Tag Archives: ttm autographs

NFL

Martin, Kelvin “K-Mart”

gday92 kmartin flr90 kmartin
Cards: Fleer 1990, Fleer 1995, GameDay 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent: 1/28    Received: 2/7   (10 days)

Kelvin Martin played for Boston College from 1984-1987 and is considered one of the finest receivers to play for the school. He graduated as the school’s all-time leader in receptions (134), and TD catches (28), as well as holder of various punt return records.  A shifty receiver with deceptive speed, K-Mart was part of a strong triumvirate of BC players drafted in 1987. He’d go in the 4th round to the Dallas Cowboys, probably because of his height (5’9″) and frame (163).

After a wash of a rookie season- thanks in part to the players strike, K-Mart went back to work as the team’s primary punt returner, working his way into the lineup as a slot receiver. Beginning in 1988 he began to see an increased workload. As the team transitioned from Danny White to Troy Aikman, Martin saw little drop off, in fact, increasing from 39 to 59, his average yards per game, from 1988 to 1989. His best season came in 1990, as the team leaned on Kelvin heavily while Michael Irvin recovered from his 3rd straight injury plagued season. He’d finish as the team’s leading receiver in catches (64) and yards (732), however Josh and I joked about his bottom line- zero touchdowns. (I believe that his 100+ total catches spanning 4 seasons is an NFL record for futility, as he did not score a TD from week 12 of 1989 to week 4 of 1992.)  He’d pick back up punt returning, and lead the league in yardage (532) and TD returns (2) in 1992 while Michael Irvin and Alvin Harper were seeing more and more targets.

flr95 kmartin1993 was the dawn of a new era in free agency. Kelvin signed with the Seattle Seahawks, where he’d be paired opposite Brian Blades in the lineup. A value pick up, Kelvin finished with a career high 798 yards and 5 receiving touchdowns that year. He’d record respectable 681 yards the following season before he was left exposed in the 1995 Expansion Draft held for the Jacksonville Jaguars and Carolina Panthers. Before Martin knew it, he selected with the 27th pick of the draft by the Jags. Oddly enough, the team cut him outright 2 weeks later- citing that his $800k price tag was too high to justify keeping him on the roster.

Enter the Philadelphia Eagles, who were burned by Martin, by denying the Eagles a playoff appearance in 1991, when Kelvin returned a punt 85 yards for a score. He’d sign with Philly and be one and done there before going back home to Dallas in 1996.  Kelvin scored a 60 yard TD against the Atlanta Falcons that season before hanging up the cleats.

I had never gotten Martin at training camp when the Cowboys were at St. Edwards back in the early 90s. It had almost appeared as though he preferred the anonymity rather than revel in the glory like guys such as Irvin did. Martin always reminded me of Houston Oilers slot man Curtis Duncan both in play, statistics, and overall class act. I was surprised at how fast I got a response from Kelvin and had seen that he averaged somewhere around 3 months per return. Kelvin lives in the Dallas area and has been involved in coaching at the college level.

G 139/66     Rec   367        Yds  4768     Avg  13.0      Td  15      Lg 60t    |
Kr  76      Yds 1453     Avg 19.1       Td 0       Lg 59  |
Pr  261     Yds  2567     Avg 9.8      Td  3     Lg 85t

 

CFL, WLAF

Alexander, Andre

ultwlaf92 a alexanderCards: Ultimate WLAF 1992, Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Private
Sent: 1/4      Received: 1/25  (21 days)

A Facebook dispatch that actually paid off, I had written Andre sometime last year, but as we all know if you don’t know somebody it gets put in that pesky ‘other’ folder, so I threw out a friend request also to see if it’d catch his eye. Along with a batch of other WLAFers that I had found but had never been able to peg down, I just chalked it up as a loss and moved on. Lo and behold about 3 or 4 months later, he accepted my friend request. It took me a few months, but Andre one day was reminiscing about the past, posting photos of his days in the CFL and Fresno State, so I scanned in the two cards here, and posted them up telling him not to forget his roots. At his request I then put one up of his college teammate Dwight Pickens, and then we started talking. He not only agreed to signed the 2 cards I enclosed, he also got Dwight to sign his as well. As an added bonus, I sent him a few of his cards and other teammates cards from Fresno St to keep.

wcwlaf92 a alexanderAndre had a pretty solid Senior season for the Bulldogs in 1988. While the team had issues at quarterback, the other offensive playmakers were solid. Alexander finished as the #1 receiver on the team that year with 33 receptions for 703 yards and 3 TDs. A long bomb threat, he averaged 21.3 yards per catch. Undrafted, Alexander made the transition over to the CFL where he played for the Calgary Stampeders. The small statured Alexander made 19 receptions for 311 yards and 2 TDs.  Andre decided to join the WLAF and was a perfect fit for the Run N Shoot offense of Mouse Davis and the New York- New Jersey Knights. He hopped right into the starting lineup as the Knights’ punt returner. Alexander returned to the team in 1992 and hauled in 14 receptions for 256 yards and a TD. The WLAF went on hiatus after that year, and Andre returned to NorCal where he lives today.

While people tout the quarterback lineage of Fresno St, which certainly challenges Maryland on a level of college acclaim in that department, its really at receiver that there have been quite a few players that have made the jump to some sort of professional level.  The school became well known as the ‘WLAF connection’ and even had an article in GameDay magazine touting its pipeline. Along with Alexander, Dwight Pickens, Myron Jones, Malcolm Floyd, Kevin Sweeney, Mike Withycombe, and Gene Taylor were all guys who made the puddle jump to the WLAF.

Rec 18   Yds 319    Avg 17.1      Td 1     Lg 43t    |
Kr  1     Yds  21      Avg 21.0       Td 0     Lg 21      |
Pr 20   Yds 143    Avg 7.2         Td 0      Lg  18

College Football HoF, Heisman Trophy Winner, NFL

Sims, Billy “Kung Fu”

udcollgd11 simsCards: Topps 1984, Upper Deck Legends 1997, Upper Deck College Legends 2011, OU Upper Deck 2011 MM.
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home.
Sent: 1/2     Received: 1/21   (19 days)

Billy Sims had a relatively short NFL career due to injury, but he left it all on the field, and harnessed accolades and awards along the way. Sims, the 1978 Heisman Trophy winner from Oklahoma, rushed for 1,896 yards and 22 touchdowns that year,  and would later be selected with the first pick of the 1980 NFL draft by the Detroit Lions.

ouud11 sims mmThe tiny dynamo took the #20 that he made so famous at OU during his college career and won NFL Rookie of the Year Honors that season, leading the NFL with 16 touchdowns (13 rushing and 3 receiving). In 1981, he’d up his numbers with 1,437 yards and another 13 TDs rushing in 14 games. While the 57 day long strike reduced Sims contribution to only 9 games, he’d still have 639 yards, and the team made the playoffs for the first time in 20+ years in 1982. Billy took the NFL by storm his first three seasons earning All-Pro honors from the NFL in each of those years. He’d have his final 1,000 yard season in 1983 rushing for 1,040 yards in 12 games. During the season he rushed for to82 sims replaya career high single game 189 yards against the Packers. The one man wrecking crew was beloved by the people of Detroit, and led the Lions to its first division championship in also over 20 years.

1984 was a catastrophic season for Sims and ultimately the Lions. In the 8th game of the season against the Minnesota Vikings, Sims took a routine handoff and got his foot awkwardly caught in the Metrodome turf.  Unbelievably his season was over- and the Lions spiraled out of control. The Lions were 23-11 since Sims joined the team. Without him, Detroit went the rest of the way 1-6-1 that year.  Sims had ligament damage to his knee, and the injury was so severe that he failed every physical he took after rehab.  As fast as Sims established himself as the Lions career leading rusher, both in yardage and touchdowns, Billy’s career was over.  He was only 30.

Sims has been held with reverence since by the franchise. Detroit likes to unofficially retire jerseys from circulation for extended periods of time, and such is that, the Lions refused to issue his #20 jersey until NFL great Barry Sanders asked to wear it. Billy was also well known for his celebratory high stepping as he scoredudldg97 sims touchdowns, and his strong and creative running that allowed him to pick a hole and make 3 yard gain out of nothing. There was just about nothing Sims could do. Leaping over a pile (like in his Upper deck Legends card), or catching a pass out of the backfield. Sims averaged 11.1 yards on 186 career receptions.  Despite playing only one full season in his short lived 5 year NFL tenure, Billy averaged over 1,000 yards per year.

While Sims has had a share of well publicized financial missteps much like Earl Campbell, Billy has bounced back and currently has chain of Billy Sims BBQ restaurants. He also spends time as a motivational speaker and is involved in sports marketing.

mem simsInducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1995, Sims has also had his likeness immortalized as a statue on the OU campus as a Heisman Hero. His nickname was given to him by Chris Berman from ESPN, because during the highlight of a game against the Houston Oilers, Sims lept through the air over a defender and kicked cornerback Steve Brown in the head.

Billy is a wonderful signer through the mail for fans. He signed these
4 cards in less than a month for me, and also enclosed a free drink coupon for his restaurant in case I was ever in the area.  You can visit his restaurant site at billysimsbbq.com.

G/Gs 60/58    Rush 1131  Yds 5106   Avg 4.5     Td 42    Lg 81t |
Rec 186    Yds  2072   Avg 11.1   Td  5   Lg 87