Jim Marshall played DE for the Ohio State Buckeyes from 1957-58.
Generational player who helped Buckeyes win by scoring all 14 points (interception, blocked punt, and kicked 2 xp) in a game against Purdue in 1958.
Left school to play in the CFL for the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 1959.
In a rare transaction at the time, was swapped from the CFL-NFL trade to the Cleveland Browns, in exchange for Bob Ptacek.
Played the 1960 season with Cleveland, before being traded to the Minnesota Vikings along with a few other players for 2 draft picks.
Went on to play in an improbable 282 games over his 19 season career for the Vikings (starting 270 consecutively)- at the time NFL records.
Member of the famed Purple People Eaters, played in all 4 of the Vikings Super Bowl appearances.
At time of retirement in 1979, had played in every game in Vikings club history.
Finished with 130 sacks- second on the franchise’s record books.
ACCOLADES:
#70 retired- Vikings
Record- Most career fumble recoveries (30)
Record- Most seasons played by a defensive player (20)
Record- Most consecutive games played by a defensive player (289)
Minnesota Vikings 25th Anniversary Team
Minnesota Vikings 40th Anniversary Team
50 Greatest Vikings
Minnesota Vikings Ring of Honor
Pro Bowl 1968, ’69
Second Team All-Pro 1964, ’68, ’69
NOTES:
Despite Jim’s resume, and being the ultimate iron man, he’s only been considered a finalist for the HoF. I’ve always considered him a HoFer in my book, and found a card that I finally wanted to get signed after I scraped up the small fee. It’s a nice autograph… a bit smudged, but I’ll take it over the crazy prices they wanted online for a certified.
EPITAPH:
6/3/25- Jim Marshall passed away today at the age of 87.
James Butler played RB for 3 years at Nevada from 2014-16.
He ran for over 1300 yards and 10 TDs in both 2015 and 2016.
Transferred to Iowa for Senior year in 2017.
Undrafted in 2018, but was a member of the Raiders practice squad.
Signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2019 but was cut at the end of camp.
Returned to Raiders practice squad for the 2019 season but was not resigned.
Joined the XFL Houston Roughnecks Run N Shoot attack for the 2020 season.
Was a spark at RB for the Roughnecks, both on the ground and as a receiving threat.
Carried the ball 46 times for 221 yards (4 TDs) to go along with 11 catches for 42 yards and a TD
After scoring a TD in a home game against the St Louis Battlehawks, jumped into crowd creating a celebration dubbed, “The Houston Hop”.
COVID ended the XFL 2020, but James rejoined the CFL- with the BC Lions.
Rushed for 497 yards on 101 carries (2 TDs) and caught 39 passes for 243 yards and a TD in 2021.
Had first 1,000 yard effort in 2022 rushing for 1060 yards on 210 carries while also catching 53 passes for 384 yards for the Lions.
NOTES:
Well I had season tickets to the Roughnecks and of 3 games that they were able to play I was able to attend 2 of them before COVID knocked the league out. I went with my friend Kevin to the game, and with our endzone seats, I was able to engineer a guest star on James Butler’s Houston Hop, as I muscled my way in at the end of the highlight film. Look at that Legends jersey! Long live the AAF!
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.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
