1994 Select #154 Simon Fletcher

I love the University of Houston and offensive football. I love the entire history of it: the Veer, the Run and Shoot, the Spread. I'd really love for UH to get back to another UH tradition, solid defense. Hopefully some day soon we'll get there.

What the Coogs need is some players like Simon Fletcher. Will UH get a Fletcher type player in the future? Do we have one now? All I know is I'll keep watching and hoping to see one.

Today's card is the 1994 Select #154. What a sharp looking card. First let's start with the design. Full bleed, borderless picture on the front. Broncos team name with gold bordering an inset tinted photo. Great design.

The back: Photo on half the card. Jagged border is a little too much for my taste, but not a deal breaker for me. Prior season and career stats which is sufficient. Description of his play included. "One of the best players never picked for the Pro Bowl." Is that a backhanded compliment? I hope not. I hope it's more of an indictment of the Pro Bowl selection process.

And the most important feature that makes this a nice looking card, the photographs. Two very nice action photos. Defensive actions photos aren't always the best, but these are very good. On the front you see him rushing the passer. On the back, he's in hot pursuit of someone. In both, you see the intensity in his eyes. Great job.

1989 Pro Set #101 Simon Fletcher

Simon Fletcher was a defensive end for the University of Houston from 1982 to 1984. That 1984 Cougar team was co-champion of the Southwest Conference.

After his college career, he was selected by the Denver Broncos in the 2nd round of the 1985 NFL Draft. He played for the Broncos from 1985 to 1995. Fletcher is tied with DeMarcus Ware for the NFL record for most games in a row with a sack (10). He also holds the Broncos' record for career sacks (97.5)

Today's card is the 1989 Pro Set #101. I know Pro Set cards were ridiculously overproduced so they have little monetary value, but I still love their look.

Another thing I like about Pro Set cards is the size of the sets. This 1989 set had a total of 561 cards. The 1990 set had 801 cards. Because of the size of these sets, pretty much every starter, some of the backups, and the coaches were all featured on cards.

Today's cards are so focused on stars that positional players like linemen and non-stars in other positions like defensive back are rarely featured. If you like to collect only stars, the current format is great. If you have other collecting goals like players from a certain college or all of the active players on a pro roster, you may be out of luck.

I understand the economics of this. Cards have become so expensive that a collector may feel cheated if the monetary value of a card is too low because of the player featured. It's just a shame that this is the case. But manufacturers generally try to give the public what they want, so we have only ourselves to blame.

Coogs Win!!!!

Congratulations to the Coogs today! The University of Houston football team beat #5 Oklahoma State in Stillwater, OK.

Today's win is the first road win against a top 5 opponent since UH beat 6-0-1 #3 Texas on 11-10-1984. The Coogs went on to be Southwest Conference Co-Champions tying with SMU. Houston went to the Cotton Bowl based on its victory over SMU.

While UH has been known for its offense for much of its history, the 1984 Coogs had some incredible defensive players that went on to the NFL. Three of them are T J Turner, Audray McMillian, and Simon Fletcher who are featured below.

T J Turner
1989 Topps #294


Audray McMillian
1993 Fleer #259


Simon Fletcher
1994 SkyBox Impact #75