Marvin Bracy-Williams is an intriguing athlete. A track man in the vein of Marquise Goodwin, he left college early (Florida State) to pursue a professional career in sprinting. Over his time in the sport since 2010, he’s earned 3 golds and 1 silver metal, and in 2016 earned a spot on the US team for the Olympics.
He decided to give professional football a shot in 2017, but was unable to stick to the Colts roster (2017) or the Seahawks (2018). In 2019 Marvin signed with the Orlando Apollos of the AAF. Unfortunately during the inaugural game of the league against the Legends, he suffered a shoulder injury (on his first target of the night) and had to be placed on IR.
Card: Topps AAF 2019 Acquired: TTM 2020, C/o The St. Louis Battlehawks Sent: 2/18 Received: 2/29 (11 days) Failure: TTM 2019, C/o Home
Tim Lewis was an imposing defensive back out of Pittsburgh. He was drafted by the Green Bay Packers with their 1st round pick in 1983. Lewis’ career was off to an incredible start. He started just 7 games in his rookie year at right corner, but recorded 5 interceptions for 111 yards while forcing 3 fumbles. In 1984 Tim returned a pick 99 yards for a TD, en route to adding 7 more interceptions on his resume, and 4 more the following year in 1985. It’d be then that Lewis’ football playing career came to an end during 1986, when he suffered a terrible neck injury against the Bears.
In 1987, Tim went into coaching, first at Texas A&M, then later at SMU, Pitt and then back into the pro ranks with the Steelers in 1995. He was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2000 with Pittsburgh, then joined the Giants in that same capacity from 2004-2006. Since that time, he saw stops with the Panthers, Seahawks, Falcons, and 49ers.
2019 was an interesting year in football. With the Alliance of American Football on the radar, Tim took the coaching reins of the Birmingham Iron. They’d finish 5-3, as only the second team to clench a playoff berth in the short lifespan of the AAF. The team very much reflected Tim’s style with a smash mouth defense that begrudgingly gave up yards.
Unable to get his autograph through his home address, I sent this card to the Battlehawks where he was coaching the defensive backs of that solid squad, before COVID wiped out the XFL in 2020.
I’m not really sure what’s up with Ricky Proehl. I’ve seen numerous successes for him, with some that even include the card pictured above, so after 3 failures over the years, where it looked like I was the last person out in the cold, a friend who I help out from time to time had this extra floating around that I could have. I would have liked to get Ricky on a card or two more, but after the 3rd or 4th failure- I routinely in the past look at other options, but for the time being I’ll stand pat with this one and will probably be a bit gun shy about trying him again. This card was a definite set need that I wanted to get out of the way for a while. I only got one when I broke a box years ago originally, so I’ve been out quite a few cards every time I wrote him.
Ricky Proehl gets no respect. He graduated from Wake Forest as virtually the school’s all-time leader in receiving yards (2,949 yards), and TDs (25), as well as ranking in the top five in receptions and receiving average. He was selected in the 3rd round of the 1990 draft by the Phoenix Cardinals.
His rookie season was a solid debut, when he caught 56 passes for 802 yards and 4 TDs. These numbers were the best by a Cardinals rookie and the first to lead the team since 1950. He then played the next 3 years with the franchise, and set career marks in 1993 (65 receptions, 877 yards, and 7 TDs). Following the 1994 season, Ricky was traded to the Seattle Seahawks, where he played through 1995. In 1996, he rejuvenated his career playing with the Bears for a season, hauling down 58 receptions, for 753 yards, and 7 TDs.
In 1998, Proehl signed with the St. Louis Rams and became a member of ‘The Greatest Show on Turf’. He is perhaps best known for this time of his career, as he was clutch for the team, as a situational starter or when they needed him most. Ricky won two Super Bowls with the Rams over the next 5 seasons recording 207 catches, for 2590 yards, and 16 TDs.
At the grand old age of 35, Ricky still had a few miles left. He joined the Carolina Panthers in 2003, playing the majority of his sunset years with the squad. Over 3 seasons, he posted 1237 yards and 8 TDs for Carolina before one final season in 2006 with the Indianapolis Colts.
Ricky has been involved in coaching since retirement working with the Carolina Panthers from 2011- 2016. He also owns a sports park in North Carolina. His son, Austin followed in his footsteps and was most recently a WR for the Seattle Dragons of the XFL.
It should be noted that despite never posting a 1,000 yard season in his 17 season career, he finished with over 8,000 yards receiving in just 109 starts and recorded under 400 yards in only 5 seasons.
G/GS
REC
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
244/109
669
8878
13.3
54
78
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
