A big back clocking in at 6″0′, 220, Ronnie Harmon played 12 seasons in the NFL where he acquired a reputation as a solid pass catching threat out of the backfield, and a bruising back to take down.
He began his NFL career as a 1st round pick of the Buffalo Bills in 1986. Harmon played there through 1989 catching 144 passes for 1452 yards and 10 TDs, while rushing 244 times for 968 yards and 3 TDs. By this point Ronnie had fit snugly into the 3rd down back role for the Bills, but with Thurman Thomas coming on strong in his second season as the bell cow back, the Bills felt they could let Ronnie go.
Ronnie took a big change of scenery when he signed with the San Diego Chargers in 1990, where he’d continue to be one of the most outstanding 3rd down backs in the NFL. A pass catching machine- Ronnie garnered 378 catches for 3939 yards, and 12 TDs over the next 6 seasons. In 1992 he caught a career high 79 passes and earned his only Pro Bowl honor, leading all runningbacks. He also never missed a game while playing for the Chargers.
In 1996, Ronnie entered the twilight of his career, playing for the Houston Oilers during their final year in Houston, and joining the franchise during their transition to Memphis the following year. During that 1997 season he’d be cut and sign with the Bears, before retiring, but not before tacking on another 60 receptions.
Ronnie holds the interesting record as the only player in NFL history to averaged 4.5 yards per carry on a minimum of 600 rushing attempts, while also averaging 10 yards per catch on at least 550 receptions.
Ronnie Harmon has a proven track record of not signing through the mail, and with a long and extensive NFL history, that criss-crossed the league, he has always been a player that I wanted to get the autograph of.
2020 was not a great year primarily because of COVID, but because of it, there were a lot more random private signings that popped up. Luckily I spotted a Bills signing with Ronnie and Lee Evans for a very affordable price, so I dropped these two cards in the mail.
I was more of a fan of Ronnie’s exploits playing for the San Diego Chargers than the Buffalo Bills, so I reached into the box and pulled out these two set needs. I really loved his Skybox card. It’s a great shot of him dashing for daylight and frames his size dynamically on the canvas.
Cards: UT Upper Deck 2011, UT Upper Deck 2011 National Champs Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o Home Sent: 10/3/19 Received: 4/18/20 (196 days)
Alan Lowry played for the Longhorns from 1970 to 1972 as a quarterback, punter, and defensive back. Initially a defensive back and punter when he arrived, Lowry had 3 picks in 1970, and then followed it up in 1971 with 5 interceptions for 121 yards and 2 TDs (single season school record since tied) earning him All-SWC honors. As a punter in both years Alan had 53 punts for 2,032 yards (38.3) in 1970, and 49 punts for 1,878 yards (38.3)- respectively in 1970 and 1971. His 82 yard punt, still stands as a school record.
In 1972 Alan switched to quarterback, where at the time the Longhorns were using a modified version of the Houston Veer. He rushed for 661 yards on 168 yards scoring 11 times while passing for 766 yards and a TD on 46 completions (39.3 completion percentage). Again he’d be named to the All-SWC team- but at a second position, which is a rarity even in college football.
Alan was drafted in the 13th round of the 1973 NFL Draft by the New England Patriots, but before he even played a down, he was diagnosed with blood clots from a strained tendon in his arm. The injury was serious enough to end his pro football career before it even began.
Lowry went right into coaching at Texas, with the Longhorns as a graduate assistant and then later, Wyoming and West Virginia, and later returning to Texas with the Dallas Cowboys organization. He has embarked on a long and storied career as a positional and special teams coach throughout the NFL since the early 80s, with the Cowboys, Buccaneers, 49ers, Oilers, and Titans. He is perhaps most quietly known as the architect behind the ‘Music City Miracle’ play. Lowry was with the Titans organization through 2013, and still resides in Tennessee to this day.
A Seahawks Legend who just doesn’t get respect outside of the Pacific Northwest, Dave Krieg played at tiny Milton College and by the time he finished playing for the Wildcats he basically owned their record books. Coming from such a tiny school Dave didn’t get drafted, so he signed a free agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks in 1980.
Krieg worked his way up to 3rd on the team depth chart behind Jim Zorn and Sam Adkins. It wasn’t until ’81 that Krieg got some regular season reps, taking over for Zorn and from there a quarterback controversy emerged. About mid-way through the 1983 season Dave established himself as the favored starter with some truly memorable games, and earned his first Pro Bowl appearance in 1984 as he passed for 32 TD passes and 3,671 yards. He’d later break the team record with his 108th career TD pass in 1987. Still it seemed that Dave got no respect- as critics pointed to his up and down QB rating and injury history, but it seemed with the competition, Krieg thrived, and in 1988, Krieg again saw a Pro Bowl appearance, despite having the first of many ‘QBs of the future’ in Kelly Stouffer looking over his shoulder- a feat he’d engineer again in 1989. Dave held on through 1991- even with a new ‘QB of the future’ Dan McGwire also breathing down his neck.
Dave unceremoniously was allowed to become a free agent after the 1991 season, beginning a long and legendary journeyman phase to his career. To the chagrin of many Seahawks fans, he’d join one of Seattle’s division rivals- the Kansas City Chiefs. Although he’d engineer another playoff berth for the Chiefs, the franchise opted to sign Joe Montana to lead the squad in ’92. Dave would be a key backup playing with them through the 1993 campaign. Krieg played one memorable season in Detroit, backing up incumbent Scott Mitchell, posting a career high 101.7 QB rating. He’d then have less than stellar moments with the Cardinals (1995), Bears (1996), and the Tennessee Oilers (1997-1998) before retiring.
In a nod to Krieg’s stoic presence in the pocket with a porous offensive line, or his lack of awareness and small hands, Dave held the NFL career record for fumbles by a quarterback at the time of his retirement (153- since surpassed). He joined the Seahawks Ring of Honor in 2004, and briefly owned an AF2 owner of the Green Bay Blizzard. Currently he’s a motivational speaker, loves golfing and attends Seahawks events at least once a year in the Seattle area.
And with Dave Krieg- My revenge is finally complete.
To understand what I just said, you have to realize that a little over a two to three years ago, a passive aggressive collector decided to not help me- from what I understand, over the fact that I asked him what it’d cost or what he wanted in order to help me.
JustGreg initiated contact initially with me through SCN and asked me if I needed any Seahawks. I told him that I’d love to get Dave Krieg or Curt Warner on a few items, and to let me know what I needed to do make this happen. He told me he’d get back to me.
2 years later he hit me up a second time. I had forgotten about his offer. He offered it to me again to which I asked him if there was a cost associated with it, to let me know. JustGreg apparently took offense to me saying this. He then refused to help and accused me of calling him greedy. I tried to reason with him, but he became more and more obstinate, as it became painstakingly obvious he was trying to lord something over me or hold me to some collecting ethos that I clearly didn’t understand.
Greg then word vomited on me his dislike for many of the other collectors on the site. -It was very discouraging, and I considered ramping down my collecting. A few other collectors on SCN discussed the situation with me, and told me to keep my chin up.
I didn’t understand what his deal was. Did he read something on my site? Did I make a comment on something of his? Was he having a bad day? Why did he need to lord over me? Anyway. Who knows what his vendetta was.
Thanks to one of my collecting buddies, I was able to secure the address and get a success out of Curt Warner, but Dave was a different manner. He was not answering fan mail even if you found him. He was just signing in person at events- so I concocted a plan to get it done right under JustGreg’s nose.
JustGreg’s words, “Good luck with your collection,” Just kept rattling around in my head.
Another collector anonymously approached me for a need he had. I have had a lot of great luck with players from the University of Texas, and after posting a success- I struck up a conversation with him and agreed to help him get Ricky Williams, if he acted as a go between for me to get Dave Krieg through JustGreg. I’d send him the card with a return envelope, and he’d contact Greg and send the card to him. Greg would get the autograph and send back to him, and then my broker would send the autographed card back to me. The plan worked flawlessly, and I received back my card via Greg despite his best efforts to frustrate me. I also made a new friend to boot which was a bonus.
I did think that Greg and I have a lot in common as far as collectors go, and I am sure I could’ve helped him as well, but it is what it is. It is a shame really because in a way I now treat him the same way he treated me. Maybe he’ll read this post and gain some perspective and reach out- but I seriously doubt it. He’s set in his ways and I could only be so magnanimous.
G/Gs
ATT
CPD
YDS
PCT
TD
INT
RAT
213/175
5311
3105
38147
58.5
261
199
81.5
RUSH
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
417
1261
3.0
13
37
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