Tag Archives: virginia destroyers

NFL, ufl

Hankton, Cortez

CARDS: Upper Deck Infinite Rookie 2003 (104/500), Leaf Rookies & Stars 2003, Top Notch UFL 2011
ACQUIRED: TTM 2025, C/o Work
SENT: 5/6/25 RECEIVED: 6/5/25 (30 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Cortez Hankton played WR at Texas Southern from 1999-’02.
  • At the time of his departure, Hankton was the all time leader in many categories for the Tigers, and finished with 3,400 career yards, 175 receptions and 30 TDs.
  • Undrafted he signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2003.
  • He managed to make the Jags roster, catching 17 passes for 166 yards his rookie season.
  • In 2004, Hankton only had 9 receptions, but scored his first and second professional TD.
  • After the 2006 season, he signed with the Minnesota Vikings, but didn’t make the squad.
  • Joined the Bucs in 2008- but was injured and spent the entire year on IR.
  • Released in 2009, Cortez joined the fledgling United Football League, signing with the New York Sentinels.
  • He’d catch 11 passes for 144 yards, as the Sentinels were euthanized after the season, in favor of Hartford.
  • Hankton played for the Florida Tuskers in 2010, where he started 6 games, and caught 23 passes for 283 yards and 2 TDs.
  • As the Tuskers then moved themselves- he’d join them in Virginia as the Destroyers in 2011, adding 12 catches for 151 yards to his resume.
  • Went straight into coaching after that and has travelled the college circuit, first at Dartmouth (2012-’14) and then later at Vanderbilt (2015-’17) as a WR coach.
  • In 2018, Cortez took his skills to Georgia as their WR Coach and then also as a Pass Game Coordinator.
  • He’d hop to LSU in 2022 where he shared the same duties from his time at Georgia.
  • Cortez in ’24 also picked up co-offensive coordinator duties as well.

ACCOLADES:

  • UFL Offensive MVP 2010

NOTES:

All of a sudden the guys who played in the UFL- no not the ’24+ iteration, but the ’09 version have started popping up. I got teammates Cortez Hankton and Brooks Bollinger back to back TTM. I have to thank my friend Lance who sent out to Cortez a few months ago and let me know that he was coaching with the Tigers.

It took me a hot minute to send out to him all I had of Cortez was an early beta version of my custom that was on some pretty weak paper, so I decided to go ahead and do it right and reprint it on some nice card stock. It’s a great looking card.

Arena, CFL, NFL, The Spring League, ufl, usfl

Bethel-Thompson, McLeod (2) ‘MBT’

CARDS: Upper Deck USFL 2023, Upper Deck CFL 2023
ACQUIRED: TTM 2023, C/o Home
SENT: 12/4/23 RECEIVED: 5/9/25 (522 days)

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

NOTES:

I was genuinely surprised to get McLeod’s autograph back on his parallel card after such a long wait. It had been so long that I had just given up in general on it after I had seen a few successes on him trickle in but nothing for me. Maybe he thought he mailed it out or the mailman lost it at the facility and delivered it months or a year later.. Who knows? But he was kind enough to drop the extra UD CFL card in for me.

NFL, ufl

Jackson, Dexter (WR)

CARD: Score 2009 Certified Gold Zone
ACQUIRED: Ebay, 2020

CAREER SNAPSHOT:

  • Dexter Jackson played WR for Appalachian State and caught 110 passes for 1,848 and 17 TDs over his college career.
  • A second round pick of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2008.
  • Saw action in 7 contests as a returner and had 424 yards all purpose yards between kick and punt returns before being replaced in the lineup.
  • After an ankle injury slowed him in camp, he’d be released in 2009.
  • Jackson latched onto the Panthers practice squad that year.
  • In 2011, Dexter was selected by the Virginia Destroyers of the UFL.
  • Later that year he spent time on and off the roster and practice squad of the New York Jets.
  • After roughly a 5 year hiatus, he was signed to be the marquee player of the NAL High Country Grizzlies.
  • Soon thereafter he sued the team for breach of contract and was awarded a financial settlement in court.

NOTES:

Dexter is infamous for making the cover of Sports Illustrated after Appalachian State upset the Michigan Wolverines in 2007. He is not related to DB Dexter Jackson- who also played for the Bucs, and in the UFL.