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Pete Catan was the Gamblers' starting
(and dominant) right defensive end, and earned first-team appearances on both the 1984 All-USFL Team and
1984 Sporting News All-USFL Team. In 1985, Catan managed to land a second-team appearance on the All-USFL Team despite an
injury-shortened season. We're happy to feature the first of two Pete Catan white "away" jerseys from the Houston-Gamblers.com
team locker room.
The jersey
exhibits moderate wear and has two team repairs to patch holes (just below the front of the left sleeve and just below
the rear of the left sleeve). The "sticky" red and black screened-on front numbers exhibit moderate scuffing from
player contact. We have conclusively photo/video matched this jersey, which was worn on June 9, 1985 against Mouse Davis'
Denver Gold. Our detailed report on the match can be found here: http://www.houston-gamblers.com/id135.html
A closer view of the back. Gamblers jerseys
are somewhat unique, as the numbers and nameplates were added by a nearby Houston branch of Oshman's Sporting
Goods. Russell Athletic shipped "blank" jerseys to the team, with the exception of the stripes on the
sleeves. Oshman's used heat-pressed letters on the nameplates, NOT screened ones. For the numbers on white jerseys,
Oshman's first screened the red color, which was solid and filled the whole number. After drying, a smaller black
layer was then added over the red, in the center of the number, giving the red color a border effect (it's the black layer
that has a sticky feel to it).
A video screen-capture of the 1985 Gold
vs. Gamblers game played on June 9, 1985 -- the last time the Gamblers would don their white jerseys.
This view of the left underarm gives
a good look at the spandex undersleeve and jersey side. Most Gamblers linemen opted for the spandex sides and
undersleeves, as well as a series of grommets (holes) that could be tied together to make the sleeves smaller and
tighter. Interestingly enough, during his time with the Gamblers Pete Catan wore jerseys both with or without spandex
sides.
Note the smaller than usual red sleeve
stripe in this photo. Because the red stripe is "shorter" from top to bottom, it leaves more white area between
the red and black stripes. This unique characteristic can easily be seen in the screen shot below this photo.
Here's a close look at the repair
below the front of the left sleeve. Both holes on this jersey were repaired by sewing extra strips of jersey material
to the inside surfaces where the holes were, while using lots of thread in the process. According to Assistant Equipment
Manager Albert Veytia, Oshman's also performed the majority of jersey repairs for the team.
This is probably the least accurate size
tag we have ever seen... While the tag identifies this jersey as a size 48, it actually fits closer to a size 42 after
the spandex sides were added by the factory. As a matter of fact, we once owned another Catan Gamblers jersey, which doesn't
have spandex sides, that was indeed tagged as a 42. Mr. Catan didn't seem to care much for "crotch
pieces," and the one issued on this jersey was removed with a pair of scissors (the long strip of material
that originally hung from the rear bottom flap of this shirt). The Catan jersey we no longer own wasn't
even given a crotch piece, leading us to wonder if Catan felt the obtrusive strip of material was a literal
"pain in the ass."
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View Pete Catan's Biography Page
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