Saturday, August 14, 2010

1974 Topps #34 Elmo Wright

The University of Houston has had some amazing wide receivers in its history. Some people can make arguments for other players, but to me there is no question that the greatest Cougar receiver is Elmo Wright. He is not only a great UH receiver, but I believe he is one of the greatest receivers in NCAA history.

Elmo played at UH from 1968-1970. The Houston Veer was an offensive juggernaut during that era. And while the Veer is generally associated with running the ball, Wright still put up some amazing stats. And despite UH's adoption of the Run and Shoot and Spread offenses, many of his receiving records still stand.

Although many of his NCAA have been recently broken, he still holds some:
Tied 1st season most 50+ TD receptions (8 in 1968)
1st season average yards per TD reception (56.1 in 1968) - What an amazing record. TD receptions of 87, 50, 75, 2, 80, 79, 13, 67, 61, 43, and 60. Those 2 and 13 yard TDs really brought that average down.
20th career TD receptions (34)
10th career yards per game (111.6)

Some of Wright's UH records:
1st career average per play (21.0)
1st career yards per reception (21.9)
1st career touchdown receptions (34)
Tied 1st career 200 yard receiving games (3)
10th in career receptions (153)
2nd in career receiving yards (3347)
2nd in career touchdowns (35)
10th in career all purpose yards (3482)
6th in career scoring (216)
1st season yards per reception (27.9 in 1968)
Tied 1st season 200 yard receiving games (2 in 1968)
4th (1275 in 1968) and 8th (1198) in season receiving yards
1st (27.9 in 1968), 8th (20.3 in 1969) and 10th (18.6 in 1970) in season yards per reception
Tied for 3rd (14 in 1969) and tied for 6th (11 in 1968) in season TD receptions
Tied for 7th in total TDs (14 in 1969)
2nd (262 vs Wyoming on 11/22/1969), 4th (249 vs Idaho on 11/16/68), and 5th (244 vs Cincinnati on 10/16/68) in game receiving yards
Tied for 5th in game scoring (24 points twice)

Wright led the Cougars in receptions all 3 years and led the team in scoring in 1969

Wright was an All-American Honorable Mention in 1968, 2nd Team in 1969, and Consensus 1st Team in 1970. He was also an Academic All-American in 1969.

On top of all that, he invented the end zone dance when he was a junior at UH.

Elmo was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1st round (#16) of the 1971 NFL Draft. He made the NFL Rookie team that year. He played 5 years in the league for the Chiefs, Houston Oilers, and New England Patriots. Unfortunately injuries limited his professional career.

Today's card is the 1974 Topps #34. It is considered Wright's rookie card although in 1972 he was featured on a Sunoco Stamp.

Another typical 70s Topps card. I love seeing former Cougars in red uniforms. If I can't get a card in a UH uniform, at least it can be close to UH colors. I like the goal post graphic as a border.

The back has a great cartoon and a caption that Wright plays the saxophone. There is also an odd football game with yards gained and a score. I wonder how the game was played.



1 comment:

Commishbob said...

They just don't make cards like these anymore. The modern ones are slick and prettier but these old Topps with the cartoons and cheesy write-ups were more fun, at least for me.