Tag Archives: upper deck 1992

NFL

Carrier, Mark (WR-2)

Cards: Upper Deck 1992 Bucs Checklist, GameDay 1992, Topps 1990 1000 Yard Club, Action Packed 1990
Acquired: 2019, C/o Home
Sent: 1/2 Received: 1/11 (11 days)
See Also: Mark Carrier WR

Well 2019 is off to a good start with my first official success in Mark Carrier former Bucs, Browns, and Panthers receiver. Along the way with all three franchises he seemed to leave an indelible and respectable mark on each franchise. It wasn’t until 2018 that wide receiver Mike Evans of the Bucs broke Mark’s single season receiving yardage record for the franchise during the last game of the season. A stellar TTM respondent, Mark signs virtually everything- provided you of course don’t confuse him with the defensive back from the same era. As this is the 10th year I’ve been back at the game, I’ve decided to dust off the books and write some of those players who responded to me over the years. Mark was one of those who responded way, way back in 2011, signing a slew of cards for me.

In 2014, Mark announced the Panthers second round pick at the draft. As of this post he is the Director of Player Relations for the team.

A player with a stack of amazing cards, I had wanted to reload and get back to Mark again for a few more that I had overlooked.

Probably my favorite of this stack is the Upper Deck 1992 Buccaneers Checklist. The artwork is just amazing on this card. They just don’t make them like they used to anymore. The bold outline around the card is just right and frames the image in a very classy way. I especially like how Mark’s profile image and him catching the football take precedence over the buccaneers by simple boldness of color.

His 1,000 Yard Club card was like most cards from Topps to me at the time- always at least a distant 3rd or 4th in quality or interest to me. While the look is quite dated, that is part of the charm of this card. The boldness of the yellow combined with the orange and green is typical of design from that era. Still it is a great photo of him and at the time it was the only glossy card that was in each pack.

As usual during this period for the most part, Action Packed set a high bar for others to follow in terms of photo quality. This card was no different, and is an exciting action shot of Mark. Most photos it seemed were also framed from this distance in the set as well in a very comfortable ‘in your face’ distance. I didn’t have this card but when I saw it, I knew it’d look amazing autographed so I picked up one.

The GameDay 1992 card feels like the weakest to me of the group. Maybe because it is the only one with a defender in the image, or the fact that the rules of the card are for only the main subject to be in color, take away from the overall shot, but regardless- this was more of a set need than anything else.

Mark has a pretty solid autograph all the way around. The looping C in his last name really makes his mark go.

NFL

Williams, Lee

ud93 lwilliamsCard: Upper Deck 1993
Acquired:  2014,  Albany Acquisition
Failure: TTM 2012, 2013, C/o Home

It appears that my namesake is a shaky TTM signer, and if you are lucky he signs about once a year- all in a batch. Well over a year passed between both my attempts, so I pretty much gave up on this one, and just took him out at auction. It’s a shame because he played for the Oilers, and has my same name, but those thoughts are not a realistic basis for disappointment.

Lee Williams had a pretty stellar career for the Chargers. There’s a lot of amazing talents from college who got to the pro level and fizzled out. Draft pundits now call it, ‘a lack of motivation’ or ‘takes off a few plays’. Williams was a great example of a player who had this knock on him, but did what he had to overcome that label. Coming out of Bethune-Cookman, the Chargers surrendered their 5th pick during the USFL/ NFL Supplemental draft to acquire Williams. It was a gamble at first, but Lee really paid off.  The defensive end came in his rookie season and intercepted a pass, returning it for 66 yards and atouchdown.  In 1986, he had a career high 15 sacks. He’d also hit double digits in 1988 (11) and 1989 (14), selected to the Pro Bowl in both of those seasons. Williams felt he got no respect however and wanted a raise and decided to hold out.

The Oilers were looking to get over a hump. Converting to the 4-3, defensive coordinator Jim Eddy preferred keeping the line fresh, subbing in and switching out players with extreme regularity to keep them fresh.  They just needed one more guy to do it, and with Sean Jones holding out every year or two for a new contract and putting the Oilers feet to the fire, Williams could just help this team get to the next level, while offsetting the future loss of Jones.  The Oilers finally bit on a trade. They offered a 1st and a 5th, but the Chargers settled for a 1st and wide receiver Shawn Jefferson instead. Williams was happy to join the Oilers, and the Chargers in exchange also decided not to go after Lee for the time he was not in camp.  At the time of the trade, Williams had 67.5 sacks, and needed just one more sack to become the Chargers’ All-Time sack leader. He joined the Oilers in 1991  -and promptly broke his forearm. Although he was able to rotate back into the lineup, eventually starting 5 games during the season, Williams had a paltry 3 sacks on the year. His lowest total since his rookie season. With a full 16 game slate under his belt in 1992 however, Williams was able to rack up 11 sacks as the team kicked him inside to defensive tackle. His 1993 season: Not so hot, as again Williams chipped in only 3 sacks, and had reconstructive knee surgery.  After the season with the salary cap looming, the Oilers were caught with their pants down. The salary cap hit them hard and the Oilers had to make hard and bitter decisions. They opted to cut Williams in the hope of resigning him at a reduced salary, but he failed his physical. Lee retired, and currently as of 2015 lives in South Carolina.

G/GS    140/107      TAC  N/a         SAC   82.5        FUM   7
INT 2       YDS  83      AVG 41.5     TD 1       LG   66t

NFL

Smith, Jimmy ‘Lightning’ (2)

aprks92 jsmithud92 jsmith

Card: Action Packed Rookies 1992, Upper Deck 1992
Acquired: Paid Signing, C/o Gameday Sports Tours
See Also: Jimmy Smith

I had gotten Jimmy at training camp all those years ago in 1992 on a Classic and ProSet card. At the time Action Packed had missed the boat- just barely, on releasing a card in time for the start of training camp. I never was able to get back around to Jimmy, whether it was due to injury at camp or a matter of seeking the bigger plate, it just didn’t happen. It was a wild ride for Jimmy since his departure from the Cowboys, battling his way back up the NFL ranks, through addiction and incarceration to where he is today.  I had given up long ago in getting him to sign TTM since he’s been so enigmatic.

I decided to do a paid signing through Gameday Sports Tours when I saw that he was available. As a member of the board that they are a part of, Gameday even offered me a slight discount, so I went ahead and got a second card signed.  Gameday was quick and prompt with returning my autographs after the event.

I planned on using their services again or attending an event in person, but after later reading a frustrated rant from the owner of Gameday on Texas Autograph Club characterizing some people who attend his free events as loafers who take advantage of him, I  postponed those plans indefinitely.