Tag Archives: texas terror

Arena, NFL, WLAF

Lockett, Dannie ‘Danny’

Cards: ProSet 1991 Defensive MVP, ProSet WLAF 1991 Defensive MVP, ProSet WLAF 1991, Ultimate World League 1992, Ultimate World League 1992 League Leader, Wild Card World League 1992
Acquired: TTM 2020, C/o Home*
Failure: TTM 2020, C/o Home
Sent: 7/28 Received: 8/11 (14 days)
* Fee Enclosed

Danny Lockett represents the defensive crown jewel of the big 3 World League sets. He appeared no less than 6 times across ProSet, Ultimate, and Wild Card. Even with his personal information and unique name, he was still difficult to track down, but after much sleuthing, talking to a few connected people, and thanks to the power of social media, I finally was able to find and connect with Danny. I offered him a signing fee of 10.00 per card to ensure that these cards would get signed, and he kindly did so, whipping them around in two weeks time. (It is unknown whether the spelling of his name was an error- or a nickname- or if over the years he’s moved towards Dannie, but for purposes of this post, we will call him Danny.)

Danny played college ball at Arizona where he saw his time at outside linebacker in 1985 and 1986. He earned PAC-10 honors in 1986 when he led the way with 12 sacks, and 15 tackles for loss.

A 5th round pick of the Detroit Lions in 1987, Danny played for the Lions through 1988- a year in which he posted 17 tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery.

He’d attend training camp with the New York Jets in 1991 but did not make the squad.

Lockett was then selected in the second round of the 1991 World League of American Football positional draft by the London Monarchs. where he’d go on to have a banner year for the team, as they won World Bowl I over the Barcelona Dragons.

Danny finished in a 3 way tie for Defensive MVP Honors. He’d set multiple league marks along the way, most notably for Most Sacks in a season (13.5), and most consecutive games with at least 2 sacks (10 in first 5 games).

Among his most impactful performances were in the first game against the Knights (3 sacks), and 4 tackles and a fumble recovery in the Monarchs World Bowl I victory.

On the season, Dannie had 74 total tackles, 13.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, and 3 fumble recoveries.

It should be noted that Lockett helped the Monarchs lead the league with an astounding 53 sacks- or 5.3 sacks a game.

This card used the same photo as the ProSet 1991 Series II Defensive MVP subset card.

He returned to the Monarchs for the 1992 season, however the team stumbled out of the gate finishing with a dismal 2-7-1 record. Although Lockett’s numbers were also down, he still had some memorable moments, including scoring 2 touchdowns (interception and fumble) in a Week 9 thumping of the Montreal Machine.

With the World League reorganizing after the 1992 season, Danny like many players was immediately absorbed into the stateside Arena football league system that was taking off.

Danny played the next 5 seasons in Arena Football for 5 different franchises. He saw the most success in 1993 with the Detroit Drive, finishing with 50 total tackles, 8 sacks, 9 pass breakups and 2 fumble recoveries, and an interception. Over the next 4 seasons, Lockett played for the Massachusetts Marauders, Orlando Predators, Connecticut Coyotes, the ill-fated Texas Terror, and finally the Milwaukee Mustangs.

NFL– G/GSTACSACFUM
29/1N/a2.02.0
INTYDSAVGTDLG
00-.-0-.-
WLAFTACSACFUM
N/aN/aN/a
* websites incorrectly show that Danny had back to back 14 sack seasons playing in the WL
INTYDSAVGTDLG
11414.0114T
ARENA– G/GSTACSACFUM
10217.53
INTYDSAVGTDLG
273.51N/a

Arena, CFL, NFL, NFLE, XFL

Puleri, Charles

Cards: Topps XFL 2001 Promo, Topps XFL 2001
Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o Home
Sent: 8/6 Received: 8/16 (10 days)

Charles Puleri played ball at New Mexico State and saw action in both 1991 and 1992. Playing in 17 contests Puleri completed 257 of 456 passes for 3634 yards, and 21 touchdowns to 17 interceptions as a traditional dropback passer.

He joined the CFL in 1993 and played briefly for the Sacramento Gold Miners- attempting 2 passes, and then riding the bench for the Shreveport Pirates in 94. In 1995 Puleri joined Arena Football League. He played for the Miami Hooters that year and then the Texas Terror in 1996 throwing 3 TDs. Charles then went overseas and played in the NFLE for the London Monarchs. Seeing more mop up duty he threw for 488 yards and 2 TDs. Afterwards he again tried his hand at Arena football playing for the Iowa Barnstormers in 98. He saw his best season as a pro throwing 11 TDs on 67 attempts that season. In 1999 he played sparingly as a backup for the New Jersey Red Dogs, and then was in the camp of the Dallas Cowboys in 2000 but did not make the squad.

Charles is perhaps best known for his time in the XFL in 2001. Selected by the New York/ New Jersey Hitmen, Puleri was the starter for the squad entering the season, but was benched in favor of Wally Richardson during week 2. The league was… different than the NFL. They scripted some of their events including a fake controversy between Puleri and Richardson.

After the end of the XFL, Charlie returned to the Arena Football League, playing two more seasons for the Detroit Fury (2002) and the Buffalo Destroyers (2003).

Since football, Puleri has worked his way into mortgage finance. He signed these two cards for me, wrote me a nice note and included a few business cards.

WLAFATTCOMPYDSPCTTDINTRAT
944248844.724
ARENAATTCOMPYDSPCTTDINTRAT
257128160449.82014
CFLATTCOMPYDSPCTTDINTRAT
200-.-00-.-
XFLATTCOMPYDSPCTTDINTRAT
642941145.322-.-

Arena, CFL, NFL, WLAF

Dickson, Wayne

Card: Ultimate World League 1992
Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o Home
Sent: 9/6 Received: 10/28 (52 days)

Wayne Dickson played in college for the Oklahoma Sooners from 1986 to 1989. He jumped from linebacker to defensive end in 1988, and then in his Senior year, Wayne was an All Big 8 Honorable mention.

After going unselected in the 1990 NFL draft, Wayne signed with the San Diego Chargers but did not make the squad. He quickly found a home in the CFL with the British Columbia Lions, and then in 1991 with the Saskatchewan Roughriders where he recorded 2 sacks.

Dickson then be selected by the Orlando Thunder of the WLAF and slotted in at left inside linebacker. He’d lead the team in sacks with 5, and was actually the team leader in tackles- before an injury ended his season. Wayne returned to the Thunder in ’92, and added 2 more sacks to his resume as Orlando played in World Bowl II. Following the reorganization of the World League, Wayne joined the Arena Football League, seeing a stint with the Orlando Predators in 1994. In 1995, Wayne was briefly on the radar of the Dallas Cowboys- attending training camp and honing his skills alongside Charles Haley. He then played one final season in 1996 for the doomed Texas Terror Arena franchise posting a sack, before hanging up his cleats.

I wish they (WLAF/NFL) had given us the 5 year time table that they had originally promised!

– Wayne Dickson

A spirited return from former linebacker and Orlando Thunder player Wayne Dickson, as he wrote me a full page response and thanked me for writing. In it he detailed a small bit of trivia: That his first name was ‘Elvis’. (Little did he know, this was how I found him to begin with!) A great card of Wayne here. I just love how his fingers are wrapped in playing tape.

CFLTACSACFUMINTYDSAVGTDLG
12252000-.-0-.-
WLAFTACSACFUMINTYDSAVGTDLG
N/A7.0000-.-0-.-
ARENATACSACFUMINTYDSAVGTDLG
14192100-.-0-.-