Tag Archives: San Diego Chargers

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

 

NFL

Dishman, Cris (2)

Cards:  Action Packed 1992, Fleer 1995
Acquired:  TTM 2011, C/o The San Diego Chargers
Sent: 10/7    Received: 10/27   (20 days)
Failure: TTM 2010, C/o The San Diego Chargers
See Also: Cris Dishman, Dish (3)

Well I thought I’d give Cris another shot with less cards. After making a big blitz of former Oilers in 2010, I was surprised not to receive anything back from Cris Dishman courtesy of the Chargers. I tended to other stuff but when I published my master list of Oilers that I had gotten on Fanmail, they told me that Cris was easy to get, so I planned on reloading and trying again. He was on the back burner for a couple of months here until I joined SotL at Bubba Mcdowell‘s recommendation, to where I found the Facebook heaven for football players. Seeing that Cris was on here and that he was active- I decided to go ahead and give him another shot on these two cards.

At that time, I really liked what Fleer was doing with their 1995 set. It was really daring to have the information on the front of the card like that and the player name and team information really reminded me of Skybox’s 1992 release. Crystal clear photography also really assisted as well in the production of this piece. The Action Packed 1992 card was right at the end of what I felt was their best work. Already in their 1991 offering, they had annoyingly decided to flip the stats on the back, in landscape form from left to right on random cards, and they continued this trend in 1992, and by 1993 I was out of the market.

Cris Dishman engages his fans on Sotl which is refreshing. When I asked him what his favorite memory was about playing football outside of being drafted, he said it was the comradery of the locker room after games that no business could ever match.  He filled my request through the Chargers in roughly 20 days.

NFL

Grayson Jr., David

Cards:  Topps 1990, Pro Set Platinum 1991
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Work
Sent:  10/7   Received: 10/27 (20 days)

I was combing through my boxes late one night looking for a player when I stumbled upon Dave’s card and for some reason it stuck in my mind. Recently I’ve been enamored with the football site “School of the Legends” (which reminds me of a slick Facebook for football fans). It has allowed me to connect with many memorable football players I remember from when I was a kid and also follow players who cover the teams. When I logged back in I saw Dave’s card up on the site on his new profile, -so I know when a sign slaps me in the face. After posting on his profile basically what I just explained, we had a good laugh and then he flat out offered me his autograph on a card or two. Another fan, who unabashedly asks mechanically for every player’s autograph admitted that he didn’t have  a card, so I included an extra for Dave to sign for him.

Dave Grayson is a great story. After playing for Cal-Poly Ponoma, Dave transferred to Fresno State where he’d come in and play great defense for the team at linebacker. Drafted by the 49ers in 1987 with the 217th pick, Dave would not make the roster but would capitalize off of the 1987 players’ strike and like fellow alumni Eddie Anderson (Raiders), and Eugene Seale (Oilers) would somehow find a way to stick on the roster of the Browns after the strike ended.

After an abbreviated 1987, Grayson would have a career high 5 sacks in 1988 and score on a 17 yard fumble recovery.  In 1989 during a 51-0 drubbing of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Dave would make an interception that he’d return 14 yards for a touchdown on quarterback Bubby Brister. He’d make 2 picks that season and chip in 2 more fumble recoveries, and another of which he’d return for 6. It’d be a short 1991 for Dave, after he signed with San Diego via Plan B, he’d retire after the season.

Grayson throughout his career at 6-2, 230 was a speedy missile and the fastest linebacker in Cleveland’s corps. He also had a knack for finding the endzone, scoring 3 touchdowns with 2 on fumble recoveries and one on an interception.  Below are his career statistics:

G/Gs 54/37      Sac 8.0       Tac n/a         Fum 4         Int 3      Yds 28        Avg 9.1      Td 1    lg 14