Tag Archives: ttm football autograph

AFL, College Football HoF, NFL, usfl, WLAF

Gabriel, Roman (1940-2024)

Cards: ProSet WLAF 1991, ProSet WLAF Helmet 1991, ProSet 1991, UD Legends 2005
Acquired:  TTM 2011, C/o RG Enterprises
Sent: 11/9     Received:  11/23  (14  days)

Embarrassingly I am a fan who grew up after the Roman Gabriel era, and my memories of him is neither as quarterback of the Los Angeles Rams or Philadelphia Eagles, but rather as head coach of the woeful Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks from the WLAF circa 1991.

These were the only cards I had in my collection of him, and after being informed of his stiff signing fee of $10 per signature, I waited sometime before contacting him a second time for an autograph. He kindly enclosed an Upper Deck legends card from 2005 as well, and thanked me for writing.

An all-around athlete for NC State, Roman Gabriel was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in 1962 as the second overall pick. (He was also chosen in the AFL draft by the Oakland Raiders.) Choosing to sign with the Rams, Gabriel went on to become one of the most successful Asian-Americans in American Football (Philipino). Once he was made the starting quarterback in 1966 he went on to rewrite many of the passing records for the Rams franchise.  

After flirting with the AFL and signing with the Raiders,  Roman decided to stay put with the signing of head coach George Allen. His patience was rewarded, as Gabriel went on to be named the NFL’s MVP in 1969.

As knee and shoulder injuries began to take their toll on Gabriel, he’d be traded to the Philadelphia Eagles in 1973 and help right the ship of the woeful Eagles franchise and earn Comeback Player of the Year Honors.

Over the last few seasons he’d play sparingly as a backup quarterback until his retirement after the 1977 season. Gabriel’s strongest attributes as a QB were his powerful arm and his excellent decision making abilities. He’d finish his career with an 84-67-7 record.

Roman (post playing days) remained active in sports and dabbled in acting. Besides owning some car dealerships, he worked as a color commentator and served as a head coach.

In this capacity among his notable stops were that Gabriel was head coach at Cal Poly Ponoma, offensive coordinator of the USFL Boston Breakers in 1983,  quarterbacks coach of the Arizona Wranglers in 1984, and finally at his gruesome stop as first- general manager and then finally as head coach of the WLAF Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks.

Unfortunately things didn’t work out for Gabriel the way he had hoped as the Skyhawks finished 0-10 in their only season in the league.  From then he diversified his interests and was deeply committed to charitable causes.

He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1989, and the Hall of Very Good in 2015.

Roman was a voracious signing up until his final days, and I had just finished putting a letter together for another request.

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EPITAPH:

4/20/2024- Roman Gabriel passed away peacefully at the age of 83, of natural causes.

AFL, NFL, wfl

Culp, Curley (1946-2021)

Cards: Topps 1978, Topps 1976, Topps 1974
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Home
Sent: 11/16    Received: 11/23   (7 days)

Curley Culp is another great example of a player that if they inducted a player at every position into the HoF, – Culp would be inducted at the inglorious, in the trenches position of nose tackle. When people talk about players who redefine a position, I think of Culp defining one all by himself. He not only was a member of the Kansas City Chiefs NFL Superbowl victory, he also reinvigorated a sad sack Houston franchise on defense by being the final cog in challenging the supremacy of the Pittsburgh Steelers during the 70s.

After graduating from Arizona State in 1969, the Denver Broncos drafted Culp with their second round pick of the common NFL draft. Unable to make the squad, Culp was considered undersized and too slow to play linebacker or defensive end, but had some great advantages in his strength, quickness off the line, and technique. He was an enigma.

Moving on to the Kansas City Chiefs, Curley played defensive tackle and was inserted into the lineup and played directly over the center, creating one on one situations, and opening up interior lanes for rushers. This heralded the birth of the 3-4 defense and the nose tackle position. While with the Chiefs, Culp appeared in 82 contests, the 1969 All Star Game, the 1972 Pro Bowl, and was a key cog in Kansas City’s Super Bowl IV victory.

In 1974, the NFL began to feel pressure from a new upstart league: The WFL.  At the same time as Culp began to make rumblings about leaving for the other league to play for the California Sun, defensive coordinator Bum Phillips of the Houston Oilers, had convinced head coach Sid Gillman that the 3-4 could be run full time in the NFL. He insisted that the main piece that he needed to begin a defensive renaissance in Houston was Curley Culp. Pulling the trigger in exchange for John Matuszak, the Oilers struck gold and immediately saw dividends on their investment into Culp as in 1975, he was named AP defensive player of the year after recording 11.5 sacks for the Oilers.  Culp would remain a stalwart member of the Houston defensive front, but as injuries mounted, he would be cut midway through the 1980 season, sign with the Lions and retire after the 1981 season.

Culp somehow ended up down the street from me in the Austin suburb of Pflugerville. When I learned of this, I quickly shot him a letter and a few cards to sign. I love his Topps 1975 card.  He looks like a hungry, angry hobo with that grizzly beard.  A 5 time Pro Bowler, a member of the Kansas City Chiefs 35th anniversary team, the Chiefs All-Century team, the Oilers All-Century team and inducted into the Chiefs HoF, Culp certainly has the credentials, but lacks the glamour and tracked statistics to be in the HoF.

G  179      Tac  N/a    Sac 68     Fum 13     Int   1    Yds   25   Avg   25.0     Td 0      lg 25


UPDATE 11/27/21- On November 16th, Curley Culp announced he had Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer and asked that his friends, family and followers donate to foundations to help eradicate this disease. His family announced his passing on social media on November 27th.

In 2013, Curley got the long awaited invitation and the gold jacket he should’ve been awarded so long ago, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

NFL, NFLE, ufl

Gray, Quinn


Cards:  UD MVP 2003, Topps 2008
Acquired: TTM 2011, C/o Florida A&M Rattlers
Sent: 11/8   Received:  11/21   (13 days)

A strong armed quarterback that resembled Daunte Culpepper, (6’3″, 246) Quinn Gray set benchmarks at Florida A&M with 7368 yards passing and 57 touchdowns. Undrafted, Gray would be signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2002, and then be allocated to NFL Europe to play for the Frankfurt Galaxy in 2003. While with the Galaxy, Quinn would have a good season (58/131, 1099 yards, and 11 tds to only 5 picks) playing alongside former Texas Terminator and Texas Longhorn James Brown, leading the Galaxy to a World Bowl victory (XI). He’d return stateside, and not throw a pass in the NFL through the 2004 season.

Gray in 2005 saw some cleanup action, and again in 2006, earning a reputation as a solid backup. With the Jaguars jettisoning Byron Leftwich, Gray slid into the backup position behind incumbent David Garrard in 2007. He’d hop into the starting role near the end of the season as the injury bug would sideline Garrard. Quinn started 4 games, completing 80 of 144 passes for 966 yards and 10 touchdowns, including a head stomping of the Houston Texans. At the end of the season, Gray became a free agent and ironically signed with the Texans. Facing stiff competition, Gray would lose out on the backup job to Matt Schaub against Sage Rosenfels. Quinn later saw time also on the rosters of the Colts and Chiefs before being named the starting quarterback of the New York Sentinels of the UFL in 2009. The team would finish a woeful 0-10 and relocated to Hartford. In the meantime, Quinn has gone into coaching in what he calls, “A dream come true,” with his former Alma Mater, Florida A&M where I got his autograph in under two weeks via the school.

This Upper Deck MVP card is one of the ugliest I’ve seen and lacks any subtly to its design and texturing. The flagrant abuse of the jersey stock, not only on the front but the back as well, renders much of the type distracting and illegible, especially when there is use of thin black 6pt type on a gray backdrop. How did this get past QC? The Topps card, -probably the only one of Quinn in a Texans uniform, is a conservative yawner attempting to capture a look from years past in the use of the type. The framing and insistence of having the Topps logo front and center is ugly and makes me feel like I am looking at a one toothed monster, but I digress. I am none the less happy to add Quinn to the collection with his illustrious NFLE, NFL, and UFL careers behind him. Below are Quinn’s shockingly good limited NFL statistics:

G/Gs  12/4    Att  188     Comp   108      Yds 1328      Pct   57.4     Td  13      Int   5      Rat  91.4
Rush 25    Yds  111   Avg  4.4    Td  2    Lg 27