Tag Archives: ttm football autograph

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Brown, Marlon ‘Spacedog’

psetwlaf91 mbrownCards: ProSet WLAF 1991, ProSet WLAF 1991 World Bowl, Ultimate WLAF 1992.
Acquired: TTM 2015, C/o Home
Sent: 5/15    Received: 6/8  (24 days)

Marlon Brown is a member of the deep 1989 NFL class. He was a 12th round pick of the Cleveland Browns after setting the Memphis school record with 19 sacks. His career highlights include a 4 sack performance against Louisville, which garnered him Associated Press Defensive Player of the Week Honors in 1987.   Brown joined the British Columbia Lions of the CFL in 1990 as a defensive end, recording 3 sacks and 7 tackles.

pset91 mbrown WBWith the unveiling of the WLAF in 1991, the London Monarchs selected Brown with the 4th overall pick among linebackers in the inaugural positional draft.  A key component to the Monarchs’ WLAF title run in 1991 and top rated defense, Marlon Brown finished on the All-World League Second Team.  Spacedog had 42 tackles and 7.5 sacks. His 5.5 sacks in a 22-7 win over North American rival New York-New Jersey stand as a single game league record, and he was named player of the week.  In World Bowl I, Marlon also contributed a sack in the Monarchs 21-0 shutout of the Dragons.

Marlon was traded after the season concluded. His fortunes basically went from first to worst, as he’d join the Ohio Glory. He finished his career in the WLAF as a member of the New York-New Jersey Knights.

ultwlaf92 mbrownFrom time to time I network with other collectors about the hobby. I’ve always admired Mark’s Signing Bonus. As a respected collector, I think he is a wonderful resource who cares about TTM and autographs as much as I do. I finally worked around to asking him about a few player successes he had, chief among them- Marlon. (I had emailed a lead  before, but it turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.)  Mark kindly helped me out and before I knew it, Spacedog had responded and included a nice note asking for a copy of his WLAF Ultimate 1992 card.

Marlon barely has even noticed that almost 25 years have passed. He’s still in pretty good physical shape and runs his own trucking business out of Memphis that keeps him on the road a good portion of his time.

CFL   G  5     Tac  7      Sac   3.0    Fum N/a
Int  0     Yds 0     Avg -.-      Td 0     Lg -.-

WLAF         Tac  42     Sac 7.5      Fum  N/a
Int  0      Yds 0    Avg -.-       Td 0      Lg -.-

 

NFL

Davis, André (2)

ud04 adavisad10 adavisCards: Adrenalyn 2010, Upper Deck Foundations 2003
Acquired: 2013, C/o Home
Sent:  8/15/13    Received:  2/17/15   (555 days)
See Also: André Davis

The new longest wait champion briefly was this response from André Davis at 555 days. Since then amazingly I got another player’s autograph through the mail that was over twice that long. The success percentage for waits over a year is pretty low, so I had easily given up on this one. I think that I sent it to an address in New York, but the response was postmarked from South Carolina.

I really liked these two cards of Davis. The Upper Deck Foundations card has a really nice design, but I really enjoy the Adrenalyn set. – It’s too bad that the set is a virtual card game that doesn’t really place any focus on the card backs.  Still it is a winner because it features Davis in a Texans’ uniform, where he enjoyed some of his finest play outside of Cleveland.

College Football HoF, NFL, University of Texas

Johnson, Johnnie

utud11 jojohnsonCards: UT Upper Deck 2011, UT Upper Deck All Time Alumni 2011, UT Upper Deck NCAA All-Americans
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent:  6/2    Received: 6/14   (12 days)

Johnnie Johnson is another member of the Texas’ DBU connection. He boasts an impressive resume that includes winning the 1978 Defensive Back of the Year Award (before the advent of the Jim Thorpe Award), and was a two time All-American. He was also an accomplished speedster and returner, finishing with 114 punt returns for 1004 yards and a TD.  During his time at UT he anchored a secondary that consistently ranked among the tops in the nation.

utud11 jojohnson ATAA first round draft choice of the Los Angeles Rams in 1980, Johnnie was selected 20th overall. In his rookie year, he’d start all 16 games. Quickly Johnson asserted himself as a force in the secondary, returning an interception for a team record 99 yards for a TD against the Packers.  He’d also recover 5 fumbles that rookie season.

Johnnie continued to have a nose for the football, recovering 22 fumbles during his career that spanned 10 seasons in the NFL earning an All-Pro nomination in 1983. Johnnie also had a habit of finding the end zone recording 4 TDs. He played nearly his entire career for the Rams, eventually even seeing Longhorn Jerry Gray also join him in the secondary. In 1989, Johnnie signed with the Seattle Seahawks via Plan B as his age became a liability.  After 2 games, the Seahawks cut Johnson due to the pounding that he took on his knees from the Kingdome turf. Johnson retired and started signing real estate, but the Rams came calling, needing depth in the secondary- and Johnson couldn’t resist one last go round. He’d retire for good after the season.

utud11 jojohnson NCAAJohnnie was one of the more venerable and popular players on the LA Rams during his career. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2007. Johnson is president of World Class Coaches- an organization committed to teaching basic fundamentals as part of its basic coaching instructional delivery process. He also is a member of the Moving Families Initiative, which helps kids adjust to the challenges that they face when moving to new schools and neighborhoods.

G/Gs 124/108     Tac N/a    Sac 2.0    Fum  2
Int 22   Yds 390   Avg 17.7    Td  4  Lg 99t