Tag Archives: World League of American Football

CFL, WLAF

McAllister, Bobby

Card: Pro Set WLAF 1991
Acquired: In Person, 1992.  San Antonio Riders v Orlando Thunder.

Bobby McAllister is considered a hero at Michigan State from their glory days of the 1980’s, leading the team from 1987-1989. It was a team stocked with talent in Lorenzo White, Andre Rison, Willie Bouyer and the ‘Gang Green’ defense.    Bobby was not drafted after his senior season, and ended up on the Roughriders roster in 1989, playing briefly for the Argonauts later that year, finally landing on the Raleigh-Durham Skyhawks roster in 1991. A scrambler by nature, he was extremely effective on the bootleg. Bobby would come off the bench that year and give the team a much needed boost playing admirably in two games, but the Skyhawks were folded after the 1991 season finishing a woeful 0-11.  McAllister would be picked up by ‘Team Dallas’, where he’d play on the league’s ‘taxi squad’. (Team Dallas functioned as a training ground for players so that they could quickly assimilate league and playbook terminology, keep players in peak shape, and quickly get out standardized game film of practices. They played no games that were tracked by the league.)   McAllister would eventually be signed by the San Antonio Riders late in the 1992 season, where he served as the number 3 quarterback behind Mike Johnson and Brad Goebel.
bobby and me

After the game against the Thunder, I caught Bobby coming out of the locker room and asked for his autograph. He was very excited because he had never seen his card before. He studied it intensely and autographed it with a big smile and offered to take a photo with me. We talked for a few minutes, and I told him if I ever got another card I’d give it to him. Unfortunately the league would fold before I could, as the Riders only played one more home game that season. After football Bobby has become a folk hero to Michigan State fans for his Rose Bowl heroics, and ardently supports the team to this day appearing in 2008 at the 20 year reunion to celebrate that fabled game. -By the way Bobby, I have that extra card for you now.

 

Games n/a      Att 195       Comp 91      Pct 46.7     Yds 1152        Td 7          Int 11           Rat 54

NFL, WLAF

Dunbar, Karl

Cards: Ultimate WLAF 1991, Wild Card WLAF 1992.
Acquired: TTM 2010, C/o  The Minnesota Vikings
Sent: 6/11  Received: 6/18   (7 days)

After playing at LSU (Karmichael) ‘Karl’ was drafted by the Steelers in 1990 and then played for the Orlando Thunder of the WLAF in 1992 finishing tied for first on the team with 5.5 sacks. (He appeared in World Bowl II.) After the league reorganized, Karl became a journeyman, playing for the Saints for one year then jumping to the Cardinals for the next two retiring at the end of 1995 after playing for the Rhein Fire of the NFLE. With an insatiable love for the game, coaching had gotten in Karl’s blood, and he began to start working his way up the ranks starting from the high school level soon after. In 1998 he started coaching in college and in 2004 he was back in the pros working for the Bears. As of 2010 he’s in his 5th season as defensive line coach of the Minnesota Vikings.  He is attributed with the success and emergence of the ‘Williams Wall’ and is considered to be a master technician. His name has been thrown around recently for head coaching jobs in college as well.

Karl is an interesting and engaging alumni. (Karl has vitiligo, a skin pigmentation discoloration that affects about 1 percent of the population and is decorated with fraternity tattoos on his arms and elbows.) In between his time as a player in 1991, he put his degree to work as an undercover police officer helping make drug stings and was nicknamed ‘the battering ram’. At the World Bowl II media event day, Karl actually sought out media to answer questions for, even stating to one intrepid reporter, “Why haven’t you asked me a question yet?”

Another former WLAFer, I was witness to the Thunder’s victory over the San Antonio Riders that season in 1992. The Riders kept it close till the 3rd quarter but then got blown out late. (Because there was only 3 divisions in the WLAF, the Riders who were really the 3rd best team in the league, didn’t make the playoffs that year, despite being 7-3.) I never got the cards for Karl until recently and sent them out with the photo memorabilia of the game for him. He responded in about a week, I’m sure feeling quite good about himself because his defensive linemen probably get all the autograph requests.

(Thunder)  Games 10      Tac   N/a          Sac 5.5       FF  N/a    Int 0    Yds 0     Avg -.-       TD 0

NFL, WLAF

Mitchell, Scott

Cards: Action Packed 1990, Score 1990, Ultimate WLAF 1991, Wild Card WLAF 1992.
Acquired: In Person, 1992. San Antonio Riders v. Orlando Thunder. TTM 2010, c/o  Springville High School, UT.
Sent:  3/12   Received: 7/10  (120 days)

Scott Mitchell was drafted by the Dolphins in the 4th round of the 1990 draft from Utah. Mitchell would ride the Dolphins bench for the next three seasons, preparing to be the heir to Dan Marino.  He was loaned to the WLAF in 1992 in an attempt by both the NFL and the WLAF to drum up the talent of the league by showcasing young and promising talent, while providing them ‘game live’ experience. (The Thunder’s drafting of Mitchell was slightly surprising because they already had a talented run ‘n shoot gunslinger in Kerwin Bell.) Mitchell played well that season and led the team to World Bowl II where they lost to the eventual champion Sacramento Surge. Scott returned to the Dolphins and saw starting duty for Miami in 1993- playing so well that he would bolt in free agency for Detroit in the off-season that year.  Initially struggling upon his arrival, Mitchell adjusted to the offense and reclaimed the starting position with a vengeance in 1995. He was with the Lions when they made the playoffs in 1994, 1995, and 1997.  Mitchell would play for the Ravens in 1999 and then finished his career in Cincinnati (2000-2001).  Scott continued to be involved in football and was hired in 2010 to coach for Springville High School in Utah.

I wandered onto the field before the game and picked up Scott’s autograph on his Action Packed 1990 and Score 1990 card. It was a lazy day, and the security didn’t care. As the team hadn’t even started warm ups, I thought it would be okay. Scott rolled his eyes at me as he signed, but then again he may have been looking down at me as he is 6″6′.

After I read his Wikipedia entry, I was able to do the rest of the research to locate Scott at Springville High School. It only took about 4 months for a response from him which was at that time during my return to collecting- quite a wait.

NFL      Games 99   Att  2346   Comp  1301  Pct  55.5
Yds  15692  TD 95  Int  81

WLAF  Games 10   Att  361      Comp  201    Pct  55.7
Yds    2213  TD 12  Int 7