He picked off 2 passes- returning one for 17 yards.
Following the World League’s reorganization, Richard decided to play for the Arena Football League.
With the Rockers, he played two seasons, with 1993 being his best season as a pro totaling 60.5 total tackles, 19 pass breakups, a fumble recovery, and a pick.
He’d also catch 8 passes for 77 yards and a TD- as back then Arena players went both ways.
It’s unknown what Carey was doing from 1994-’95, but he appeared again one last time on the radar of the Tampa Bay Storm in 1996.
He’d drop 33 tackles, and 7 pass breakups to close out his career.
NOTES:
Another deep cut here that got lost in the shuffle of the 2020 COVID push, Richard signed this card in the midst of the pandemic for me. It’s really true what they say- As you get older time tends to move faster- fly by, and unfortunately, I’ve forgotten the background behind how I got this autograph.
Many years ago, thanks to my friend Bryan who was taking a break from collecting I acquired a few of Tom Waddle’s autographs. At the time I didn’t have anything from Waddle and gleefully added him on 2 cards. Well after all those years, I’ve developed specific set needs and now I needed him on a few of them, including both these Skybox sets and the Gameday 1992 issue.
Skybox 1992 had very few disappointing cards, chief among this one. There was no reason that any manufacturer at this point- especially one that prided itself in the ‘poster card’ design style, would come up with this one of Waddle just standing there with his hands on his hips. They should’ve used the action shot from the Skybox set’s Bears team card for this and relegated this hip pose to that team card instead.
All the others feel like nice designs- though Pro Set 1992 used a less close shot of the same image from the Action Packed 1992 card. I love the clarity of the Gameday 1992 card. Although probably unintended, the people in the background and the referee are so clear, that you can see their astonishment with Tom laying out to catch that pass.
Eric Pinkins was a hybrid DB/LB at San Diego State from 2009-’13.
He finished with 172 total tackles, 3 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 5 pass deflections, and 3 interceptions for 70 yards and a TD over 4 years with the Aztecs.
6th round pick of the Seattle Seahawks in 2014.
After 2 seasons with the Seahawks, he joined the Giants for 2016.
Waived by the Giants in mid-2017, Eric signed with the Cowboys in 2018, but did not make the squad.
He started 6 of 8 contests, posting 29 total tackles and .5 sacks.
After the AAF ended, Pinkins was selected by the Los Angeles Wildcats of the XFL in 2020.
He’d finish the season on the roster of ‘Team 9’ before the COVID abbreviated season ended.
NOTES:
After the AAF collapsed, I rushed out a few cards to players that I could readily find through the mail. Eric was in that first batch, and then proceeded to get lost in the shuffle of all my returns that year. There is no discoloration in the Topps AAF base card he autographed. It looks like he started in purple and realized it wouldn’t take as well as blue. I really appreciate his effort there though.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
