Tag Archives: score 1991

NFL

Smith, Dennis

Cards: Pacific 1991, Score 1990, Score 1991, Score Supplemental 1989, ProSet 1990 ProBowl, ProSet 1990.
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent: 8/6 Received: 8/11 (5 days)

Wow, new record with Dennis here, partially because he lives in virtually the same city. I sent only 3 cards to get signed with a few extras for him to keep. It was very gracious of him to sign all 6 anyway with the additional duplicate.

Dennis was a local product from Santa Monica. He’d go to USC under head coach John Robinson and would be paired with Joey Browner, and Ronnie Lott forming one of the most fearsome secondaries in the nation. In 1981 Smith would be taken by the Denver Broncos during the 1st round with the 15th pick.

A devestatingly hard hitter lining up at strong safety, Smith would only start 4 games his rookie season, hauling down a pick and recovering 2 fumbles. In 1983, he finished with 5 sacks, 4 picks and 114 tackles. 1984 would see his legend grow, as he made 92 more tackles and returned a fumble 64 yards for a touchdown.  It’d be in 1985 that Dennis finally started earning his stripes, earning his first ProBowl nomination that season, with 4 sacks, 3 picks and 66 tackles and quickly earn his second successive ProBowl nod the following season in 1986. After the strike shortened 1987 season and a slow 1988, Smith would earn his 3rd nomination in 1989 with 3 fumble recoveries, 2 picks, and 82 tackles while draftee Steve Atwater cemented down the other safety position. He’d grab his 4th and 5th nominations in 1990 and 1991 with 110 tackles in both seasons, and 5 picks in 1991. Despite almost duplicate numbers in 1992, with 4 picks, 2 fumbles and 120 tackles, he did not earn PB honors, but nabbed them one final time in 1993, before retiring after the 1994 season.

Over his career Dennis Smith was named AP 4 times in 1984, 1985, 1986 and 1989. Among Dennis other achievements is being inducted into the Denver Ring of Fame in 2001, the Colorado Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Denver Broncos 50th Anniversary Team. Since then he’s dabbled in real estate and reality television.

Nice cards through and through here. It was hard to choose which one to send to him. Some great shots here of Dennis playing it up for drama’s sake on some of these, but otherwise his Score Supplemental 1989 stands out as his most solid action shot to me. Otherwise, the best designed card, I have to hand it to ProSet here, as both of their cards are solid.

G/Gs 184/170   Tac 1152    Sac 15    Fum 17    Int 30    Yds 431    Td 0

NFL

Thomas, Robb

Cards: Topps 1992, Score 1991, Stadium Club 1992, Fleer Ultra 1991
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent:  4/27   Received:  5/13  (23 days)

I don’t know why, but Robb Thomas had a few cards in my collection that just kept popping up when I was looking for a player to send to. Then all of a sudden Sportscollectors.net lit up with TTM successes from him, so after a few days of debate I grabbed a stack of his cards and sent them out. In less than a month I got a response from the former Beaver on these 4 cards to which he also inscribed one of them in ball point pen with, “Go Beavs!”

Robb Thomas was a class member of the super draft of 1989. Drafted near the top of the 6th round by the Kansas City Chiefs, he’d be a nice acquisition for the team with 4.55 speed.  (The wide receiver class statistical output quickly drops off after him, with New Orleans Saints WR Floyd Turner being the only notable blip on the radar after Thomas.)  After a weak rookie season, in which Robb spent half the season on IR, he’d make 8 receptions for 58 yards and 2 touchdowns while adjusting to Marty Schottenheimer‘s offense in 1989. In 1990 he’d start 12 games for the Chiefs snagging 41 receptions for 545 yards and 4 touchdowns. A sure handed pass catcher with good instincts, Robb would follow his 1990 campaign up with a similar 1991, leading the team with 43 receptions and chalking up 495 yards again starting 12 games alongside rookie Tim Barnett.

Thomas would sign with the Seahawks in 1992 where he provided depth to the team and would start only 1 game  over 3 seasons. In 1995, Robb would start 2 games and make 12 receptions for 239 yards and a career high 19.9 yards a reception. In 1996 Robb would sign with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and play for rookie head coach Tony Dungy. Back in the lineup for his most solid playing time since 1991, he’d make 33 receptions for 427 yards and 2 touchdowns in 8 starts. He’d return to the bench in 1997, before returning again briefly in 1998, to help out the Buccaneers devastated wide receiver corps and  ironically make the longest reception of his career, and then retire soon thereafter.

Topps in  1992 finally started seeing the light and the majority of their cards matched this respectable quality card of Robb that they put out. The Stadium Club card, (which was their premier line,) was unique, had higher quality imagery, and the back of the cards had the player’s first card appearance and “The Sporting News” rating system. It was an obvious step up. Fleer on the other hand fumbled the ball right out of the gate. After a decent debut in 1990, Fleer decided in 1991 to release 2 lines as well, but it was gallingly apparent that the 1991 regular was retooled so that it was an even lower quality, imagery, and design than the previous year’s offering. The 1991 Fleer Ultra set was a disaster in itself. I really disagree with squeezing so many type faces into the player information area and the silver seems too strong and almost unnecessary to the design space. The back of this card is even more ghastly, with simple usage of the selection tool to isolate player figures that have arbitrary body parts cut off and a centered picture isolated in a NFL logo mask. An absolute travesty. It was a struggle in approach and feel to even reach the quality of their debut set. The Score 1991 card is a great action shot of Robb, and while they seem to have clearly lost a step, it’s just not as obvious a loss in design as Fleer displays or as much as Topps and its Stadium Club line gained.

Robb was a Tecmo Super Bowl veteran on an offense that largely relied on the ground game of Okoye and Word. Respected by the Tecmo gods, Thomas was always an underrated receiver that could be counted on in a pinch. A big Beaver backer, Robb enjoys sporting events and has dabbled in high school coaching as a wide receivers coach for Summit High School in Oregon where he lives with his wife and kids.

G/Gs  136/37       Rec 174        Yds 2229        Avg  12.8           Td 11         Lg 50

CFL, NFL, WLAF, XFL

Moore, Shawn

Cards: Action Packed Rookies 1991, Score 1991
Acquired: In Person 1992, San Antonio Riders v. Birmingham Fire
Failure: TTM 2010, C/o The University of Virginia

After the Birmingham Fire lost to the San Antonio Riders that humid night I tromped onto the field and got Shawn’s autograph on his Action Packed Rookies and Score 1991 card. You could see on his face the frustration of being buried on the depth chart and the relative annoyance he felt about being there, but he still managed to sign these two cards for me.

In the early 90’s, Dan Reeves decided that he was going to pull rank and find the heir apparent to John Elway after tensions boiled to the surface between the two seasoned professionals. Dan drafted not one, but two quarterbacks in the 1991 draft. Highly regarded Tommy Maddox from UCLA and Shawn Moore from Virginia. Shawn had finished 1st in passing efficiency in the nation and broke most passing records for the Cavaliers in 1990. Moore would be drafted in the 11th round of the draft and back up both Maddox and Elway.

The Broncos would loan Moore to the Birmingham Fire for the 1992 season where he was expected to compete for the starting job, however he never saw any time off the bench sitting behind Mike Norseth. Shawn returned to the NFL for the 1992 season throwing for 232 yards and 3 picks in injury relief for John Elway. Afterwards he’d return to the bench of the Broncos, where he’d stay through 1993. In 1994, Shawn signed with the Arizona Cardinals, but saw no playing time. He’d then head North to Canada for the 1995 season, splitting time with the Blue Bombers and Stampeders before retiring from professional football.

Since then Moore has spent time in administration working as a national scout for the XFL and an enforcement representative for the NCAA. Currently he’s the wide receivers coach for his alma mater, The University of Virginia.  I sent two cards out to Moore last year, hoping to get his autograph on two final cards but at this point am still waiting hopefully for a response.