw Garrett jump into the college ranks working for Virginia Cavaliers under Al Groh.  After a successful time with the Cavs John was reunited with his brothers Jason and Judd on the Dallas Cowboys in 2007.

I had sent to all three brothers in the past thinking that perhaps I could get them all in one envelope back in 2010. Unfortunately I didn’t have any success and I assume that it is lost.  I rarely send out to more than one player in one envelope anymore. It just increases the chance that you won’t get anything back at all.  John had only one card, but turned this around care of the Cowboys in roughly one week signing it with a bible inscription from Colossians 3:23-  “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human.”  It’s a great card, and although a heavy percentage of Ultimate cards suffered from cutting issues, overall I really liked the design and style of what they were doing at the time.

Rec  23    Yds  386     Avg  16.8     Td  3     Lg  48

NFL, ufl, University of Texas, usfl, WLAF

Bradley, Bill “Super Bill”

Card: Topps 1972, Upper Deck UT 2011
Acquired: In Person, 11/9/11 Card Traders of Austin UD 2011 UT Football Card Launch Party

A tried and true athlete that found his position of calling while at the University of Texas, “Super Bill” as he was dubbed (for having ambidextrous passing skills) came in originally as a quarterback to the vaunted school in 1965. Unable to crack the lineup there or at wide receiver, he found his true calling at defensive back for the Longhorns. He’d go on to become perhaps one of the best secondary personnel in the history of the school and make an SWC record 4 picks in one game.

Super Bill was drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 3rd  round of the 1969 draft. The rest is history. The multi-purpose Bradley was inserted into the lineup at free safety, but along the way would play as a kick returner, punt returner, and punter for the Eagles who truly got their money’s worth out of Bradley.  Unfortunately these were also some of the leanest years of the Eagles’ storied franchise.  His 1970 and 1971 seasons stand among the best in NFL history, recording 11 picks in 1970 for 248 yards and making 2 FR leading the NFL, and then following it up in 1971 with 9 picks for 73 yards to lead the NFL again in interceptions. (No other player in history has lead the league twice in picks.) In 1973 he’d add 4 picks to the total but teams would begin to look the other way in fear of Bradley’s ball-hawking skills. For the 3 seasons, he’d be awarded AP or Pro Bowl honors. He’d again make 5 picks in 1975 before finishing out his career with Philadelphia the following year. Bill would sign with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1977 playing one final season and retire. He is tied as the franchise’s all time leader in interceptions with 36.
He’s been active in coaching working with the San Antonio Gunslingers of the USFL, crossing paths with me briefly as a defensive backs coach of the San Antonio Riders, and along the way as well with the Bills, Chargers, and Jets (in no specific order).  He also served as defensive coordinator of the Baylor Bears for 2004-2006.  As of late, Super Bill has also worked in the UFL with the Florida Tuskers and the Hartford Colonials as a secondary coach and is a member of the ‘suspended operations staff’ in Hartford.  Bradley has been inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame and also into the Philadelphia Eagles Honor Roll.

I had been following Sports Cards Traders of Austin for a few weeks and it really paid off. When they posted up that Bradley was going to be appearing, I did not hesitate to call them and have the store pull a few cards of him from the racks. I grabbed a Topps 1972, and then heard that he would be in the UT set. After breaking open a few packs, I was happy to find Bradley inside one of them. I gave an extra to him which made him really happy since it was the first time he saw it. The photo that they used was from his Freshman year at UT. He knew it because he was wearing a helicopter pilot’s helmet and apparently they had run out of ones for their players. We also talked about the Riders, and he told me that Coach Riley owns a house down the street from him. Bradley also loved talking about the hail storm game with me against the Ohio Glory back in 1992. It was a great interaction with a great player who was willing to personalize my cards. Here is Super Bill’s statistics:

G 114      Tac  N/a      Sac  N/a     Fum  7    Int   34    Yds  536   Avg 15.8      Td  1    Lg 56t
KR 27      Yds 564       Avg 20.9         Td 0    Lg 42
PR 122    Yds 953       Avg 7.8         Td 0       Lg 60
P  213      Yds 8316     Avg  39.0     Lg 61