Tag Archives: San Diego Chargers

Arena, NFL, XFL

Sabb, Dwayne “Big Saab”

Card: StarPics 1992
Acquired: Patriots Blitz 1993

Drafted out of tiny New Hampshire in the 5th round of the 1992 draft by the New England Patriots to play linebacker, Dwayne Sabb has had quite an interesting and lively career. He’d play for the Patriots initially through the 1996 season. A good backup for the team, he’d start 24 games over 5 seasons making 7 sacks, 3 picks, 92 tackles and 3 fumbles. After he left New England he’d sign with the Chargers for the 1997 season, but not make the squad. In 1998 he signed with Buffalo and had the same result.

Sabb would sit out a few seasons until the XFL arrived. He’d sign with the New York/New Jersey Hitmen in 2001 and would be one of the league’s leaders in sacks before it folded at the end of the season. He’d finish the season with 26 tackles and 4 sacks for the team. Dwayne afterwards would spend the remainder of his career in the Arena leagues playing fullback and linebacker for the New Jersey Gladiators in 2001 and 2002. After a moderately successful time there, he’d play one season for the Buffalo Destroyers (2003) and Philadelphia Soul in 2004 before retiring.

College Football HoF, NFL

Friesz, John “Deep”

Cards: Action Packed 1992, Action Packed Rookies 1991
Acquired: TTM 1993, C/o The San Diego Chargers

John Freisz was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the 6th round of the 1990 draft. Considered to be the ‘future’ of the franchise- based on his amazing performance at Idaho leading them to an 8-0 record and throwing for over 4,000 yards- the future came sooner than anybody expected when Billy Joe Tolliver left after the season concluded.

In 1991 Friesz took over as starting quarterback of the Chargers, starting all 16 games. Allowed to flourish- he threw for 2896 yards and 12 touchdowns as a traditional drop back passer. Friesz suffered a season ending injury in the 1992 preseason and did not return until 1993, throwing 6 touchdowns and only 4 interceptions. A new head coach led John in a new direction- as John became a journeyman quarterback, playing in Washington for a season, before a four season stint with Seattle starting in 1995. In 1996, (John’s best year,) he’d win 4 starts and lose only 2 putting up a respectable 86.2 quarterback rating.  In 1995, he came off the bench for the Seahawks leading the team back from a 20-0 deficit against the Denver Broncos- engineering 3 4th quarter touchdown drives. After his stint in Seattle, Friesz would play two non-discript seasons for the New England Patriots and retire.

Friesz was the epitome of the walking wounded. Over his career he broke his thumb, leg, suffered injuries to his knees and separated his non-throwing shoulder. He also spent 15 games of his rookie season on IR, and the whole 1992 season there as well. John was well liked by his teammates. With a workman like attitude and a team player, Friesz rarely if ever complained when salary cap problems, politics and injuries caused him to lose his starting job.

An avid outdoorsman, John especially enjoys fishing and is a certified Scuba diver. John’s last name is pronounced “Freez” and was nicknamed “Deep” by his teammates in college.

In 2006, John’s number was retired by Idaho and he became the school’s first inductee into the College Football HoF that year as well. In 2009 he’d also be inducted into the Inland Northwest HoF. He remains active to this day in his community participating in golf tournaments, hosting numerous charities for the Special Olympics and participating in Big Brothers & Big Sisters of America.

G/Gs 69/38     Att 1364    Comp 745    Yds 8699    Pct 54.6%
Td 45       Int 42        Rat  72.3

AFL, CFL, NFL, wfl, WLAF

Stephenson, Kay

Card: ProSet 1991, ProSet WLAF 1991
Acquired: In Person 1992, San Antonio Riders v. Sacramento Surge

Kay Stephenson would get his break playing backup quarterback in the AFL for the San Diego Chargers in 1967 and the Bills in 1968. Stephenson played in the WFL and was the starting quarterback in the first game of the league’s existence for the Jacksonville Sharks. In 1975 he’d be named player personnel director and offensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Express. After the WFL  folded he’d be hired on by legendary coach Chuck Knox to be an assistant coach of the Los Angeles Rams where he’d follow Knox to the Buffalo Bills, becoming a member of Knox’s coaching tree.

Stephenson was named head coach of the Buffalo Bills in 1983, replacing Knox who was hired by the Seattle Seahawks. He is most notable in his stint as the man behind the Bills helmet color change from white to red. It is rumored that the reason behind this was a need to differentiate the Bills from the rest of their division to help the team cut down on interceptions. (At that time the Patriots, Dolphins and Colts all had white helmets.) After an ignominious debut with the Bills where the team posted a  10-26 record, Kay would be fired in 1986. He’d actually be selling real estate when the  WLAF approached him in 1990 to coach the Sacramento Surge. While the team had a rough inaugural season- Stephenson would guide the team in its second season to a World Bowl II with a dynamic offense led by former NFLer David Archer.  After their thrilling victory over the Riders– I got Kay’s autograph on his two cards as they were leaving the locker room. I remember quite distinctly that he smoked like a chain smoker.

After the WLAF folded, he’d hop over to the Sacramento Gold Miners of the CFL to coach there for the 1993 and 1994 season. Stephenson during his time with the Gold Miners would post a 16-19-1 record before the franchise relocated to San Antonio and renamed itself the Texans. With the Texans the team posted a  12-6 record and qualified for the playoffs, but lost in the semi-finals. With the disbanding of the other CFLUSA teams after the 1995 season, Kay would find himself in the assistants’ chair again until he was promoted to head coach for the Edmonton Eskimos for the 1998 season where he resigned after a 9-9 season. Interesting tidbit about Stephenson is that he has been involved with 5 teams that experienced major downturns, contractions, or all together folded (Surge, Goldminers, Texans, Express, and Sharks). Below are his WLAF coaching statistics:

G 20    W  11     L   9     T  0     Pct .555