Tag Archives: ttm autograph

WLAF

Williams, Rickey

wcwlaf92 rwilliams ultwlaf92 rwilliamsCards: Ultimate WLAF 1992, Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Work
Sent: 6/14     Received: 6/19    (5 days)

Linebackers were not in short supply in the WLAF and a few teams, such as the London Monarchs drafted them quite well. The team had Danny Lockett and Marlon Brown,  but also stole former Razorback Rickey Williams in the 7th round of the 1991 WLAF linebacker draft.

A two year starter during his collegiate career for Arkansas, Rickey was a 2 year semifinalist for the Butkus award both in 1986 and 1987.  One of the leaders of a stellar defense alongside Steve Atwater and Wayne Martin, Rickey was the leader in tackles on defense, but got little recognition from the national media. The SWC you see suffered from a media bias, and the Conference was not well received on the national level. Still he earned many accolades from his Alma Mater and also from the SWC as an All-Conference Selection in 1987. Rickey went undrafted in the NFL. Perhaps it was his size that worked against him at 5’11”, 227, but Rickey didn’t let that deter him from following his dreams of playing professional football. He signed with the Pueblo Crusaders of the Minor League Football System in 1990 and played one season for the team.

During his 1991 run with the Monarchs, Rickey recorded 76 total tackles (47 unassisted), 4 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles, en route to a World Bowl victory over the Barcelona Dragons 21-7.  A speedy linebacker, Rickey was an excellent cover man and frequently blanketed opposing team’s tight ends and runningbacks. One of the league’s most underrated players, Rickey’s numbers were outstanding considering the star power on the roster, but he’d be overlooked for WLAF honors. Rickey returned to the WLAF for 1992 and again started for the team, finishing with an additional sack on the season. After the season the WLAF reorganized while Rickey returned to the states and eventually his hometown of Little Rock.  Rickey was named to the Arkansas Razorbacks All-1980s team and today is still one of the college’s career leaders in tackles despite only starting 2 seasons for them. He’s coached football and realized his fire is still burning for the sport and helping others achieve their dreams of playing at a higher level. He’s put his energy and talent to a good use, forming Life Champs, a charity dedicated to providing high quality, professionally-run youth sports leagues, camps, and tournaments to kids in Central Arkansas and providing them with guidance, purpose, and mentoring.

I used the power of the internet again to track down Rickey. Note that his Wild Card WLAF 1992 issue is misspelled ‘Ricky’- This is an uncorrected error. Anyway I shot him an email and we got to talking and he agreed to sign these two cards for me. A class act, Rickey told me he was excited to have received all the extras I had sent to him.

Tac N/a      Sac 5.0      Fum 3         Int 0       Yds  0      Avg -.-      Td 0      Lg -.-

NFL, WLAF

Carter, Jon

psetwlaf91 jcarterpset91 jcarter
Cards: ProSet 1991, Pro Set WLAF 1991
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o home
Sent: 1/27  Received: 3/17  (49 days)

The Skyhawks made Jon Carter their first selection (8th overall) among the defensive linemen in the innaugural 1991 WLAF draft.  He’d anchor down Raleigh-Durham’s 3-4 defense, finishing with 45 tackles, 3 sacks and a forced fumble. The Skyhawks finished a distant 0-10 in the standings though and were disbanded after the season, due to poor attendance. The remaining players from the team were placed back in the draft pool for the 1992 season. Thanks to Jon’s experience in the 3-4 defensive alignment, he easily fit well into the Franfurt Galaxy‘s defensive rotation.

Originally a 5th round pick of the New York Giants in the 1988 draft, he spent the whole year on IR with a back injury but was waived right before the beginning of the 1989 season. The Cowboys then signed him to their developmental roster, and he ended up contributing in 13 games that year.  At Pitt, Carter was a 4 year starter and co-captain his Senior year.

With 2 cards in the WLAF sets, it was a mighty struggle to locate Jon Carter due to the commonality of his name. It took a few years, but he resurfaced, and I took a stab in the dark at a resume I found online. I was surprised to say the least to get a response in under 2 months time.

Tac N/a       Sac 4.0       Fum 1       Int 0      Yds -.-    Avg -.-      Td 0      Lg -.-

CFL, NFL

Christie, Steve

pset90 christieCards: Score Supplemental 1990, ProSet 1990, GameDay 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent: 4/1    Received: 4/17   (16 days)

Steve Christie left William & Mary as the school’s All-Time leading scorer in 1989 with 279 points. He was signed as a free agent by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1990. The Bucs had a solid kicking game with Donald Igwebuike, but Christie beat him head to head in camp and won the job outright. Through Week 7 of the 1990 season Christie was the leading scorer in the NFL with 57 points and hit all of his XP, and was 14 of 16 of field goals.  By the end of the season Steve was named All-Rookie by the UPI, as he finished second in the NFC with a .852 field goal percentage.  After another solid season in 1991 with the Bucs, Christie was left unprotected by the team, controversially after he made promises not to leave the team.

The Buffalo Bills had finally decided that it was time for longtime kicker Scott Norwood to go. They offered Steve twice the salary he was making in Tampa to come to Buffalo.  Christie didn’t look back. scosup90 christieHe’d later cite that the ‘lack of winning tradition’ in Tampa as factoring into making his decision easier, because, “You get quite depressed only winning 3 games a season.”
Christie distinguished himself with the Bills almost immediately. and played with the franchise through the 2000 season, erasing many of the previous kicking marks held by Norwood. Steve set the franchise records that he set were the longest field goal (59 yards), the longest field goal in playoff history (54 yards), and the most career field goals in the playoffs (9). Steve is the franchise’s All-time leading scorer with 1,011 points, and set a franchise record with 14o points in a single season (1998).

In 2001, Steve signed with the San Diego Chargers after a somewhat contentious divorce from the Bills. A preseason injury forced the Bills to offer Christie an injury settlement- an offer that he rejected. So the team with no real choice at that point placed him on injured reserve, and then finally granted his unconditional release a few weeks later. He played with the Chargers through the 2003 season. From there he spent some time with thegday92 christie Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants in 2004.

Christie then entered a period of semi-retirement. He briefly played for the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL in 2007 as a favor to general manager Mike Clemons- a teammate from William & Mary. Afterwards he signed a one day contract with the Buffalo Bills to officially retire as a member of the franchise in 2008.  He’s done some football commentary since then and has worked in the CFL as a player agent. As of 2014, Steve’s 1,476 points ranks 16th in NFL history and his 336 field goals rank 13th.

In this day and age, kickers have become more interchangable between franchises, but the best clutch kickers such as Christie, Stenerud, Anderson, and Andersen, have just become more and more rare, especially when they were able to pull of long stints with one team.

G  229           XPA 473         XPM 468         PCT  98.9
FGA 431         FGM 336         PCT  78.0          PTS 1476