July 14 Report: Former Florida Gator and New York Jet Derrick Gaffney and LPGA Tour and Solheim Cup star Michelle McGann

A pair of successes to report today, which is always a welcome bit of news.

First up is that of Derrick Gaffney. Gaffney was a standout at the University of Florida before being drafted by the New York Jets in the eighth round of the 1978 NFL Draft. He made an immediate impact and proved well worth the pick, catching 38 passes in 1978 for 691 yards and 3 TDs.

He was a steady performer for the Jest the rest of that decade and continued to contribute regularly through the 1984 season.

This is a great add to my collection because he went to high school locally where I live and also went to UF, which is a sub-collection I have going.

Secondly today I added a pair of signatures from LPGA Tour winner and U.S. Solheim Cup star Michelle McGann. McGann, who has one of the greatest smiles in all of sports, halved a pair of matches against Annika Sorenstam at the 1996 Solheim Cup and defeated the top player in women's golf, Laura Davies, in singles play.

Unfortunately McGann's signature on my Solheim Cup photo was smeared pretty badly in the mail. The good news is she wrote me a terrific note on her personal notecard talking about her Solheim Cup memories.

Definitely one I will want to show prominently, so I will probably go back and ask her to sign another photo with the hopes it doesn't get ruined in the mail. I'd like to have the photo and the notecard displayed together.


Day of the Year: 194
Number of Autographs This Year: 227

May 11 Report: Former New York Jets Kicker Pat Leahy

Hard to believe more than a month and a half has passed since I reported my last football success here on this blog.

Shouldn't be that much of a surprise since I've been focusing on golf so much lately. Guess like many aspects of this hobby, trends come and go. I never would have thought when I started this project I would have ever sent out more golf requests than I have football.

Well today I get back to my first love -- football autographs.

Pat Leahy kicked for the New York Jets for entire NFL career (1974-1991). Amazingly in his 18-year career he never had a kick blocked. He scored 1,470 points.

Day of the Year: 131
Number of Autographs This Year: 179

January 11 Report: Gary Fencik, Joe Ferguson and Jeff Lageman

Today marks a streak of 5 consecutive mailing days where I have some success to report. Two of these three former NFL players competed in the 1970s and the other was most prominent in the 1990s.

First we have the former Chicago Bears safety Gary Fencik, whio played 12 seasons for the team and retired as their leading tackler and interceptor. He was part of the victorious team that played in Super Bowl XX and he was named to two Pro Bowls, proving the Yale grad could play football as well.



Joe Ferguson was a standout at the University of Arkansas where he was the Southwest Conference Player of the Year before being drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the third round of the 1973 draft.

During his NFL career, which spanned from 1973-1990, Ferguson passed for nearly 30,000 yards. I was saddened to hear that in recent years he has battled both leukemia and cancer. Thankfully this appears to be in remission. We'll keep Joe and his family in my prayers so that there is not another medical issue as significant as those two in his future.

Lastly today we have Jeff Lageman, the former University of Virginia standout who, despite his size, made a fine career in the NFL as a linebacker. First for the New York Jets, who drafted him in the first round of the 1989 draft, then later for the upstart Jacksonville Jaguars franchise.








Day of the Year: 11
Number of Autographs This Year: 13