Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

Jim Keane, a receiver for the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers from 1946 to 1952, passed away this morning. His obituary on the Bears web site includes a summary of his career and a recent photo.

Keane was a member of the Bears NFL Championship team in his rookie season. The next season, 1947, he led the league in receptions, and he finished second in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. Despite his stellar performance in 1947, Keane did not have a card in the 1948 Leaf and 1948 Bowman football card sets. To my knowledge, he appeared on only one card, the 1950 Bowman card pictured here.

• See Jim Keane’s stats at pro-football-reference.com.

Frank Ziegler, who played halfback for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1949 to 1953, passed away on March 6. According to his page at pro-football-reference.com, Ziegler finished second in the NFL in rushing in 1950. He was a member of the 1949 Eagles team that finished 11-1 and won the NFL Championship.

The card pictured here is Ziegler’s 1952 Bowman Small football card. He also appeared on a 1952 Bowman Large card and a 1953 Bowman card. Bowman used the same image for all three cards.

Paul Briggs, who played tackle and linebacker for the Detroit Lions in 1948, passed away on February 14. According to Briggs’s obituary at bakersfield.com, a knee injury cut short his football career. The obituary includes an account of his World War II heroism, a list of his college football awards, and a recent photo. Cubuffs.com has a photo of Briggs with the 1947 University of Colorado football team.

Despite having a short NFL career, Briggs appeared on a football card, the 1948 Bowman card pictured here. His card is one of the short prints in the set, and one of the more difficult cards in the set to find in high grade. (For details, see the 1948 Bowman uncut sheet page.)

• See the stats for Paul Briggs at pro-football-reference.com.

When I read yesterday that Ollie Matson had passed away, I thought I’d do a quick web search for him. It kept me busy for a couple of hours. A San Francisco Chronicle article provides the best summary I found of Matson’s career. The article includes a recent photo and a few photos from his playing days.

Before reading about Matson yesterday, I didn’t know about his 1951 San Francisco Dons team. The Dons went undefeated in 1951, but, because they refused to play without their two black team members, Matson and Burl Toler, they were not invited to a bowl game. A book about the team, by Dr. Kristine Setting Clark, is available. Two other Pro Football Hall of Famers, Gino Marchetti and Bob St. Clair, were also members of the 1951 Dons team.

Matson’s two rookie cards–1952 Bowman Large and 1952 Bowman Small–picture him in his Dons uniform. His 1952 Bowman Large card, pictured on the right, is one of my all-time favorite football cards. The back of the card shows that Matson was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals in 1952. He shared NFL Rookie of the Year honors that season with Hugh McElhenny.

Before joining the Cardinals, Matson ran track in the 1952 Helsinki Summer Olympics. He won two medals: a bronze in the 400-meter dash and a silver in the 1600-meter relay. (For other pro football players who won Olympic medals, see my blog article on the subject.)

According to Matson’s page on the Pro Football Hall of Fame web site, he spent the 1953 season in the military, and he returned to the Cardinals in 1954. In total, he played 14 seasons for the Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, Detroit Lions, and Philadelphia Eagles. According to his page at pro-football-reference.com, he was a fullback, halfback, flanker, defensive back, and kick returner at various times during his NFL career. He is a member of the Cardinals Ring of Honor and the Philadelphia Eagles Honor Roll.

During his long NFL career, Matson appeared on at least 16 football cards. My favorite, after his 1952 Bowman cards, is his 1959 Topps card, pictured on the left.

You can see all of Ollie Matson’s football cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

Gerry Huth, a guard for six seasons with the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, and Minnesota Vikings, passed away on February 11. Huth was a member of the 1956 Giants and 1960 Eagles NFL Championship teams. His obituary at newcomerlouisville.com includes a summary of his football career.

Huth’s only football card, the 1963 Topps card pictured here, was issued in his last NFL season. This is the “blue sky” variation of the card; there is also a “purple sky” variation. You can see the variations side-by-side in the PSA Set Registry.

• See Gerry Huth’s NFL stats at pro-football-reference.com.

John Nisby, who played guard from 1957 to 1964 for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Washington Redskins, passed away on February 6. Nisby made the Pro Bowl three times: twice with the Steelers, and once with the Redskins. Nisby’s obituary at dignitymemorial.com includes a recent photo of him, plus a nice photo gallery of him and his family.

For a lineman, Nisby appeared on a surprising number of football cards. His rookie card, a 1960 Topps, is pictured here.

• See all of John Nisby’s cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.
• See John Nisby’s pro statistics at pro-football-reference.com.

Ken Carpenter, who played halfback from 1950 to 1960 for the Cleveland Browns, Saskatchewan Roughriders, and Denver Broncos, passed away on January 28. Carpenter was with the Browns for four seasons, from 1950 through 1953, and the Browns played in the NFL championship game in each of those four seasons. They won one of those championship games, in 1950, against the Los Angeles Rams.

According to his obituary at oregonlive.com, Carpenter was a player-coach while he was with Saskatchewan and Denver, and he continued coaching after his playing days.

The card pictured here is Carpenter’s rookie card, a 1950 Bowman. He also appeared on a 1951 Bowman card and a 1953 Bowman card while with the Browns. He appeared on a few CFL football cards while at Saskatchewan, but I don’t have those yet in the Vintage Football Card Gallery. You can usually find a few on eBay.

• NFL and AFL stats: Ken Carpenter at pro-football-reference.com.
• CFL stats: Ken Carpenter at cflapedia.com.

Danny Brabham, a linebacker from 1963 to 1968 for the AFL’s Houston Oilers and Cincinnati Bengals, passed away on January 23. He played college football at Arkansas. Brabham’s obituary at arkansasonline.com includes a summary of his college and pro football career.

Brabham appeared on two football cards, both with the Oilers. His 1966 Topps card is pictured here; he also appeared on a 1967 Topps card.

• See Danny Brabham’s AFL stats at pro-football-reference.com.

Ralph Felton, a linebacker for the Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills, passed away on January 22, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Felton played for the Redskins from 1954 to 1960, and for the Bills in 1961 and 1962.

Felton appeared on two football cards during his career. His first card, a 1960 Topps, is pictured here; it was issued in his seventh season. He also appeared on a 1961 Fleer card as a Redskin, but by then he had moved on to the Bills.

You can see Ralph Felton’s NFL and AFL statistics at pro-football-reference.com.

Fred Heron, who played defensive tackle for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1966 to 1972, passed away on December 28. The Stockton Record web site has an obituary for Heron (with a recent photo) and an announcement for his upcoming memorial.

Heron’s 1973 Topps card is pictured here. As far as I know, it is his only card, and, ironically, it was issued the season after he retired. (1973 was the first year that Topps issued a 528-card set, and it allowed them to include a lot of players who had not appeared on cards previously.) Heron also appeared on a 1972 Sunoco stamp.

• See Fred Heron’s NFL statistics on pro-football-reference.com.