Tag Archives: Washington Redskins

CFL, NFL, Uncategorized

Smith, Timmy

Cards: Topps 1988, ProSet 1990 SuperBowl XXII, ProSet 1990 SuperBowl Supermen
Acquired: TTM 2020, C/o Home
Sent: 2/19 Received: 4/24/20 (65 days)

Timmy Smith was a speedy little dynamo out of Texas Tech. He rushed for 1,313 yards on 292 carries, scoring 7 times, while catching 41 passes for 401 yards and a TD over 28 games in Lubbock. Checking in at 5′ 11″, 216, the Redskins loved his athleticism and speed and took a flyer on Timmy in the 5th round of the 1987 NFL Draft.

Timmy’s quick rise and fall was meteoric to say the least. Entrenched at 3rd string behind George Rogers and Kelvin Bryant, Timmy saw little playing time during the regular season in his rookie season in 1987. It’d be in the postseason that he saw the most success. Running behind The Hogs in a backup capacity, little Timmy rushed for 66 yards against the Bears, and then 72 against the Vikings, to help lead the team to the Super Bowl. He earned the starting nod for Super Bowl XXII and rushed for a Super Bowl record 204 yards and 2 TDs.

The Redskins went into camp in 1988 with Timmy as the starter, but after a holdout, he reported to camp a bit out of shape. He then had a pretty rough season, and lost his starting job to a combination to Kelvin Bryant and Jamie Morris.

With Plan B in full swing, Timmy was left unprotected and signed with the San Diego Chargers in ’89. Again, Smith faced a rough offseason, sprained his knee in camp and then a physical altercation with a girlfriend led to his release outright from the squad.

Timmy made a valiant effort to turn his playing career around. With the Cowboys still rebuilding their squad after the Herschel Walker trade, a concerted focus was placed on the runningback position. Timmy was signed by the Cowboys and I had high hopes he’d make things happen, but with stale overall preseason performances by the RB stable, the Cowboys decided to trade the Oilers for Alonzo Highsmith. Timmy was released. He was brought back for the regular season just briefly to play in the opener against San Diego but was soon thereafter cut again as Timmy blew out his neck and hold out Emmitt Smith finally signed his contract.

Timmy popped up briefly once again in 1994 in training camp of the CFL Baltimore Stallions, but did not make the squad.

He was arrested in 2005 for selling cocaine to undercover officers, trying to make a quick buck to help out struggling family members after Katrina. After a few years in prison, give Timmy credit as he got his life together and is now an energy salesman. He travels back and forth between Colorado and Texas with regularity, and loves his wife and kids.

G/GsRUSHYDSAVGTDLG
22/91906023.2329
RECYDSAVGTDLG
9515.7016
NFL, usfl

Sanders, Ricky

Cards: ProSet 1989, Action Packed 1990
Acquired: TTM 2020, C/o Home
Sent: 3/20 Received: 12/14 (269 days)
Failure: TTM 2012, C/o home

Wow! What a rare grab in former USFL and Skins receiver Ricky Sanders! I had most fondly remembered him of course as a member of the Smurfs or the Fun Bunch as he and the WR corps of the Redskins were called at the time. There was also his heroics in Super Bowl XXIII and also in the Tecmo Bowl series where he was elusive and electric as well. Ricky also had some great cards along the way, and I hoped eventually one day I’d get them signed.

A local sports star hailing from Belton, Tx- a straight shot up I-35 halfway between Austin and Waco, Ricky Sanders played collegially at SW Texas State. The Bobcats were located out of San Marcos, Tx- halfway between Austin and San Antonio on I-35. At 5’11”, 182, hailing from a tiny school, Ricky stood ZERO chance of getting on the NFL’s radar, but lucky for Sanders, the USFL was waiting.

He’d sign with the Houston Gamblers in 1984. With a Run N Shoot offense with Jim Kelly at QB, Ricky had an incredible year in his rookie season, posting 101 catches for 1378 yards and 11 TDs, including a career long 77 yard TD. After the USFL folded in 1986, Ricky found himself a home with the Washington Redskins. With the Redskins, he’d pair up with Art Monk and Gary Clark to form one of the most devastating trios in the NFL. Ricky posted back to back 1,000 yard seasons in 1988 and 1989, and scored a career high 12 TD catches as well in 88. Sanders played with the Redskins through 1993, and concluded his career on in 1995 with the Atlanta Falcons.

USFL GRECYDSAVGTDLG
28/21149191612.91877t
NFL GRECYDSAVGTDLG
134/66483647713.43771

CFL, NFL, XFL

Zorn, Jim

Card: Upper Deck Legends 1997
Acquired: TTM 2020, C/o Home
Sent: 5/15 Received: 5/21 (6 days)

A transfer from Cerritos, Jim Zorn played at Cal Poly-Ponoma, where he set multiple passing records for the school from 1973 to 1974 as a dual threat quarterback. He was not selected in the 1975 NFL Amateur Draft, but he signed a free agent contract with the Cowboys. Jim did not make the squad, but made enough of an impression that he was brought in by the brand new Seattle Seahawks franchise the following year (1976) to compete in camp.

Jim ended up winning the starting quarterback job outright, and was named rookie of the year in 1976, leading the league with 439 attempts- and interceptions with 27, while rushing for 4 TDs. In 1977 he started 10 games, but posted a gaudy league leading 16.2 yards per completion on 104 passes. By 1978 it was obvious that Zorn to Largent was becoming a household name, as the franchise posted back to back 9-7 records under his leadership. Jim’s penchant for scrambling was in full effect, as he carried the ball 59 times for 290 yards and 6 TDs. He’d have all career single season passing highs in the latter year (1979) throwing for 3661 yards (285/505) and 20 TDs to 18 interceptions. It seemed that Jim’s best games where when he was on the run and improvising. As his rushing stats decreased over the following seasons, so did his passing stats, and win/ loss record. In 1983 he’d be benched in favor of Dave Krieg. At that time, Jim, had been the only quarterback pretty much in the history of the franchise, and owned virtually all the franchise passing records.

Jim signed with the Green Bay Packers in 1985. He posted a 3-2 record for the team, passing for 794 yards and 4 TDs. In 1986, Jim traveled to Winnipeg where he backed up John Hufnagel and Tom Clements, on the Blue Bombers. After his lone season in the CFL, Zorn returned to the NFL in 1987 where he played one final swan song for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, beating the Minnesota Vikings 20-10, before retiring.

Jim has an extensive coaching resume. He started shortly after retiring from football in college, taking stops in as an assistant coach, offensive coordinator, and quarterbacks coach at Boise State (1988-1991), Utah State (1992-1994) and 1995-1996 at Minnesota. He quickly joined the NFL as an assistant with his former team- the Seahawks in 1997. Afterwards it was off to the Lions from 1998-2000, where he began to really develop a reputation as a great quarterback whisperer. He then returned to the Seahawks in 2001. He remained QB coach for the franchise until 2007, where he made the jump to head coach with the Washington Redskins.

Jim Zorn’s Washington Redskins tenure was shortlived. Embarrassing moments were not in short supply unfortunately. First the Redskins broke the hapless Lions 0-16 streak dating back through 2008. Then, during a game in 2009 against the Giants, Jim called a ‘swinging gate’ formation (which is reliant on the element of surprise to make mismatches)- so the Giants wisely called a timeout. The Redskins not only stuck to the play- it resulted in an interception, and caused the team to get booed off the field at half time. He lasted two seasons, as the Redskins failed to compete- posting a 12-20 record.

After coaching for the Redskins, Jim served one season as QB coach of the Ravens in 2010, and then as QB coach for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2011 and 2012. He joined the XFL as head coach of the Seattle Dragons, and as his offensive coordinator Mike Riley took a leave of absence from the team, Jim had to take a more hands on approach. He was able to navigate the team through a quarterback controversy and a win before the league was terminated after the 5th game of the season, due to COVID.

I was surprised that Jim was not a part of the XFL 2020 set released by Topps. Nonetheless I wanted to get his autograph on this Upper Deck 1997 Legends card I had of his. I love this card. The detail is stunning, even down to the cheerleaders and band in the background.

He signed this card in 6 days flat and inscribed it with an interesting passage:

Proverbs 26:1

Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, honor is not fitting for a fool.
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