Tag Archives: score 1989

NFL

Green, Gaston

Cards: GameDay 1992, Score 1989
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o Home
Sent: 12/31/17 Received: 1/12/18 (12 days)

At the time of his graduation from UCLA, Gaston Green stood atop the Bruins’ career rushing charts with 3,731 yards. After trading Eric Dickerson, John Robinson was looking to reload the Rams offense. The Rams had other needs as well, but when the #1 back in the draft plops in your lap at #14, you take him. There were quite a few recognizable names in the 1988 NFL Draft. The most notable name was Thurman Thomas, selected near the top of Round 2. John Stephens, taken a few picks after Gaston, won the 1988 Rookie of the Year Honors. Other names that rounded out this group were: Lorenzo White, Ickey Woods, Brad Muster, Craig Heyward, and Lars Tate. With the surprise emergence of afterthought Greg Bell in LA, Gaston played sparingly for the Rams, biding his time primarily on special teams. After 3 seasons behind Bell, Cleveland Gary, Robert Delpino, and Marcus Dupree– Gaston was traded by the Rams to Denver in 1991.

The Broncos were a run first squad as well. It was good timing as starter Bobby Humphrey was holding out. Gaston took over as starter and didn’t look back. He had his best season as a pro posting 1,037 yards on 261 carries, and 4 touchdowns, earning Green his only Pro Bowl appearance. In 1992, he had 648 yards on 161 carries. After the season he signed with the Los Angeles Raiders, but opted to retire instead. It really worked out best this way for Gaston, as he retired before he was 30 with his health still intact.

Great cards of Gaston. In fact, nearly all the card images of Green from his playing days are amazing. It was really tough to choose between his GameDay, Action Packed, Score, and ProSet entries, but these two were among my favorites. I have a box that I keep of players that I really want and when Gaston popped up, I dashed a letter out the door to him the next day.

G/GS 58/28       Rush 551      Yds 2136      Avg 3.9      TD 6      LG 67t
Rec 32      Yds 232      Avg 7.3       Td 1      Lg 33
Kr 47      Yds 981       Avg 20.9      Td 1      Lg 99t

Arena, NFL

Tomczak, Mike (2)


Cards: Skybox 92, Action Packed 1989, Score 1989
Acquired: TTM 2016, C/o Work
Sent:  12/4/16    Received: 2/11/17 (65 days)
See Also: Mike Tomczak

Mike’s dreams came true when he joined the Chicago Bears- a team he idolized as a kid. While Ditka put so much pressure on Mike that he considered quitting the sport he loved, Mike ended up carving out a 15 year career in the NFL playing at a variety of stops in the league after Chicago. Infamously during his stay in Green Bay he opted to hold out for a better contract- which caused the team to cut him, and brought about the Brett Favre era that much quicker. Mike had no problem spreading the love around, throwing to 35 different players in 88 touchdown strikes. While Mike only topped the 300 yard mark one time with the Bears, Packers, and Browns, he blossomed late in his career adding 3 more to his career with the Steelers. Mike is known for being the lead guitar player during the Bears infamous 1985 ‘Super Bowl Shuffle’ video. He also shares the same birthday with fellow quarterback Doug Flutie.

Tomczak had some great cards over his career. It took me some time to figure out which ones to send him. After some deliberation I decided on these three. I liked the design and photo for all three of these cards. Action Packed did a short run test promo in 1989 that covered a few NFC teams. It was pretty much identical to their 1990 run, minus the copyright. Score 1989 was blockbuster by any right with the vibrant colors and strong action photos standing out. Skybox was a late addition to the market, coming from the basketball arena, but its initial offering was simple, clean, and impressive.

NFL

Mack, Kevin (2) ‘Attack’

Cards: ProSet 1989, Score 1989, Score 1991 MVP
Acquired: 2016, Future Considerations
See Also: Kevin Mack

Deadhorse comes through again for me. My Cleveland connection who gets a rare bone thrown to him from time to time set me up with a signing that included 3 great Browns backs: Earnest Byner, Mike Pruitt, and Kevin Mack.

Kevin has a lot of great nicknames because of his indelible last name. My friends and I used to call him ‘Mack Attack’ in Tecmo Bowl (circa 1987/8), but I’ve heard ‘Mack Truck’ and a few others because well, not only did he hit like a truck in Tecmo, he attacked the line in real life.

Former revered head coach Marty Schottenheimer has been quoted as saying about Mack:
“K Mack was a between the tackles runner who had power as well as good speed. He had that tremendous step of acceleration you have to have when he saw that little spot he had to run to or through.”

As of 2016, Kevin is the head of Cleveland Browns Alumni relations. He kicked the can for many years on returning to the sport in a coaching or front office capacity- inquiring with the Texans in 2000 about becoming a scout once the franchise took a foothold. Eventually he ended up returning to the Browns. Among the things that Mack laments is the glory days of the AFC South and the rivalries between the Steelers, Oilers, Browns, and Bengals. (I for one second that.)

Some really nice cards of Kevin here that I got signed the second time around.  Each of them showcase Mack’s power and ability to lead with his massive shoulders. The ProSet 1989 is a marvelous action shot with just perfect framing, while his Score 91 is a solidly designed illustration. The Score 1989 is why Topps was caught so flat footed by both ProSet and Score’s entry into the card market. Not only did they use dynamic photography and action shots, the colors on the higher grade card just illuminated the canvas.