Tag Archives: St. Louis Rams

NFL

Gado, Samkon

Cards: Playoff Contenders 2006, Leaf Rookies & Stars 2006 Longevity (87/249)
Acquired: TTM 2020, C/o Home
Sent: 2/24 Received: 4/4 (40 days)

Samkon Gado is one of those rare athletes who wasn’t really on the radar of scouts going into his final year playing college ball. In fact he was looking forward more to becoming a doctor than playing football, but as fate would have it, nearly the entire Liberty runningback corps was depleted, and Samkon stepped in and ran for 901 yards on 138 carries, scoring 11 TDs in 9 games.

It was all about being at the right place, at the right time for Samkon, and it seemed that scouts identified his intangible talent for rising to the occasion. After going undrafted in 2005, he was signed to the Kansas City Chiefs practice squad for a brief time. A month or two later, he was signed by the Packers. Then nearly the entire runningback stable went down one by one due to injury. First Ahman Green, then Najeh Davenport, and then finally Tony Fisher.

Gado saw extensive playing time in their absence after taking the starting runningback role. He’d have 3 100 yard efforts during the season, and set a franchise rookie record rushing for 171 yards against the Lions. Ultimately he too would end his season on injured reserve.

With new management in town for 2006, the Packers traded Gado to the Houston Texans after Week 1 of the season for Vernand Morency. The Texans were shoring up their runningback depth behind Ron Dayne and Wali Lundy. During the season he’d pitch back to back 60 yard efforts against Jacksonville and Buffalo.

In 2007, Ahman Green also joined the Texans runningback committee, and was the starter above Dayne. Gado beat out Lundy to make the final squad, scoring his first TD with the Texans in the season opener against the Colts.

He’d be cut at the end of October, and signed with the Miami Dolphins, after starting RB Ronnie Brown went down. Again, backup Ricky Williams, then himself also was fallen by injury, so Samkon had to step in again. He’d help contribute to the Dolphins only win on the 2007 season.

Samkon then played for the St. Louis Rams over the next two seasons, but saw little action outside of special teams. In 2010 he signed with the Tennessee Titans but did not make the final roster.

Samkon finished his medical degree and now is a doctor at Saint Louis University Hospital as part of the Otolaryngology program.

G/GSRUSHYDSAVGTDLG
41/82689723.61164
RECYDSAVGTDLG
432926.8135
CFL, NFL

Mason, Tre

Card: Panini Certified 2014 (128/699)
Acquired: 2020, Panini Points Redemption

Tre Mason joins a long list of 1,000 yard War Eagles, to make the transition to the NFL. In 2012 and 2013 he ran for over a 1,000 yards, including his junior season when he posted 1,816 yards on 317 carries along with 23 TDs. Tre declared for the NFL draft after his out of sight 2013 campaign.

After a pretty solid rookie campaign, in which Tre rushed for 765 yards and 4 TDs- including an 89 yard long, it looked like the St. Louis Rams got great value finding him available during the 3rd round. Tre subsequently was named to multiple All-Rookie teams. He had a Sophomore slump in 2015, rushing for just 207 yards, and then had an erratic off-season where he just- disappeared. In 2016, Tre was added to the reserve-not reported list, and not play the entire season. After being cut in 2017, he’d make a comeback in the CFL with the Saskatchewan Roughriders in 2018- and he’d do so in a big way. Making the best of his playing time, Tre rushed for 809 yards and 3 TDs, but he’d blow out his ACL in the process. He’d be cut in mid 2019 and is currently a free agent.

When I comb through the Panini Redemption site, I always look for value first. Tre Mason didn’t have a long career in the NFL, but this card had a lot going for it. It’s a beautiful card. It’s a triple patch. It’s autographed. That was enough for me to move on this one, as this Freshman Fabric was a welcome addition to my collection.

Arena, NFL, XFL

Furrey, Mike

Cards: Topps XFL 2001, Score 2010
Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o The Chicago Bears
Sent: 2/4/19 Received: 4/2/19 (59 days)

Mike Furrey has made a very interesting professional football journey. After not being drafted out of Northern Iowa in 2000, he’d sign with the Colts but not make the squad.

Undeterred, he’d join the renegade XFL in 2001, where he’d play wide receiver for the Las Vegas Outlaws. He’d snag 18 catches for 242 yards and a 41 yard TD. As the team’s primary punt returner Mike also returned 11 punts for 94 yards.

After the XFL folded, he’d play for the New York Dragons of the Arena football league, spending two years with them in 2002 and 2003. During both seasons he posted 1000+ yard seasons and display a knack for playing defensive back, intercepting 6 passes. He’d also play for the St. Louis Rams in both of those years as well and oddly enough play both wide receiver and defensive back for the team, posting 21 receptions for 197 yards, and then intercept 4 passes for 143 yards, deflect 8 passes, and return one 67 yards for a TD from free safety.

Obviously Mike’s curious stat lines drew him attention in the open market as he signed with the Detrot Lions in 2006. He’d have his finest season as a WR, with 98 receptions for 1086 yards and 6 TDs in 14 starts, and follow that up in 2007 with 61 receptions for 664 yards and a TD. After a subpar 2008, Mike made a stop with the Cleveland Browns in 2009- where he saw significant time again starting 4 games at WR while moonlighting at safety as well. After the season concluded he joined the Washington Redskins but did not make the squad.

Very soon thereafter, Mike went into college coaching and as of this post in 2019, is the wide receivers coach for the Chicago Bears.

Some very interesting design between these two cards. I love the Score 2010, almost as much as Score 2009. It’s got great color, and the slightly off white helps the image stand off the canvas just a little more. I especially like the use of the designs in the top corners of the card to give it that painted effect. This set felt like a direct heir to the 2009 set that I adore.

The Topps XFL card represented everything gaudy about the Attitude Era that bled from WWE into the XFL. It’s an underused design to have both the player’s face and an action image on the front of the card, but this one pulls it off- albeit just a bit over designed.

NFL G/GSRECYDSAVGTDLG
94/41221229810.4749
NFL TACSACFUMINTYDSAVGTDLG
7705414335.7167T
NFL PRYDSAVGTDLG
232139.3028
ARENARECYDSAVGTDLG
182262914.473N/A
ARENA TACSACFUMINTYDSAVGTDLG
78006162.70N/A
XFL RECYDSAVGTDLG
1824213.4141T
XFL PRYDSAVGTDLG
11948.5021