Tag Archives: tampa bay buccaneers

NFL

Swearinger, DJ (2)

Card: Panini Contenders 2013
Acquired: 2017, EBay
See Also: DJ Swearinger

To say that DJ Swagg’s career went off the rails with the Texans would be an understatement.  After the tumultuous 2013 season, the Texans coaching staff was cleared out. In the meantime DJ started 12 games and contributed 2 interceptions, 6 pass deflections,  3 forced fumbles, a sack, and 52 tackles in 2014.

He’d be a surprising cut in 2015, and the Texans attempted to stay mum on the situation, but as these things go, somebody leaked to the media that Swagg refused to play special teams because of his lofty draft status (2nd round). Swagg was claimed by the Bucs for the season. He’d contribute in 7 games, forcing a fumble, and recording 8 tackles, before joining the Cardinals for 4 games.  Arizona liked what they saw, and employed DJ in almost every safety capacity they could use him in during 2016.  In 12 starts, he’d post 56 tackles, 2 sacks, 8 pass deflections, and 3 interceptions.  DJ signed a 3 year contract with the Washington Redskins in 2017 where he is expected to be their starting strong safety. He started all 16 games and posted his best year as a pro, lodging 79 tackles, .5 sacks, 10 pass deflections, and 4 interceptions for 32 yards. So far in 2018 he has put together a banner year for the Redskins improved defensive alignment balling out against the Giants recording 2 picks.

The 2013 Panini Contenders set had pretty solid, if not ordinary, design to it.  It’s purely designed in strong rectangles that break down the canvas into workable columns. The vertical autograph field is also somewhat unique. DJ’s autograph however, looks tired and sloppy on this card. The 2013 NFL draft was a terrible, terrible draft for the Texans of their 9 picks, only 3 players remain from that pool on the team.

NFL

Rhodes, Luke

Card: Sage 2016
Acquired: 2016, Box Breaker

Luke Rhodes played inside linebacker at William & Mary- not exactly a powerhouse of football.  But give credit where credit is due. He did manage to land on the radar of scouts finishing with 341 career tackles (5th in school history) from his inside linebacker position. Rhodes passed the eyeball test but what some teams coveted from him was his long snapping capability- something that he seldom had done since high school.

After the 2016 NFL Draft, Rhodes signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, however he was released during final cuts. He’d be signed by the Colts about a month later and added to their practice squad. In 2017, Luke won an open competition for the job and became the Colts full-time long snapper.

Arena, CFL, NFL, XFL

Pawlawski, Mike

Cards: Topps XFL 2001, Classic Blister 1992, Gameday 1992
Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o Home
Sent:  3/17     Received:  4/10  (24  days)

Mike Pawlawski has enjoyed nothing but one of the more curious professional football careers. It all started back in 1992 when the highly decorated signal caller from Cal was drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 8th round. He spent one year with the team and the next two out of football.

Mike reignited his football career when he joined the Arena Football League. First with the SabreCats, and then later with the Miami Hooters in 1995. (- Yes named after the Hooters restaurant franchise.) He played one season with the team (66/133, 674 yards, and 6 TDs) in primarily relief duty. He also spent time in the CFL with their USA invasion as a member of the Shreveport Pirates. Mike jumped to the Albany Firebirds the following year- and really impressed (22/35, 296 yards, 5 TDs, 0 INT) in limited play.  It’d be in 1997 that Pawlawski came into his own as a starter. He’d throw for 4,272 yards and 69 TDs on 509 attempts. For the next 3 seasons he’d be the unquestioned starter of the Firebirds and threw for at least 70 touchdowns in each year.

He heard the siren call of the XFL in 2001 and joined the fledgling league and be the starting quarterback for the San Fransisco Demons. In the lone season for the league Pawlawski finished second to only Tommy Maddox in passing, while leading the team to the Million Dollar Game. With the XFL hemorrhaging money and with bad TV ratings, the league shut down after the lone season.

Mike retired due to injuries and followed his passions for the outdoors, working on the show Gridiron Outdoors. He also does color commentating for Cal games for a variety of networks.

Mike was kind enough to sign these three cards in about a month’s time, however I wish he actually had a sharpie handy as his autograph gets lost on these canvases.

ARENA    ATT 2045   CPD 1351   YDS  16673
TD  303    INT 45   RAT 118.98
R 93    YDS 181    TD 19

XFL   ATT  297    CPD  186   YDS 1659    TD 12   INT  4