Tag Archives: topps 2004

NFL, ufl

Parker, Samie

CARDS: Topps 2004, Score 2007, TNT UFL 2011
ACQUIRED: TTM 2025, C/o Work
SENT: 8/25 RECEIVED: 9/29 (35 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Samie Parker played college ball at Oregon from 2000-’03.
  • His yards and catches increased in every year with the Ducks.
  • In 2003 Parker posted 77 receptions for 1088 yards and 7 TDs.
  • 105th overall selection (4th round) of the 2004 NFL Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.
  • Played from 2004-’07 for the Chiefs.
  • Best season came in ’06 when Samie caught 41 passes for 561 yards and a TD.
  • Was signed by the Broncos in 2008 but was cut before the season began.
  • Over the next year was on and off the rosters of the Panthers, Seahawks and Raiders.
  • Signed with the Las Vegas Locomotives of the UFL in 2009.
  • He caught 10 passes for 124 yards and a TD.
  • In 2010 he played for the Chicago Rush of the Arena Football League.
  • Caught 78 passes for 1,135 yards and 11 TDs.
  • Rejoined the Locos in 2010 and caught 22 passes for 283 yards and a 68 yard TD.
  • Signed with the Argos in 2012 but was released a few months later.
  • Has gone into coaching at the college level, and as of 2025 is coaching WR at Delaware State.

NOTES:

Samie hadn’t signed in a while so I took a shot in the dark at his workplace. I like his autograph. The ‘S’ in his first name loops into the ‘P’ on his last name. Slick.

NFL

Volek, Billy

CARDS: Topps 2004, SpX 2005
ACQUIRED: TTM 2023, C/o Home
SENT: 10/21/23 RECEIVED: 5/31/24 (219 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Billy Volek played QB for Fresno State from 1996-’99.
  • A QB who really knew how to make good decisions on his throws, Volek only threw 12 interceptions in 934 attempts.
  • In his Senior campaign in 1999, he completed 235 of 355 passes, 2,559 and yards.
  • His 66.2 completion percentage, 30 TDs, 8.52 yards per attempt, and 152.9 QB rating led the conference.
  • He was signed by the Tennessee Titans as a UDFA following the 2000 Draft.
  • Despite his solid numbers, Volek went undrafted- partially because of a growing knock on Fresno State quarterbacks being ‘system quarterbacks’.
  • He saw little playing time until 2003, winning a week 14 contest against the Buffalo Bills, where he threw for 295 yards and 2 TDs on 26 of 41 throws.
  • In 2004, Volek was thrust into action as injuries to starter Steve McNair caught up to him.
  • Although he responded with 2 400 yard contests back to back- the Titans tumbled to a 1-8 record with him as starting QB (5-11 overall).
  • The season would be Billy’s most successful in the league as he completed 218 of 257 passes for 2,486 yards to go along with 18 TDs and 10 interceptions.
  • With McNair signing with Baltimore after the 2005 season, Billy was thought to be inline to become the next starting QB of the Titans.
  • However, the team brought in former QB Kerry Collins to compete with him and then drafted Vince Young.
  • With the writing on the wall, Volek was traded to the San Diego Chargers.
  • Seeing only limited snaps behind Phillip Rivers, he threw for only 249 yards and a TD over the remaining 5 years of his career.

NOTES:

I was pretty confident I’d get Billy back in under a year as he’d been tracking out that way. My gripe was that I went out of my way to get a Leaf Rookies & Stars card of his, that he switched out for the pedestrian Topps card. Ah well.

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NFL

Davis (Williams), Domanick

to04 ddavisCards: Topps 2004, Playoff Absolute Memorabilia 2004
Acquired: 2016, EBay

Ah Dominick Davis… probably my favorite in the short Houston Texans Mt. Rushmore of runningbacks. He was the engine that made the Texans offense move during the early growing pains of the franchise.  Originally a 4th round pick out of LSU, Domanick burst onto the scene in 2003 with an impressive preseason debut that helped him make the squad. In the meantime the team muddled behind the uninspired rushing of free agent signee Stacey Mack and rookie Tony Hollings.  Davis was an afterthought intent on making an impression.  By week 7 the Texans had enough of the Mack-Hollings experience, and gave Davis a shot at the starting job in a week 6 tilt against the New York Jets. (Remembering his effort during the preseason that still stuck out in my mind, I quickly signed and started Domanick on my fantasy team.) The Texans lost, but Davis in his first game did not disappoint, rushing for 133 yards. He was not only the first runningback in the short 23 games of the franchise to rush for 100 yards and the single game rushing record, but also caught 9 passes for 70 yards to give him 199 for the game, a yards from scrimmage team record. 3 more times during his rookie season, Domanick rushed for over 100 yards which helped him rumble for 1031 yards and 8 TDs winning the 2003 Rookie of the Year Honors.

poff04mem-dodavis2004 was Davis’ watershed moment. He had a combined 1731 yards from scrimmage, posting career season highs in all rushing categories (302 carries, 1188 yards, 13 rushing TDs, and 68 receptions for 588 yards). During a week 14 contest against the Jacksonville Jaguars, Domanick again broke his single game rushing record (31 carries 158 yards).  The Texans were content rushing on the back of Davis to support their anemic QB play.  Behind him really was a who’s who of runningbacks and role players.  Davis was the darling of fantasy football- a 4 down back dynamo.

In 2005 Davis career came to a sudden end after 11 games. He rushed in 5 contests for 20 or more carries, including back to back 28 carry efforts in week 6 and 7.  In week 10 he almost eclipsed his single game rushing record with 155 yards on 29 carries against the Ravens. The following week against the Titans, Davis ran 22 times for 139 yards- in his final game.  I don’t think most people at the time knew it, (I mean I sure didn’t) but as Domanick left the field, it’d be the final time he’d suit up as a pro. The team in the meantime completely disintegrated finishing with a 2-14 record. The original coaching staff and front office would be dismissed after the season.

The Texans and Davis held out hope he’d return, if not sometime during 2006, for sure 2007.  He rehabbed and returned for 2006, but a ‘bone bruise’ in his knee aggravated during training camp caused him to be placed back on IR for all of 2006.

During this time period, Domanick changed his last name to Williams, more in line with his family’s name.  He also changed his number to 31 and got a new look to boot.  As Williams continued to rehab, rumors began to circulate that he’d never be able to play again. Eventually it came to light that if Williams was to continue playing football, he’d be running bone on bone- as the cartilage in his knee had nearly been destroyed.  As he was in a fair amount of pain and he could not pass his physical, he was cut by the Texans in 2007.

As of this post, Domanick is retired and living in Louisiana.  Recently I went ahead and acquired these two solid certified autographs of Davis/Williams for a cheap price through EBay. He popped up briefly and just long enough on Twitter for me to send him a copy of this really cool painting I did of Williams- some 10 years ago, but I wasn’t able to close a deal to get it signed. I’d love to see the Texans bring him back as an ambassador in the future which he sounded open to when I briefly talked to him, but he’s since disappeared again.  While Davis/Williams star burned briefly bright in the hearts and minds of Texans and fantasy football fans, he’s now relegated to being a footnote of firsts in the team’s record books.

G/GS 40/36     RUSH 770     YDS 3195     AVG 4.1     TD 23     LG 51T
REC 154    YDS 1276    AVG 8.3    TD 5    LG 38