Tag Archives: tampa bay buccaneers

NFL, NFLE, XFL

Pearson, Pepe

Playoff Contenders 2000 European Ticket #172

Card: Playoff Contenders 2000 European Ticket
Acquired: 2021, Future Prospects

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Played 4 years for Ohio State from 1994-1997, rushing for 3036 yards.
  • Best year came in 1996, rushing for 1484 yards and 17 TDs, while catching 19 passes for 218 yards and finishing with 1702 yards from scrimmage for the Buckeyes.
  • Went undrafted in 1998 and bounced around the NFL on practice squads and offseason rosters with the 49ers, Browns, Lions, Jaguars, Steelers, Buccaneers, and Bears.
  • Joined the NFLE in 2000, playing for the Rhein Fire.
  • Ranked second in the league with 486 yards rushing and 3 TDs on 102 carries that year.
  • Scored the game winning touchdown in World Bowl 2000.

  • In 2001,  topped those totals rushing for 597 yards on 166 carries (3 TDs).
  • Briefly saw time on the roster of the XFL Las Vegas Outlaws in 2001.
  • Has extensive coaching experience as a positional coach (Ohio Dominican, Youngstown State, Marshall, Dayton Warbirds, and as of 2021 at Tennessee State.)
  • Also had head coaching stops in the AFL2 with the Daytona Beach Hawgs (04/05) and the Marion Mayhem (08/09) where with the latter he also served as GM.
  • As of the time of this post, is currently offensive coordinator for Eddie George at Tennessee State.

NFLE

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26810834.0646
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372978.0134t

NFL, XFL

Boozer, Cole

Topps XFL 2020, #43 GREEN 81/99

Card: Topps XFL 2020
Acquired: TTM 2021, C/o Home
Sent: 3/30 Received: 4/19 (20 Days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Stared career at Temple as a TE but by his Senior season had added 30 lbs to his frame to become the Owls’ starting RT.
  • Spent 2018 with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but was cut at the end of camp in 2019.
  • Selected by the Defenders in the 2020 XFL draft.

NOTES:

Cole endeared himself to Defenders fans, (who originated the ‘Beer Snake’ in the XFL,) with his unique last name and number that he chose (69) when joined the franchise.

A special shout out to two of my favorite football fans. Mark- from Mark’s Signing Bonus continues to keep me motivated by providing me addresses behind the scenes to players in other leagues as my attention wanes from time to time as we continue to collaborate on all things spring football related.

I got two autographs from Cole. One on this parallel green and another on his base card, which I decided to send to my buddy Seth ‘Tuju Man’ as a thank-you for helping me canvas the Defenders prior to the 2020 season for autographs.

NFL, University of Texas

Degrate, Tony ‘The Great’

Card: University of Texas Upper Deck 2011
Acquired: EBay, 2020

Tony Degrate was a monster at defensive tackle, for the Texas Longhorns from 1982 to 1984- and is considered one of the finest D-linemen to play at the school. In his 1984 campaign, he amassed a then school defensive lineman record 123 stops and 12 sacks to clench the Lombardi Award, given to the nation’s top lineman. All together, Tony had 47 career tackles for loss and 31 sacks.

The Tampa Bay Bandits made an offer to Degrate, which he turned down, but this ruffled the feathers of the concerned NFL who thought he had all but flown the coop. In the end, Tony was selected in the 5th round of the draft by the Cincinnati Bengals. After spending a season with the team, he saw time in camp with the Packers, and later the Bucs.

Tony’s story is a cautionary one, and I relate to him immensely. Degrate is a great talent who let those little nagging voices in his head get to him, and his confidence just kept slipping, and it affected him physically and mentally. Self doubt and guilt are terrible burdens to bear.

I can understand why he is a difficult autograph to get in any capacity, as he probably feels that he let a lot of people- and himself down. He went back to school and finished his art degree, but at one point I believe that he was a personal trainer in the Austin area.

Degrate’s first card came out in 2011 as part of the Upper Deck Texas set. There are 3 cards in the set of him, and he is very difficult to get an autograph from. He doesn’t sign TTM and when I attended an event at the UT Coop he was scheduled to be at, he cancelled at the last moment. I really liked this card of him leaping up and making a play, and I was more than happy to pick up this card via EBay at a reasonable price.

I hope Tony is doing well.