Tag Archives: university of Miami HoF

NFL

Bentley, Albert (2)

Fleer 1990 Update, #U-1
Skybox 1992, # 179

CARDS: Fleer Update 1990, Skybox 1992
ACQUIRED: TTM 2022, C/o Home
SENT: 4/21 RECEIVED: 5/2 (11 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

NOTES:

Well 2 out of 4 isn’t bad as it’s apparent that Albert is a big collector of his own cards. He kept his Score 1989 and Action Packed 1991 that I sent him, but I still got these two nice autographs back on his Fleer 1990 Update and his Skybox 1992.

He also refuses to sign his Gameday 1992- claiming that it isn’t him. -And I mean with good reason, as he was cut by the Colts before he even played that season and later on joined the Steelers. Now I can confirm that Gameday, like other card makers was engaged in the quiet, slick practice of using old player photos for current cards because they just looked good, so it’s entirely possible that they did get a good shot of him from a few years prior so that they could include him in the set with the Colts uniform on.

NFL

Bentley, Albert

pset89 bentleypset90 bentleypset91 bentleyap90 bentley

Cards: ProSet 1989, ProSet 1990, ProSet 1991, ActionPacked 1990
Acquired: TTM 2013, C/o Home
Sent:  6/6   Received: 6/22    (16 days)

To most fans, Albert Bentley achieved fame for the Indianapolis Colts as Eric Dickerson‘s teammate during the late 1980s. In fact, early versions of the Nintendo game Tecmo Bowl featured Eric Dickerson initially as the starting runningback, as Tecmo was unaware that he was not a member of the NFLPA. In later production releases of the game, Dickerson was replaced by Bentley in the lineup with the same rushing abilities. Obviously when I played the Jack Trudeau led Colts, I relied heavily on Bentley screaming at my friends,” Here comes the Bentley!,” Referring of course to the luxury car brand by the same name.

An amazing transformation from walk on to starter, Albert helped Miami win its first national championship, scoring the winning touchdown in the 1983 Orange Bowl against Nebraska.   Going undrafted, Albert, (like his Miami teammate Jim Kelly,) elected to join the USFL in 1984, signing with the Michigan Panthers. The very next season the team merged with the Oakland Invaders and after injuries decimated the squad, Bentley moved to fullback. He’d champion the ground game with 1,020 yards, in an offense that featured such future NFL players as Anthony Carter and Bobby Herbert. As the USFL collapsed the NFL held a supplemental draft of USFL and CFL players. The Colts grabbed Albert’s rights in the second round with the 36th pick. The slasher-back became a jack of all trades for the Colts, averaging well over 1,000 all-purpose yards from 1985-1990. Eric Dickerson joined the squad in 1987,  and he and Eric went on to become the first pair of Colts runningbacks to each surpass 1,000 yards from scrimmage in the same season. He finished second in the league with 1,578 yards from scrimmage.  After he emerged as the Colts fulltime fullback in 1989, Bentley, Bill Brooks, and Andre Rison became the first trio of Colts to combine for 50 or more catches in a season that year. Albert checked in with 52 of them and  he’d follow this up in 1990 with a career high 72. An injury riddled 1991 ended Bentley’s season just after 1 game though. He’d sign with the Steelers in 1992 but not see any significant playing time, retiring after the season. Looking back at his time with the Colts, it was obvious that Bentley was one of the toughest and finest conditioned athletes on the team. His 7,775 all-purpose yards rank 7th all time in Colts history. Versatile and difficult for linebackers to cover one on one out of the backfield, Bentley is one of seven Colts backs to amass more than 200 receptions in their career.

Inducted into the Miami Hurricanes Sports Hall of Fame, Albert currently lives in Florida where he works in finance and investing.

G/Gs 90/33    Rush  526   Yds   2355   Avg  4.5    Td 19    Lg 70  |    Rec  226   Yds 2245   Avg  9.9    Td 8  Lg 73
Kr  149    Yds  3192   Avg 21.4   Td 0  Lg 48