Tag Archives: Wild Card WLAF 1992

Arena, CFL, NFL, WLAF

Fears, Willie

jo93 fearsCards: Wild Card WLAF 1992, Jogo 1995
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent: 1/7       Received: 1/16    (9 days)

Willie Fears took a strange,winding, inspiring route, to his dreams of being a professional football player and coach. Undrafted out of Northwestern Louisiana St in 1985, Willie played 5 games for the Ottawa Rough Riders in the CFL.  Invited to the Miami Dolphins minicamp, he showed up admittedly out of shape and had to put his career on hold.  He became a corrections officer at the Arkansas State Maximum Security Prison, but along came the NFL Players Strike in 1987. At 6’4″, 280, Fears had the frame to still play, and probably had the greatest vacation time ever from work, spending 3 weeks as a member of the Cincinnati Bengals. Afterwards he went back to the CFL, playing for both Ottawa and Toronto in 1988 and 1989, before returning again to the NFL in 1990 as a member of the Minnesota Vikings.

Willie was then drafted by the WLAF San Antonio Riders in 1992. Willie’s technical precision, skillset, and size, allowed the team to shift him into any of the 3 places on the line, which was invaluable to the Riders 3-4 alignment. An experienced force on the line, he proved difficult for offensive linemen to handle, and helped the Riders be one of the staunchest defenses in the league.  After the league went on hiatus, Willie begun a career playing in the Arena Football League. He’d sign with the Cleveland Thunderbolts and played for them through the 1993 season, before hopping back into the CFL with the Sacramento Gold Miners. In 1994 the Gold Miners moved to San Antonio and became the Texans. He’d join them there back in his old stomping grounds. Afterwards, Fears joined the AFL again, playing in 1996 for the Tampa Bay Storm, and then in 1997 for the Nashville Katz.

wcwlaf92 fearsHe then continued his dream by becoming a football coach.  In the ArenaFootball2 league, he’d coach with the Arkansas Twisters for 3 seasons, before joining Jay Gruden on the Predators to coach the linemen. Ironically, later Pat O’Hara, joined the staff replacing Gruden as head coach. Pat was a member of the Ohio Glory and probably felt Willie breathing down his neck more than once during the Riders 17-0 stomping of the Glory back in 1992. Fears remained with the Predators through 2011. Currently he lives in Arkansas. My first success from the Meiselman 2014 list, I had been looking for Willie for quite sometime, and had been unable to locate him since his stint ended with the Predators. He was kind enough to not only sign the Wild Card WLAF 1992 card I enclosed, but like Billy Hess also enclosed one of his own from the Jogo 1995 set. Unfortunately both of the autographs were smudged as he signed with an overhead Vis-A-Vis instead of a Sharpie. The Riders card was smudged beyond recognition, so I resent it back out with a team photo of him and the other linemen for Willie to keep. He sent it back in about 2 weeks signed with the marker I gave him.

AFL    Tac  46     Sac 9    FF 2    Int  0   Yds   0   Avg  -.-   Td 0   Lg -.-
WLAF  Tac   N/a    Sac   2   FF  0    Int 0   Yds 0   Avg -.-   Td 0  Lg -.-
NFL  2     Tac  N/a    Sac 0   FF 0   Int  0  Yds 0   Avg -.-   Td 0  Lg -.-
CFL  N/a

 

NFL, WLAF

Burbage, Cornell

psetwlaf91 burbageCards: Proset WLAF 1991, Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent:  2/10  Received: 2/27
Failure: TTM 2012, C/o Home

Cornell Burbage graduated from Kentucky in 1987, where he had 994 career receiving yards playing for the Wildcats. Although he went undrafted, Cornell’s timing couldn’t have been any better as the NFL Players’ Strike happened. As many teams had already scouted the college ranks for draft prospects, some teams went a step further and identified players that they could sign if the strike happened. Cornell was one of the replacement players the Dallas Cowboys brought into camp. He’d make 7 receptions for 168 yards and 2 TDs, playing for the ‘Rhinestone Cowboys’. His first TD would be the first scored by a replacement player during the strike. Burbage would be one of those rare players who made the cut after the strike was over. and play with the Cowboys through the 1989 season.
wcwlaf92 burbageThe New York-New Jersey Knights were a Run ‘N Shoot team in the WLAF, so receivers were a bigger part of the team’s offensive game plan. Cornell was drafted by the Knights in the first round of the league’s initial pool of wide receivers in 1991. Despite the team’s instability at quarterback and rotating door offensive line, Burbage hauled in 22 catches for 419 yards and a TD. His 19 yards per reception ranked 4th in the league. He’d play in 1992 for the team as well, recording career highs with 35 catches for 478 yards, and see duty as the team’s primary kick returner with 22 kick returns for 592 yards, a 26.9 yard average and a 101 yard TD.

Cornell briefly coached at Eastern Kentucky and posted a 7-4 record. He lives in Lexington and has worked for the Parks and Recreations department there.

NFL    Rec  26            Yds 352       Avg 13.5       Td  2        Lg  77t
KR  23         Yds 503       Avg 21.9       Td  0       Lg  53
Pr  8              Yds  34        Avg  4.2        Td 0        Lg 13

WLAF  Rec  57            Yds  897       Avg 15.7         Td 2       Lg 49
Kr  30          Yds  728        Avg 24.3        Td 1       Lg 101t
Pr  11            Yds 48           Avg 4,4          Td 0       Lg  14

NFL, WLAF

Hopkins, Mark

ult92 hopkinsCards: Wild Card WLAF 1992, Ultimate WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2013, C/o Work
Sent:  7/20   Received: 10/10    (84 days)

A two time Mid-American Conference choice for the Central Michigan Chippewas, Hopkins caught 26 receptions for 326 yards in 1989. Hopkins was signed in 1990 as a free agent by the Atlanta Falcons but did not make the squad.

wcwlaf92 hopkinsThe World League of American Football’s Birmingham Fire made him the first pick of the second round among tight ends. A skilled H-back, Hopkins fit quite nicely into Chan
Gailey‘s ball control offense.  In 1991 Mark caught 6 passes for 86 yards. He returned to the team again in 1992, and followed up with 11 more receptions for 94 yards. Equally adept at blocking as well as catching the ball, Hopkins frequently would bookend with fellow TE Phil Ross and the combined duo provided a safety valve for quarterbacks Brent Pease, Eric Jones, and Mike Norseth. The league reorganized after the 1992 season.

I enclosed a few cards in the envelope for Mark to keep after searching high and low to find out where he was at. He wrote me a nice letter and thanked me for bringing back some great memories. Mark also told me about how he was shocked the first time he saw his own card and how it brought him a great deal of joy, and his kids now that they are old enough to see them.  Mark has been working in the human resources industry for quite a while now and is the Executive Vice President of Wealth Management Services at WorkLife Financial.

Rec 17    Yds  180   Avg 10.6     Td 0    Lg 25