Tag Archives: ttm football autograph

NFL, University of Texas

Dawson, Doug

Cards: UT Upper Deck 2011, Topps Stadium Club 1993
Acquired: TTM 2012, C/o Work
Sent: 7/9      Received: 8/7  (29 days)

Doug Dawson was an acclaimed lineman at the University of Texas where he received All-American Honors. At 6’2″, 288, he graded out extremely well as both a run and pass blocker, and displayed the versatility and intelligence to play guard and center.  Dawson was taken in round 2 with the 45th pick by the then St. Louis Cardinals. He’d almost immediately be tabbed by the team as a starter and by all accounts appeared to be a steal for the team. Doug started 15 games in 1984, and 16 in ’85, before a calamitous knee injury ended his career 1 game into the 1986 season- or so we all though.

Dawson thought his playing days were over, but the desire was always there to play. Over the next few years he took up insurance, but medical technology made a huge jump during that period, and his doctors were confident they could rebuild Dawson and medically clear him to play again. Doug was given a tryout by his hometown Houston Oilers. The Oilers were particularly deep on the line, with Hall of Famers Mike Munchak and Bruce Matthews manning the front along with Dean Steinkuhuler, Jay Pennison, and David Williams. Don Maggs and Erik Norgard also were waiting in the wings to get on the field at the drop of a hat, but somehow, Doug with his versatility, veteran presence, (and probably affordability), won a spot on the roster with the team after essentially a 4 year layoff. Despite his heroic comeback (-even starting a game for the Oilers during the 1990 season,) Doug was snubbed for comeback player of the year honors in favor of Ottis Anderson.

In 1991 Doug returned to full form in the run ‘n shoot offense, blocking for Warren Moon full time. The running game also slowly picked up steam during his tenure with the team, culminating with 1,000 yard seasons for Lorenzo White in 1992, and Gary Brown in 1993.  Doug enjoyed some of my favorite seasons as an Oiler, helping to raise the AFC Central Division Championship banner in 1991 and 1993 in Houston. He played one final season for the Browns in 1994 and retired.

I never found a card of Doug, even though I was aware of him when they signed him. Since he was drafted in 1984, Topps was the only brand on the market, and although he was a second round choice who did make an impact on the Cardinals squad, he was still playing in a siberian wasteland. Last year I was happy to find him in a box of the University of Texas Upper Deck cards and noted him for a short list. I wrote him courtesy of his business, Dawson Financial Services, – a catalyst for customers to manage, clarify, and plan towards their financial goals. I was really happy to get a response, but surprised as Doug apparently read my letter that mentioned that I couldn’t find any cards of him until 2011, and touchingly included the Stadium Club 1993 card autographed as well in his response.

 

 

NFL, WLAF

Gabbard, Steve

Card: ProSet WLAF 1991
Acquired: TTM 2012, C/o Home
Sent: 7/6  Received: 7/28  (22 days)

Steve Gabbard played collegiality at Florida State as a defensive tackle, but his 6’3″, 293 frame screamed offensive line to coaches in the NFL. The Eagles signed him as a free agent in 1989, and moved Gabbard to tackle, stashing him on their practice squad. In 1991, the World League of American Football was just getting started and the London Monarchs used their first offensive line pick on him. It would prove to be bountiful for the Monarchs, as their line yielded only 10 sacks on the whole season.  Along with Steve, teammates Doug Marrone, and Paul Berardelli were named first team All World along the offensive line helping pave the way for an offense that averaged 380.6 yards per game.  After the season, Steve signed with the Green Bay Packers where he appeared in 4 games for the team.  He signed his lone WLAF card for me and wrote ‘God Bless!’, On the envelope. Really a nice find.

 

Arena, NFL, WLAF

Wilkerson, Eric (2)

Cards: ProSet WLAF 1991 TD leader, ProSet WLAF 1991 Rushing leader, ProSet 1991 WLAF, Ultimate WLAF 1992, Ultimate WLAF 1992 LL, Wild Card WLAF 1992.
Acquired: TTM 2012, C/o Kent State Alumni Association*
Sent:  6/16    Received: 7/28  (34 days)
See Also: Eric Wilkerson
* Donation requested

The paid side of SportsCollectors.net has been really good to me, and I’ve been able to unearth some very nice gems recently out of there recently. Case in point: Eric Wilkerson. I had been looking for Eric for quite a while. After hearing he had been stabbed, I hadn’t been able to find anymore information on him, but combing the archives of SC I found a success for the elusive runningback by writing to him care of Kent State’s Alumni Association. Since I had reached a desperate level on him, and he is one of those players with a bunch of cards, I decided to give it a shot and throw in a donation, since I felt so guilty about sending so many cards. While reconciling my bank account statements, I noticed that he cashed the check out a few days earlier, and then crossed my fingers on the return.  I would not be disappointed as he signed all 6 cards, which represents the single highest haul from a player since probably – Stan Gelbaugh? With Eric’s autographs on his 3 ProSet WLAF 1991 cards, it officially puts me over the halfway mark on the set (76/150).  Among the cards is the really slick touchdown league leader card, that he split with Orlando Thunder receiver Byron Williams. Nearly all of these cards are just really great heroic images of Eric in action, with probably his regular base card from the Ultimate 1992 WLAF set being my favorite. He signed each one, and wrote 91/92 on either one indicating the year.

During his time at Kent State, Eric ran his way into the record books rushing for 3,380 yards from scrimmage, and crushing the Mid-American Conference’s combined yardage record with 5,974 all purpose yards. During his senior season he set a single season school record with 1,325 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Due to his diminutive size, and the small school he went to, Wilkerson went undrafted but signed with the Steelers in 1989, and the Lions in 1990.

The WLAF gave him a shot in 1991. He’d be the 8th runningback taken in the draft, by the New York New Jersey Knights, and lead the league in rushing in 1991 with 717 yards and 11 TDs.  While his 1992 season was not as successful, it was more about the Knights offense diversifying as much as anything else. Eric is unofficially the WLAF’s career leading rusher- since the league reorganized after the season and was not seen again until three years later in 1995.