Tag Archives: Seattle Seahawks

College Football HoF, NFL

Mayes, Rueben

Cards: Score 1991, ProSet 1990
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o home
Sent: 10/15   Received: 3/3  (128 days)

Score Cards made some really nice cards in 1989 and 1990, but already by 1991 you felt that the brand was losing its traction and the quality was beginning to slide. It wasn’t that the photos were bad, -it was really the design. With a gradient background that goes from white to purple, a diamond shaped area to frame the team logo, and a hideously bold serif type family to announce the name, about the only thing that could top that was the position of the player spelled out underneath it all- and that is just the front! It’s just a bad looking design all around. Now compare that to the Pro Set 1990 card. A really well designed set the Pro Set series hit its stride that year with an extremely simple design.

Rueben Mayes was actually born in Saskatchewan, Canada. He’d go to college at Washington State in 1983, where he’d become the most prolific runningback in the school’s history. Mayes would set a then college record with 356 yards rushing against Oregon- a record that still stands to this day, in the Pacific 10. The Saints would draft Rueben in the 3rd round of the 1986 draft. He’d turn out to be a steal for the Saints who under new head coach Jim Mora, liked to establish a strong ground game. Mayes would lead the team to a 7-9 record in the all out rough and tumble NFC West. It’d take him some time to get established as the team’s leading running back, but in week 6 he’d really have his breakout game against Indianapolis rushing for 108 yards and 2 touchdowns. Rueben would follow that up with a 172 yard effort against the Bucs,- but save his best for last rushing for 203 yards and two touchdowns in week 14 against the Dolphins. His rookie season of 1353 yards and 8 touchdowns would be rewarded with a ProBowl appearance and being named NFL rookie of the year in 1986. While injuries would hamper his Sophomore season Mayes would still turn in another ProBowl caliber year averaging 76 yards a contest just finishing under 1000 yards. Mayes 1988 would continue the downward slide in a runningback by committee approach utilized by the Saints. He’d still manage to find the endzone 6 times.  Rueben’s 1989 would be a total wash. Due to an injury sustained in the preseason, he would be placed on injured resereve and not see any playing time that season. He’d make a comeback in 1990 scoring 7 touchdowns in 8 games.  Things looked up for the stalwart running back but he’d once again be injured and placed on IR for all of 1991. In 1992 Mayes would be traded to the Seattle Seahawks  where he finished out his career in 1993 and retired after 7 seasons.

In 1995 and 1998, Rueben was named to the Washington State Cougars All-Time team. A well deserved honor since he was like the Herschel Walker of the Northwest. Mayes has been involved in a variety of charitable organizations working with at risk juveniles. He earned his Master’s degree and is a regional director of Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene, Oregon.

Rueben was kind enough to sign these two cards for me in around 130 days with his signature, number and an inscription from the Bible.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” – Revelation 3:20

I must admit when I read that the inscription was from Revelation, I worried that it was a grizzly, or a foreboding statement of impending doom; However, it was more controversial than anything being that it can be interpreted in a variety of ways through loose translation. I always enjoy it when players inscribe their cards with verses from the Bible. It gives me great insight into players and who they are and their place in the world with Christ.

G/Gs  76/41       Rush  866         Yds 3484         Avg 4.0      Td 23      lg  50   |
Rec 57     Yds 401      Avg  7.0       Td 0   lg  66

 

NFL

Kennedy, Cortez (1968-2017)

Cards: Action Packed Rookies 1990, Proline Portraits 1992
Acquired: TTM 1992, C/o The Seattle Seahawks

Cortez Kennedy burst onto the NFL scene in 1990, as the Seahawks traded up to get the defensive lineman from the University of Miami. A prolonged holdout his rookie season kept him on the bench throughout the year which largely destroyed his 1990 season. Things weren’t looking good for the young defensive tackle, but Kennedy turn things around and would only go on to be named Pro Bowl in 8 of the next 10 seasons, dominating offensive linemen enroute to NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors in 1992- a season in which Kennedy had 14 sacks.  He’d also be named All Pro in 1992,1993,1994 and second team AP in 1996. At 6-3, 305 Kennedy was a fearsome force that was well balanced against the pass and dominating against the run. As the years caught up to Kennedy, he retired after the 2000 season playing his whole career in a Seahawks uniform. It’s a shame that he played for such bad Seahawks teams because he rarely got the credit he deserved.  At the time of his retirement he’d be named to the Seahawks Ring of Honor and to the NFL team of the 1990s. In 2010 he was inducted into the U HoF. Since football, curiosity has gotten the best of Kennedy and he has developed an interest in football operations. He’s been serving on and off as a consultant to the New Orleans Saints organization.

Kennedy has been a Hall of Fame semifinalist on 3 occasions now, however I speculate that he has a much steeper hill to climb than most. Defensive players do not get their due, and Kennedy overall didn’t have sexy statistics, or play for even a regular playoff team. He largely played in a city that has very few HoF members, with a few spot performers on defense, and no serious competition at defensive tackle over the decade. Although Kennedy was a trend-setter because of his great blend of mobility and size- I doubt that he would have received as many accolades if he played half his career in the 1980s. Regardless, I’m not raining on his parade, as I think eventually once the loggerjam of defensive players are loosened he will get in. In 2011, Cortez was honored by the Seattle Seahawks who selected him to announce their 2nd round pick during the NFL draft.

Kennedy was the first Seahawk I probably sent out for, and when I opened the letter, I was surprised to find an additional card signed from the lineman. Inside I found an explanation that apparently he had crushed the Action Packed Card when he was signing it, and wanted to give me another for my trouble. Now that’s not only class, but caring as well. What a guy! Here’s his statistics and a short video from YouTube on him.

G/Gs 167/153      Tac 668     Sac 58    Fum 11
Int 3    Yds 26    Avg 8.6   Td 0   Lg 21

UPDATE 5/23/17 –   In 2012, a little over a year after this post, Kennedy made the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  Later that year the Seahawks officially retired his jersey.  Cortez Kennedy passed away at the age of 48 today. The current cause of his death is unknown.

NFL

Stark, Rohn

Card: Action Packed 1991
Acquired: TTM 1992, Colts Blitz

An All-American decathalete and punter at Florida State, Rohn Stark was the most decorated punter to play college football since Ray Guy. (He was also a killer punter during the 80s and 90s with the Colts. He not only played for the Indianapolis Colts but also the Baltimore Colts- before they got in the Mayflower trucks and headed East.) Stark would also be a part of probably the best kicker and punter combination in Tecmo Bowl being paired with Dean Biasucci, and ironically year over year they’d be the most consistent part of the Colts through their combined tenure up to the end of 1994.
Originally drafted by the Baltimore Colts in the 2nd round of the 1982 draft, Rohn would really come into his own by 1983 where he’d be named 2nd team AP with a gaudy 45.3 average and lead the league with over 4100 yards. His 1984 would be equally impressive as Stark would lead the league with 98 punts that season. 85 and 86 would be ProBowl caliber seasons, leading the league in average yards per punt with a 45.9 and a 45.2 yard average respectively. While the rest of his career would not see him reach such levels- Rohn would never average below 40 yards per punt during 13 seasons but would return to the ProBowl again in 1990 and 1992. With free agency and the salary cap making players and positions more expendable, Stark would leave via free agency in 1995, playing one season in Pittsburgh where he made his lone SuperBowl appearance. In 1996 he’d put his skills to work for the Carolina Panthers, and in 1997 finish out his career with the Seattle Seahawks. Rohn also held on extra points and field goal attempts and was notably left footed- meaning the ball was spinning the opposite direction than punt returners would expect after he would punt it. Stark holds another odd accomplishment as the only Baltimore Colt to play against the Baltimore Ravens. At the time of his retirement in 1997, Stark was top 5 in career punts and yardage. Stark like many other punters, will probably never get his due as the NFL HoF shows little respect for the position.

G/Gs 233/233    P 1141      Yds 49471    Avg 43.4    Lg 72   Blk  7