Card: Wild Card WLAF 1992 Acquired: TTM 2019, C/o Home Sent: 7/29 Received: 8/20 (22 days) Failure: 2010, 2011 C/o Work See Also: Ray Savage
The photo of this card of Ray was taken during the San Antonio Riders victory over the Machine in the opening game of the 1992 season. As such- these cards were not in production until near the end or after the season concluded- when there was still a belief that there’d be a season 3 in 1993. I had struggled over the years to get Ray’s autograph on his remaining cards, so I just decided to put it on the back burner for many years.
As I have begun to really go after the AAF, it renewed my appetite for the WLAF set, so I decided to check out some dead ends again, with the help of new technology. A few weeks after I sent this out I was genuinely surprised to get this autograph back from Ray with a sticky note attached to it.
He thanked me for truly putting a smile on his face that week, as he has fond memories of the WLAF and thinks about that time and those games often.
Ray loves coaching and was the head coach at Menchville High School, where he had a rich history of discovering and developing college football talent. He stepped down recently in 2018.
Playing for tiny Central College (OH) Eddie Britton finished with 58 receptions for 1,081 yards and 13 TDs. Known for his liquid speed, Eddie had been clocked at an unheard of 4.26 40. He’d be signed by the Indianapolis Colts and allocated to the World League Enhancement Program for the 1992 season.
Eddie joined the Fire, where he caught 18 passes for 277 yards and a 56 yard TD, and rushed 9 times for 53 yards. He also returned kicks as well, posting a gaudy 23 returns for 558 yards (24.3 average). His 908 total yards from scrimmage quietly led the team. After the season, Eddie took his toolsets North to the CFL.
Eddie spent the next 4 years in the league from 1993-1996 playing for Calgary, Baltimore, Birmingham, the Ottawa Rough Riders and finally the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. His best season came in 1995 for the Barracudas, when he caught 49 passes for 681 yards and 4 TDs.
As of late I have found my passion for finding former World League players reignited by the failure of the Alliance. I was able to scrap together Eddie’s personal information through various sources and look him up through advancedbackgroundchecks.com. Within a month he signed his card and included a nice note wishing me well.
Card: Wild Card WLAF 1992, Upper Deck 1992 Acquired: TTM 2018, C/o Work Sent: 8/28 Received: 9/12 (16 days) Failure: TTM 2010, C/o Virginia See Also: Shawn Moore
Shawn Moore eluded me a few years ago and it was really a pants down situation. I mean, I sent him a nice group of cards but never heard back. Luckily, I always have made it a habit to reload on WLAF cards I only had singles on; However, I didn’t have an extra copy of Shawn’s Star Pics 1991 that I really wanted to get signed so I ended up sending this terrible Upper Deck 1992 card of his with it. Still I should be happy to finally knock of this retry reply from my list.
My friend Deadhorse got a trial subscription to Star Tiger, which is a competitor to sportscollectors. He loaned me the login since I was curious so that I could take a look. I found the hierarchy to be terrible, and most of the sports addresses were consistent with what I had already found, but I did find Shawn’s most recent address on there and decided to give it a shot. A few weeks later, a water soaked return envelope arrived at the house with Shawn’s autographs inside. (Thankfully the cards were not damaged.)
Shawn moved on from coaching at his alma mater after 2012. He’s had a few football related positions since then including working as the Director of Community Relations for the College Football Playoff system. Currently he works in administration system of a private school in Virginia.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
