March 26th, 2010 | Published in Player Deaths
Wayne Patrick, who played fullback for the Buffalo Bills from 1968 to 1972, passed away on March 23. For most of his career, Patrick was the lead blocker for O.J. Simpson. He gained over 1000 yards rushing, as well.
The sharp 1972 Topps card shown here was Patrick’s only appearance on a mainstream football card. He also appeared on a 1972 Sunoco stamp.
March 23rd, 2010 | Published in Player Deaths
Altie Taylor, who played eight years for the Lions and Oilers, passed away on March 14. Taylor led the Lions in rushing for three of his seven years with the team, and he was Detroit’s all-time leading rusher when he left for Houston. He is now the team’s fourth all-time leading rusher.
Like Merlin Olsen, who died three days earlier, Taylor was a Utah State alumnus. He had a 105-yard kickoff return for the Aggies in 1967, still a school record.
Taylor’s rookie card is the 1971 Topps card pictured here. He also appeared on a few others, but I don’t have pictures of the newer ones. The ones I don’t have can be found on eBay.
March 22nd, 2010 | Published in Brothers, Player Deaths
Cliff Livingston, who played linebacker twelve years for the Giants, Vikings, and Rams, died on March 13. He played in four NFL championship games with the Giants, and they won one of them, in 1956. Livingston was an All-Pro in one season, 1961.
Though he had a long, successful career, Livingston appeared on only one regular issue card, the 1962 Topps card shown here. He also appeared on a 1962 Post Cereal card.
Livingston’s brother, Howie Livingston, also played in the NFL.
March 17th, 2010 | Published in Player Deaths
Besides Merlin Olsen, these former NFL players passed away in the past two weeks:
To my knowledge, Koeper, Manley, and Dyer did not appear on cards. Brooks appeared on one card that I know of, the 1982 Topps card shown here.
March 11th, 2010 | Published in Brothers, Player Deaths, Players Who Became Actors
Most football fans know by now that Merlin Olsen passed away this morning. Lots of people published articles about his career today, so I’ll just show you some of his vintage cards. According to the Beckett blog, Olsen appeared on a total of 338 cards, but most of those were issued after the end of his career.
A couple of these are actually stamps, so I don’t know if Beckett included them in their count. Hold your cursor over any thumbnail image to see what set it’s from, and click on it to see a full-sized scan.
Missing from this group are his 1971 Bazooka card, 1971 Dell card, 1972 NFLPA stamp, and possibly other oddballs I haven’t seen. He also appeared on two or three Topps poster inserts in the late 60s and early 70s. That’s a remarkable number of cards for a defensive player.
I wondered if perhaps Olsen appeared on a Little House on the Prairie card, if there were such cards. So I searched eBay and I found a set that was issued in Argentina. Alas, Jonathan Garvey, Olsen’s character, didn’t have a card in the set.
Two of Olsen’s brothers, Phil and Orrin, also played in the NFL. Phil appeared on a 1972 Sunoco Stamp and on a 1973 Topps card while he was Merlin’s teammate with the Rams.
February 11th, 2010 | Published in Football Card Oddities, Player Deaths
Brad Ecklund, who played center for five years in the AAFC and NFL, passed away on February 6. Ecklund started his pro career with the New York Yankees of the AAFC in 1949, then joined the New York Yanks (formerly the New York Bulldogs) of the NFL when the AAFC merged with the NFL in 1950. He remained with the team when they became the Dallas Texans in 1952 and the Baltimore Colts in 1953. He made the Pro Bowl twice, in 1950 and 1951.
After his playing days, Ecklund coached for nineteen years for five NFL teams. His obituary in the Philadelphia Enquirer includes a nice photo from his days as an Eagles coach.
Ecklund’s rookie card is a 1951 Bowman, pictured here. Like the other Yanks cards in the 1951 Bowman set, it shows a picture of Yankee Stadium rather than a logo. Perhaps the team never had a logo as the New York Yanks: I don’t see one on logoserver.com, and the team’s Wikipedia page shows a Bulldogs logo.
Ecklund also appeared on two other cards, a 1952 Bowman Large and a 1952 Bowman Small, in the team’s only year as the Dallas Texans.
February 8th, 2010 | Published in Player Deaths
Tom Wittum, who punted for the 49ers from 1973 to 1977, died on January 22. Wittum made the Pro Bowl his first two years in the league. In 1973 he also had a 63-yard run–I presume on a fake punt–but it did not go for a touchdown.
The card pictured here is Wittum’s rookie card, the 1973 Punting Leaders card from the 1974 Topps set. Oddly, he did not appear on a regular card in that set. His first appearance alone on a card was in the 1975 Topps set.
There is a nice tribute to Wittum on dailyherald.com; it includes a picture of his 1976 Topps card. An article at suburbanchicagonews.com has a photo of Wittum in his high school uniform. (Select the photo in the article to enlarge the image.)
February 6th, 2010 | Published in error cards, Player Deaths
Jim Podoley, who played halfback and end for the Washington Redskins from 1957 to 1960, died on January 24. His obituary includes a nice recent photo. Podoley was a Pro Bowler in his rookie season, when he led the NFL with 20.5 yards per reception. Prior to his professional career, he starred in football and track at Central Michigan University. He was one of the inaugural inductees into the CMU Athletics Hall of Fame.
Pictured here is Podoley’s 1959 Topps card. He also has a card in the 1958 Topps set, but that card actually pictures Volney Peters.
February 4th, 2010 | Published in Player Deaths
Bill Dudley, Hall of Fame back for the Steelers, Lions, and Redskins, died this morning. Dudley was a star in all parts of the game, leading the league in rushing twice, interceptions once, and punt return yards twice. He was the Steelers’ leading passer in 1942 and 1946, and–in addition to his other duties–he was the kicker for the Lions and Redskins in his last four seasons. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966.
Pictured here is one of Dudley’s rookie cards, a 1948 Bowman. His other rookie card is a 1948 Leaf. Most of Dudley’s vintage cards are pictured in the Vintage Football Card Gallery. He also appeared in several recent Hall of Fame sets.
January 31st, 2010 | Published in Player Deaths
Ralph Starkey, who appeared on this 1954 Bowman football card, passed away on January 24. Starkey played college football for West Virginia University and was drafted by the New York Giants in 1954. Pro-football-reference.com doesn’t have a page for him, so I assume he didn’t see playing time for the Giants.
At West Virginia, Starkey played in the 1954 Sugar Bowl, which the Mountaineers lost to Georgia Tech. Joe Marconi, Bruce Bosley, and Sam Huff, who all became Pro Bowl players in the NFL, were also members of the 1953 West Virginia team. Ironically, they didn’t appear on their first cards until years after Starkey.
