Tag Archives: upper deck 1991

NFL

Dykes, Hart Lee (2)


Cards: Upper Deck 1991, ProSet 1989, GameDay 1992, Collegiate Collection 1991
Acquired: TTM 2016, C/o Home
Sent: 11/14/16    Received: 12/16/17     (397 days)
See Also:  Hart Lee Dykes

Hart Lee Dykes had some very nice cards during his heyday. Outside of his GameDay and his ProSet entries, there was his Score 1990 and his Action Packed 1990/91 that had solid action shots. Color me unimpressed by the warmup picture of him in his Upper Deck debut. (It is notable because it comes from a company that boasts about its quality action photography and poster cards.) The Collegiate Collection card is an OK photo but a terribly bland design. Why did I send those cards and not the Score 1990 or the Action Packed 1990? – I didn’t. He replaced my cards with these other ones.

In a rare move I traded the Upper Deck 1991 to D-Rock on Sportscollectors.net- ironically for another Patriot, Eugene Chung (Action Packed Rookies 1992) for a set need.

I then applied a remover to take the dedication to ‘Earl’ from the GameDay 1992 card. I don’t use removers, ever, but I made a special exemption here. I genuinely wanted that autographed card and to flip through the collection and see the name Earl in it would just drive me nuts. Again I do not like the idea of removing autographs/ dedications from cards. Typically that is a technique that is reserved for resale purposes, something I am strictly against.

I kept the sad looking Collegiate Connection card and the Pro Set 1989.  Hart Lee certainly had a very unique autograph. I mean I think he’s one of a handful of players who could get away with using a heart as the main part of his autograph.

Despite having a bevy of teams get caught with their hands in the cookie jar bidding for Dykes’ services, Hart Lee went on to have a prolific college career and still holds many of the Big 8 records today.

NFL

Byner, Earnest (2)

ud91 byner MVP pset89 byner

Cards: Upper Deck 1991 Team MVP, ProSet 1989, ProSet 1989 Traded, Skybox 1992, GameDay 1992
Acquired: 2012, Canton Acquisition. 2016, Future Considerations.
See Also: Earnest Byner

After his stint as a coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars runningback coach from 2010 to 2011 Earnest Byner was signed to the Tampa Bay Buccaneer staff in 2012 serving under Greg Schiano. Unfortunately Shiano’s style didn’t mesh in the pros, and he was gone after two seasons. Byner was not retained as ownership decided to clean house after 2013.

Since that time Earnest has addressed ‘The Fumble’ in public, apologizing to fans for what happened, and giving a tear-jerking recollection of it during the 30 for 30 ESPN documentary “Believeland”.   Time heals all wounds though and the vast majority of Browns fans really embrace Byner as one of their own without judgement.  It goes without saying that it’s great that Byner has been able to move on from what happened- something that he said stuck with him and changed his playing style for the remainder of his career in the NFL.

Earnest has done a lot of motivational speaking too. He also has no problem engaging his fans in public and is very popular in Cleveland. My friend DeadHorse scored these Byner autographs for me along with Kevin Mack and Greg Pruitt at an Ohio based Cleveland Browns event they attended.  DeadHorse was kind enough to accommodate me on the 3 cards which I felt were his best action shots of Byner (Skybox 1992, ProSet 1989 CLE, and GameDay 1992).

NFL, usfl

Landeta, Sean

to89 landeta tosc91 landeta sco90 landetaud90 landeta

Cards:  Stadium Club 1991, Topps 1989, Upper Deck 1991, Score 1990
Acquired: Canton Acquisition, 2012.

Sean Landeta is considered a legend when it comes to Tecmo Super Bowl lore. He is the last person to retire from not only the original game but also the sequels that followed that he also appeared in. The iconic mustache and sometimes mullet he sported alongside his single bar punter helmet lasted until 2006 amazingly for the Rams, after he started his career eons ago in 1983 in the USFL for the Philadelphia Stars.

Punters for the most part, go undrafted, and Landeta was like all the others after graduating from Townson State. A division II star at punter, Landeta was a first team All-American in 1980. He played with the Philadelphia Stars from 83-84, and then the Baltimore Stars the following year.  He’d earn USFL All-Star Honors both years and earn recognition on their All time team.

It’d be after his stint in the USFL that Sean would make his iconic appearance playing for the New York Giants in 1985, where it seemed like he’d stay forever. Landeta remained with the Giants from through 1993, making appearances on Tecmo Bowl and Tecmo Super Bowl with the Giants. It’d be there that he’d establish a penchant for long, booming punts, finishing his career at New York with 526 punts and 22806 yards (43.4 average).  He earned All-Pro nominations for his 1986 and 1990 seasons, and Pro Bowl honors for those years as well as in 1989. In 1993 he’d split the season with the Giants and ultimately end up on the Los Angeles Rams. He’d transition with the team to St. Louis in 1995 and remain with the franchise through 1996. After a one year stint with the Bucs in 1997 and Green Bay in 1998, Sean played the next 4 seasons in Philadelphia from 1999-2002 and have a career high 107 punts in 1999. It’d be confusing following Landeta the next few seasons, with him playing in St. Louis again in 2003 and 2004, and then a final season in 2005 with the Eagles.

In 2006 he retired from football on the 25th Anniversary of the USFL, after signing a one day contract with the New York Giants. He became the last member of a USFL team to retire from the league, and also was the longest tenured member of the original Tecmo Bowl to retire as well.

G 284    P  1401    Yds  60707      Avg 43.3    Lg  74   Blk 6