Thursday, 21 March 2019

1985 Coke / Mr. Hero Cleveland Browns Sheets - Special players with only one card in my collection edition

As I was pulling names for my series of posts for players with only one card in my collection, I realized that quite a few of the names could be found in one oddball set that I own.

I figured that I should just give that oddball set its own post.

This six-sheet set was issued by Mr. Hero sub restaurants in 1985. This set has a Bernie Kosar card in it, which precedes his 1986 Topps rookie card.

I've seen the sheets cut up into the individual cards, but since I own the sheets, I don't feel the need to collect the cut up singles.




From the first sheet, there is only one player that has this as their only card in my collection.

Scott Nicolas was drafted from the Miami Hurricanes in the twelfth round of the 1982 NFL Draft. He played five seasons with the Browns, and was an important special teams player for the team.

His only football card can be found in this Coke / Mr. Hero set.


For fun, I will list the other players from these sheets and give the total of cards that I own of them at this time:

Frank Minnifield - 44 cards
Glen Young - 6 cards
Chris Rockins - 6 cards
Matt Bahr - 13 cards
Boyce Green - 4 cards
Curtis Weathers - 5 cards
Dave Puzzuoli - 4 cards





From this sheet, again there is only one player who has this as their only card in my collection, and that is of Willis Adams.

Willis Adams was the Browns first round draft pick (20th overall) from Houston in the 1979 NFL Draft. He played seven seasons with the Browns, with career receiving totals of 61 receptions for 962 yards, and two touchdowns. It appears that injuries really hurt his career.

This set has his only football card.


From the rest of the sheet:

Earnest Byner - 31 cards
Dan Fike - 11 cards
Felix Wright - 22 cards
Paul Farren - 10 cards
Al Gross - 9 cards
Eddie Johnson - 7 cards
Carl Hairston - 10 cards




This sheet has only cards for four players, Mark Krerowicz, Greg Allen, Harry Holt and Fred Banks.

Mark Krerowicz was a sixth round draft pick out of Ohio State in the 1985 NFL Draft. I'm not sure how much time he spent with the Browns, but his playing career consisted of starting three games at Guard in 1987.

This is the only set that Mark Krerowicz has a card in.


Greg Allen was drafted by the Browns, out of Florida State, in the second round of the 1985 NFL Draft. In his rookie season with the Browns, he carried the ball eight times (for 32 yards) in seven games. Unfortunately for him, he found himself behind two running backs that each ran for over 1000 yards in the 1985 season. (Kevin Mack with 1104 yards, and Earnest Byner with 1002 yards.)

Greg Allen played two games with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 1986 season, his last in the NFL.


Former Arizona Wildcat Harry Holt came to the Browns after playing five seasons with the B.C. Lions in the CFL. In 2004, he was named to the Lions 50th Anniversary Dream Team.

Upon joining the Browns in 1983, he found himself as the second starting tight end, along with Ozzie Newsome. During the 1983 season, he caught 29 passes for 420 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Harry Holt wound up playing four seasons with the Browns, catching 63 passes for 837 yards and five touchdowns.

Other than this set, there is one other card that shows Harry Holt's time with the Browns. He is pictured on the Browns 1987 Topps #79 team card, with the caption "Holt Sees Daylight", but I don't treat that as an individual card for my collection. The card back has team stats and the 1986 schedule results, not Harry Holt information. Some might call it a Holt card, but my collection, my rules. He is a member of the one card in my collection club.


Fred Banks was drafted out of Liberty University in the eighth round of the 1985 NFL Draft. He only played one season with the Browns, catching five passes for 62 yards, and 2 touchdowns.

After his season with the Browns, he went on to play for the Miami Dolphins from 1987-93, as well as eight games with the Chicago Bears in 1993.

Although this set has his only Browns football card, he had cards with the Dolphins starting with a 1990 Score rookie card.


For the other players on this card, here are their current card totals:

Rickey Bolden - 6 cards
Kevin Mack - 95 cards
Ozzie Newsome - 130 cards




This sheet has two players that have this as their only card in my collection, Larry Braziel and John Jefferson.

Larry Braziel played his last four NFL seasons with the Cleveland Browns, after starting his career with three seasons with the Baltimore Colts.  This card came out during his final season with the Browns.

This set features his only Browns card. He is also on a Colts team leader card, as an interceptions leader, in the 1982 Topps set.


John Jefferson is a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. He was drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the first round of the 1978 NFL Draft, out of Arizona State.

After three successful seasons with the Chargers, catching over 1000 yards in each season, and twice tying for the league lead in touchdowns with 13, he was traded to the Green Bay Packers during a contract dispute. He played four seasons with the Packers before a trade to the Browns for his final NFL season.

Jefferson has a number of football cards from his career, but this set has the only one to show his time with the Browns.


Here are the card totals for the other players on this sheet:

Sam Clancy - 2 cards
Jeff Gossett - 2 cards
Robert Jackson - 5 cards
Paul McDonald - 7 cards
Mike Baab - 29 cards
Don Rogers - 4 cards




This sheet also finds the only card in my collection for two players, Johnny Davis and George Lilja.

I really don't remember Johnny Davis, although he was a Fullback and special teams player for the Browns from 1982 - 1987, after playing for the Buccaneers and 49ers from 1978 - 1981.

Johnny Davis had a solid career, and although his stint with the Browns appears to be only represented in this set, he does have other football cards with the Bucs and 49ers, and in a couple of Alabama college sets. He was a college roommate of Ozzie Newsome at Alabama.


George Lilja bounced around the NFL a bit after being drafted by the Rams in 1981 out of Michigan in the fourth round. His stint with the Browns from the end of the 1984 season through the 1986 season was the longest he spent with one team. He also played for the Jets and Cowboys.

He started every game of the 1985 season at Left Guard for the Browns, one of the offensive linemen that helped Kevin Mack and Earnest Byner both achieve their 1000 yard seasons.

Outside of this set, he has cards in a 2002 Michigan Wolverines set.


Here are the card totals for the other players on the sheet:

Clay Matthews - 108 cards
Reggie Camp - 9 cards
Gary Danielson - 6 cards
Hanford Dixon - 20 cards
Reggie Langhorne - 30 cards
Brian Brennan - 37 cards






This final sheet also has the only cards in my collection for two players, Travis Tucker and Keith Baldwin.

Travis Tucker was drafted by the Browns out of Southern Connecticut State in the 11th round of the 1985 NFL Draft.

His NFL career consisted of three seasons with the Browns, and this set appears to have his only football cards.


Keith Baldwin was picked by the Browns in the second round of the 1982 NFL Draft, and played four seasons with the Browns before signing with the Chargers as a free agent in 1987. He played two seasons with San Diego.

The most successful season of his career was the 1984 season, where he started all 16 games for the Browns and had 4.5 sacks.

This set represents the only cards that show Keith Baldwin as a Brown. He had two football cards as a Charger, and amusingly to me, they are both oddball cards as well.


And here are the card totals for the other players on this sheet:

Bernie Kosar - 175 cards
Chip Banks - 13 cards
Cody Risien - 17 cards
Bob Golic - 22 cards
Clarence Weathers - 6 cards
Tom Cousineau - 11 cards

2 comments:

  1. I knew Willis Adams during his time at UH as I worked for the Athletics office at the time. That card was a 'white whale' for a few years, not only because I knew him, but I needed it for my fantasy football collection. It is still the only card of him that's ever been made as far as I can tell. And believe me, I looked. I finally found the set for sale online and had to buy the whole thing to get the Adams card.

    Last I knew he was teaching and coaching in Houston ISD.

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  2. Awesome oddball issue. Had no idea John Jefferson played for the Browns. I definitely remember him with the Packers and Chargers though.

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