Tag Archives: TNT Greats 2013

AAF, NFL, University of Texas, WLAF

Bradley, Bill ‘Super Bill’ (2)

Cards: Upper Deck Legends 1997, Top Notch Signature Select
Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o Home
Sent: 9/15/18 Received: 1/13/20 (487 days)
See Also: Bill Bradley ‘Super Bill’

Bill Bradley signed my custom card of him, and also sent back the extra with more inscriptions upon it. A solid return, he wrote me a nice note with a full page of additional inscriptions and thanked me for being a fan and putting this website together with my shrines to the multiple leagues.

I hadn’t seen Bill since he appeared in Austin for the Upper Deck set signing back in 2011. In the meantime, while he was coaching at Lamar (2012-2014) I found this Upper Deck Legends card I really wanted to get him on, but I opted not to try him through the mail yet.

Time passed, and in 2018- after much deliberation, the Alliance of American Football established their last franchise in San Antonio. I quickly speculated that the team was going to nab Mike Riley as their head coach. While at the Season Ticket Holders Team Announcement Party, Mike let me in on a little secret since he knew I was a San Antonio Riders fan- he was courting Bill to come back and work for him on the Commanders defense as a defensive secondary coach!

Bill’s secondary in the AAF was an exciting unit to watch and led the league in turnovers. His coaching legacy now also includes the AAF Defensive Player of the Year Derron Smith, and a bevvy of players who were signed to NFL, Arena, and XFL rosters.

NFL

Brunell, Mark

Cards: TNT Signature Select, Classic 1993, SP Game Used 2002, Leaf Rookies & Stars 2006
Acquired: TTM 2016, C/o Home
Sent: 9/12    Received: 10/11     (26 days)*
*donation enclosed

Mark Brunell was one of these ageless wonders. He put in 19 seasons under his belt of solid to workmanlike/ journeyman quality work. In the annals of pro football, he doesn’t get the respect he deserves, but his arrival in Jacksonville heralded an era of respectability in Jaguars football. The owner of all of the passing records in the franchise’s record books when he departed the Jaguars after the 2003 season, Mark earned 3 Pro Bowl nominations, including MVP honors of the 2000 Pro Bowl. 

Originally a 5th round pick out of Washington State by the Green Bay Packers in the 1993 draft, Brunell didn’t see much action playing for the Pack, sitting behind Brett Favre and Ty Detmer.  He’d be eventually traded to the Jaguars in 1995 for a 3rd and 5th round pick before the team’s inaugural season began. After his banner time in Jacksonville, Mark was traded to the Redskins and provided stability to the quarterback position in Washington from 2004 to 2007. During that period he’d break the NFL record for most consecutive completions in a game with 22. In 2008, he signed with the Saints- winning his lone Super Bowl Championship (XLIV) as Drew Brees’ backup. 

Brunell played 2 more seasons for the New York Jets (2010-2012), before retiring. Since that time Mark has gone into coaching starting at the High School level, and as of 2019 is coaching in the Jacksonville area. Mark has made the news otherwise for all the wrong reasons financially, and at one point needed to file for bankruptcy. Those are always the most humbling moments- so it was not a big deal to send him the requested donation.

G/GSATTCPDPCTYDSTDINTRAT
176/1514625275459.53207218410884.0
RUSHYDSAVGTD
51324214.715
NFL, Pro Football HoF

LeBeau, Dick

Cards: TNT Signature Select, Topps 1971
Acquired: TTM 2017, C/o The Tennessee Titans
Sent: 1/19/17  Received: 1/27/17   (8 days)

To say that Dick LeBeau has a decorated football history would be an understatement. After playing both halfback and defensive back in college, LeBeau was moved to cornerback fulltime when he entered the NFL. Selected by the Cleveland Browns in 1959, LeBeau did not make the squad and was quickly snatched up by the Detroit Lions. The rest is history. The Lions already had an outstanding secondary. LeBeau was icing on the cake. He arguably became one of the best players in Detroit history (at least defensively) recording 62 interceptions for 762 yards and 3 TDs.  He earned 3 ProBowl trips from 1964-1966 and AP in 1964, 1965, and 1970.

Retiring from play after the 72 season, LeBeau immediately jumped into coaching, working as a special teams coach for the Eagles from 1973-1975.  From there he honed his skills as a positional coach with the defensive backs for the Packers (1976-1979) and Bengals (1980-1983). Dick was promoted to defensive coordinator for Cincinnati in 1984- a position he held until 1991.  In 1992 he joined the Steelers as a defensive backs coach, and in 1995 was elevated to defensive coordinator.  LeBeau returned to the Bengals in 1997 and was head coach for the franchise from 2000-2002.  After a brief stay on the Bills in 2003 LeBeau returned to the Steelers as their defensive coordinator from 2004-2014, and then off to the Tennessee Titans as their coordinator where he coaches to this day (2017).  LeBeau was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Pride of the Lions in 2010.

Dick LeBeau is one of the most reliable high profile TTM signers in the hobby today. I think I had taken it for granted for a long time, but I finally decided to take a shot at him in 2017. Part of the reason for my delay was the lack of decent cards of him. Frankly most of the cards that were on the market were quite bad looking, or were just plain expensive. LeBeau’s turnaround was quite quick signing this old beat up Topps card and my custom in about a week flat.

G/GS  N/a    Tac N/a         Sac N/a          Fum N/a
Int   62       Yds   762          Avg  12.2      TD  3     Lg   70t