Tag Archives: St. Louis Cardinals

Arena, NFL

Del Greco, Al

Cards: Topps Traded 1989, Upper Deck 1992
Acquired: In Person, Houston Oilers Training Camp 1992, CGA Youth Golf Tournament 1993.

The Oilers were searching for the replacement to Tony Zendejas whom they lost in Plan B to the Los Angeles Rams. Passing by established names such as Mike Lansford and Raul Allegre, the Oilers brought Teddy Garcia into camp. Unimpressed, the Oilers sent out an APB for a replacement, and found the feel good story of the year in Ian Howfield who won the job with an impressive preseason, but after 9 games it was obvious that he was not the answer, missing 4 extra points and quite a few field goals.  The Oilers called up Al Del Greco, who had lost the kicking job in Phoenix earlier that year. He had a decent enough resume and was the starting kicker for Green Bay (after Jan Stenerud) from 1984-1987 and Phoenix from 1987-1990. (He was also ironically replaced by another Zendejas in Green Bay.)

Del Greco would win the job outright in Houston, (and at that time I wasn’t really impressed,)  providing the Oilers with the consistency and clutch kicking that the team direly needed. He played for the Oilers the next 6 seasons, two for the Tennessee Oilers and then his final two seasons with the Titans- retiring after 2000 and 17 seasons. Del Greco currently stands at number 14 on the all time scoring list with 1592 points (as of 2010).

Al has since been inducted into the Alabama sports Hall of Fame. He briefly got into coaching and was a kicking coach in the AFL for the Birmingham Steeldogs as well, and does some radio and motivational speaking on the side. Del Greco is quite the golfer I hear, and was the winner of the CGA tournament that I went to way back in 1993.

G 248    XPA  543       XPM  551       FGA 449      FGM 347    PCT 77.3%

College Football HoF, NFL

Novacek, Jay

Cards: Proset 1989, Proset 1991 Receiving Leader TE.
Acquired: In Person, Dallas Cowboys Training Camp 1990, 1992.
See Also: Jay Novacek (2)

Jay Novacek was one of Jimmy Johnson‘s first free agent signees of the 1990 season and one of the first autographs I got at Dallas Cowboys training camp at St. Edwards in Austin, Tx. Novacek played in near anonymity for the St. Louis/ Phoenix Cardinals but was left unprotected in free agency. Jay took over the starting tight end position providing an immediate upgrade and held down the starting position for 6 seasons and received 5  Pro Bowl nods from 1991 to 1995. Novacek played in Super Bowl XXX (1996), but never played another down and retired in 1997 due to a lingering back injury.

After football Novacek has dabbled in a variety fields since retirements, investing in a chain of haircut salons (Sportsclips), youth football programs, and is an avid outdoorsman and hunter. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2008.

G 158         Rec  422        Yds  4630        Avg  11.0        Td  30       Lg  49

NFL, Super Bowl MVP

Anderson, Ottis ‘OJ’

Cards: Pro Set 1990 CPotY, Pro Set 1989.
Acquired: TTM 2010, c/o http://www.ottisanderson.com/
Sent:  1/13  Received: 2/25    (43 days) *donation required
See Also: Ottis Anderson (2)

Ottis ‘OJ’ Anderson was drafted in the 1st round by the then St. Louis Cardinals in 1979, rushing for 1,605 yards and garnering Offensive Rookie of the Year honors. Anderson ran for over 1,000 yards in the next 5 seasons, but because of his punishing style, he began to show wear and tear through injuries. OJ signed with the Giants in 1986, where he found himself knee deep in the depth chart. Bill Parcells utilized OJ in short yardage and in goalline situations as injuries continued to limit his effectiveness. In 1989, OJ found himself atop the depth chart of the Giants in Bill Parcells ball control offense.  OJ had brick hands for catching the ball yet, was a sure handed runner who rarely fumbled (3 times while playing for the Giants from 1986-1992.). Later in that year, he ran for 1023 yards, won Comeback Player of the Year honors and was Superbowl XXV MVP with 21 carries and 102 yards. Anderson retired in 1992 after 13 years and is one of a select few of runningbacks who has run for over 10,000 yards. After football OJ has become a motivational speaker, done commentary for NFL games, and is involved with a variety of charities and causes. OJ Anderson surprisingly is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame despite his extensive credentials and MVP honors.

OJ Anderson was in the second blitz of players I mailed out to in 2010. I located his website and fee regarding autographs and sent out these two cards.  My general rule of thumb with most players is to send out two cards, that way I can compare the autographs that come back to check the authenticity of them. I was surprised that I got back this one and that these are both considered authentic, – as they both looked like scribble. The ball control offense that the Giants ran during this time period was- annoying and boring, but watching OJ pound the rock that year was a thing of beauty.

G  182     Rush 2562      Yds  10273     Avg  4.0     TD  81         Lg  76