Tag Archives: Wild Card WLAF 1992

CFL, NFL, WLAF

Smith, Irvin ‘Irv’

ultwlaf92 ismithwcwlaf92 ismith

Cards: Ultimate WLAF 1992, Wild Card WLAF 1992, JOGO 1994, JOGO 1995, JOGO 1997, JOGO 1999, JOGO 2000, JOGO 2001.
Acquired:  TTM 2014, C/o Home
Sent:    2/9       Received: 3/13   (31 days)

Irvin Smith played collegiality for Maryland from 1985 to 1988. Unable to make it on the roster of the Jets, Irvin joined the London Monarchs of the WLAF in 1991. There he made 2 picks for 8 yards as the team finished with a 9-1 record as a talented defense shut down the Dragons in jogo94 ismithWorld Bowl jogo95 ismithI 21-7.

After a short stint on the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the CFL, Smith returned to the Monarchs in 1992.  Although the team did not meet the same success from the previous season, Irv stepped up and recorded another 2 interceptions that season.
The league restructured after the season, so Irvin took his talents back to the CFL settling on the Saskatchewan Roughriders.  In 1993 he returned to the NFL and was on the roster of both the Redskins and Vikings.

jogo97 ismithjogo99 ismithThe CFL had been eyeing the US market for a long time, so in 1994 they decided to expand
southward, selecting locations such as Las Vegas, Sacramento, Baltimore, and Shreveport. Irv signed with the Baltimore Colts (later CFLers/Stallions). He made an immediate impact in Don Matthews defense, pulling down 6 interceptions for 97 yards where the Stallions made their first appearance in the Grey Cup. Although the team lost to the BC Lions, Irvin and the Stallions won the Grey Cup the following season and Smith had established quite a reputation as a dangerous defender to pass against. As the CFL contracted due to jogo01 ismithjogo00 ismithfinancial issues and the NFL gave Baltimore the Ravens, the Stallions moved up to Montreal and became the Alouettes in 1996.

Irvin at first didn’t feel like making the move, but went ahead and joined the franchise in Montreal. It’d be a new chapter in Smith’s career, and a very productive one at that with 6 interceptions for 105 yards and a TD in ’96. He’d follow it up with two back to back 3 interception season in 1997 and 1998.  Smith had his finest season in 1999, hawking 7 interceptions for 51 yards and a touchdown. Irvin played for 2 additional years in Montreal, retiring after the 2001 season.

Smith returned to the Baltimore area where he lives today and is a firefighter. I had been trying to track Smith down for sometime finally locating his address through the White pages. After sending to the address I found in Maryland, I got an RTS with a forwarding address in Florida. I turned it around and sent it to the other address the next day. About a month later I got this stuffed envelope full of cards and a nice letter from Irvin. I had only sent Smith his 2 WLAF cards, but he stuffed it with all his JOGO cards and a nice letter.

 

WLAF    Tac N/a   Sac N/a   Fum N/a
Int 4     Yds 23     Avg 5.8     TD 0    Lg 15

CFL   Tac 329     Sac 1.0      Fum 10
Int 31    Yds 352     Avg 11.4      Td 2      Lg 54

NFL, WLAF

Holmes, Darryl

wcwlaf92 dholmesultwlaf92 dholmesCards: Ultimate WLAF 1992, Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: 2015, C/o Home
Sent: 2/9   Received: 2/17   (8 days)

Fort Valley State is a small school pipeline for NFL talent producing over the years such names as Eddie Anderson, Greg Lloyd, Nick Harper, Rayfield Wright, and Tyrone Poole.  Darryl Holmes appeared in between Lloyd and Anderson playing for Wildcats during the mid 80s. Going undrafted, Holmes joined the New England Patriots in 1987 playing in 15 games.  As an extra safety in the formidable Patriots secondary, Holmes made his living as a special teams burner. He played 3 seasons in the NFL recording 1 interception for 4 yards and 2 fumbles.

After sitting out a season, Darryl was drafted by the Montreal Machine of the WLAF in 1991.  During the 1991 season, Holmes recorded 59 tackles and an interception. He returned to the team for the 1992 season and contributed another 2 interceptions for 28 yards.

Holmes has been involved in numerous NFL Play Football initiatives and football camps since retirement around his home town.

NFL G/Gs  44/3   Tac   N/a    Sac 0   Fum 2
Int  1   Yds 4   Avg 4.0   Td 0    Lg 4

WLAF  Tac   N/a   Sac  N/a   Fum N/a
Int 3   Yds  28    Avg 9.3   Td 0   Lg 22

WLAF

Williams, Rickey

wcwlaf92 rwilliams ultwlaf92 rwilliamsCards: Ultimate WLAF 1992, Wild Card WLAF 1992
Acquired: TTM 2014, C/o Work
Sent: 6/14     Received: 6/19    (5 days)

Linebackers were not in short supply in the WLAF and a few teams, such as the London Monarchs drafted them quite well. The team had Danny Lockett and Marlon Brown,  but also stole former Razorback Rickey Williams in the 7th round of the 1991 WLAF linebacker draft.

A two year starter during his collegiate career for Arkansas, Rickey was a 2 year semifinalist for the Butkus award both in 1986 and 1987.  One of the leaders of a stellar defense alongside Steve Atwater and Wayne Martin, Rickey was the leader in tackles on defense, but got little recognition from the national media. The SWC you see suffered from a media bias, and the Conference was not well received on the national level. Still he earned many accolades from his Alma Mater and also from the SWC as an All-Conference Selection in 1987. Rickey went undrafted in the NFL. Perhaps it was his size that worked against him at 5’11”, 227, but Rickey didn’t let that deter him from following his dreams of playing professional football. He signed with the Pueblo Crusaders of the Minor League Football System in 1990 and played one season for the team.

During his 1991 run with the Monarchs, Rickey recorded 76 total tackles (47 unassisted), 4 sacks, and 3 forced fumbles, en route to a World Bowl victory over the Barcelona Dragons 21-7.  A speedy linebacker, Rickey was an excellent cover man and frequently blanketed opposing team’s tight ends and runningbacks. One of the league’s most underrated players, Rickey’s numbers were outstanding considering the star power on the roster, but he’d be overlooked for WLAF honors. Rickey returned to the WLAF for 1992 and again started for the team, finishing with an additional sack on the season. After the season the WLAF reorganized while Rickey returned to the states and eventually his hometown of Little Rock.  Rickey was named to the Arkansas Razorbacks All-1980s team and today is still one of the college’s career leaders in tackles despite only starting 2 seasons for them. He’s coached football and realized his fire is still burning for the sport and helping others achieve their dreams of playing at a higher level. He’s put his energy and talent to a good use, forming Life Champs, a charity dedicated to providing high quality, professionally-run youth sports leagues, camps, and tournaments to kids in Central Arkansas and providing them with guidance, purpose, and mentoring.

I used the power of the internet again to track down Rickey. Note that his Wild Card WLAF 1992 issue is misspelled ‘Ricky’- This is an uncorrected error. Anyway I shot him an email and we got to talking and he agreed to sign these two cards for me. A class act, Rickey told me he was excited to have received all the extras I had sent to him.

Tac N/a      Sac 5.0      Fum 3         Int 0       Yds  0      Avg -.-      Td 0      Lg -.-