Tag Archives: tnt afl 2014

Arena

Tevaga, Shannon

tntafl14 tevagaCard: Top Notch AFL Talons 2014
Acquired: IP 2014, San Antonio Talons vs. New Orleans Voodoo

After the game Shannon was seated next to Shane Boyd. When I came up to Shannon and gave him his card, Shane leaned over and told him that I knew about Boyd’s historical contribution to football. Indeed I did- and quoted that Boyd scored the first TD in UFL history for the California Redwoods, which prompted Tevaga to quip that Boyd, “had his own little piece of Jeopardy history.”  Shannon was happy to have a card to call his own and signed this one just as eagerly and quickly as the rest of the team.

Shannon started 41 games for the Bruins earning All-American honors as a Junior, and as a Senior was named a Lombardi watch list candidate. After starting 7 games in 2011, and 10 games in 2012 for the Spokane Shock, Tevaga started all 18 games for the Utah Blaze in 2013. After the Blaze disbanded, Tevaga was allocated to the San Antonio Talons, where the burly bearded Samoan has made his mark.

 

Arena, CFL, NFL, NFLE

Johnson, Lee

tntafl14 lee johnsonCard: TNT AFL 2014
Acquired: IP 5/17/14, San Antonio Talons vs. New Orleans Voodoo

Coach Johnson is a veteran of many leagues as both a player and a coach. He’s spent time in the NFL, CFL, NFLE, and AFL. Among his highlights, Johnson coached the defensive line of the Berlin Thunder to two consecutive World Bowl Championships in both 2001 and 2002. He then coached the Denver Crush to the Arena Football Championship in 2004. After taking the reins of the Talons, he coached them to a 14-4 record and a division title, in 2012.

After the San Antonio Talons game against the Iowa Barnstormers I gave out my custom cards to many players on the field. It created such a stir that Coach Johnson came over and asked me where his was. After I joked with him a few seconds about sharing the same first name, he quickly extracted a promise from me to make a custom for him as well.

I arrived at the Talons game versus the Voodoo early as usual. After talking to the COO of the Talons and giving him a copy of the set, he went over to Lee to show him what I had done. Coach immediately came over and talked to me with a broad smile, signed the card and thanked me for the extras. He asked me what I wanted for the cards I made and gave to him, but as usual the most important thing for me is the autograph gracing the card for my own collection, and their enduring happiness and willingness to chase their dreams. You know, on that note, I have always subscribed to the ultimate belief that a true gift is one that is not expected, and for purposes of what I had given to each of these players I know it meant a lot to them.

 

Arena

Jones, Dominic

tntafl14 djonesCard: Top Notch Arena 2014
Acquired: Future Considerations, 2014

Dominic Jones played two seasons at the University of Minnesota before transferring to Otterbein University in 2010. He had 137 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, and two interceptions as a Golden Gopher. He made an immediate impact at Otterbein where he was First-Team All-OAC, All-Region and All-America in his only season there.
A dangerous return man and defensive back, Dominic earned Second Team All-Arena Honors as a kick returner after setting a single season franchise record with 1,795 yards in 2013 for the Predators. He also collected 91.5 tackles and two interceptions. Rejoining the Gladiators in 2014 Dominic had a career high 4 interceptions and 27 pass breakups as he helped platoon Cleveland’s secondary.

Dominic along with a few other Gladiators were nice enough to sign a few cards for me this season through a contact of mine up in Cleveland who went to one of their playoff games. Jones liked the card so much he posted it to Twitter.