Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

Former NFL defensive back Doug Plank is celebrating his 60th birthday today. Plank played from 1975 to 1982 for the Chicago Bears. Since 2001, Plank has coached in the Arena Football League, and in late 2012 he was named the head coach of the Orlando Predators. There is a video of the announcement and a summary of his career on the Predators web site.

Plank is pictured here on the green-bordered variation of his 1976 Coke Bears disc. He also appears on several other cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

Happy birthday, Coach Plank!

Dick Yelvington, who played tackle from 1952 to 1957 for the New York Giants, passed away on February 24. Yelvington was a member of the Giants team that won the NFL Championship in 1956. There is a nice summary of his career at bigblueinteractive.com.

Yelvington appeared on one football card, the 1954 Bowman card pictured here.

I added a new page, called Almost Hall of Famers, to the Vintage Football Card Gallery this week. The page shows all of the players in the Gallery who have been finalists for the Hall of Fame, but who have not yet been elected. One of them, George Young, is pictured here on his 1951 Topps Magic card. Young, who was a general manager for the New York Giants for 19 years, was a finalist as a contributor in 2005.

Check out the new page and the Gallery’s other “Fun Pages“!

Two players in the Vintage Football Card Gallery are celebrating milestone birthdays today: Frank Gallagher and Jim Allison are both 70.

Frank Gallagher was a guard from 1967 to 1973 for the Detroit Lions, Atlanta Falcons, and Minnesota Vikings. Gallagher started for the Vikings in Super Bowl VIII, though he joined the team just a few games before the end of the 1973 season. (The Vikings lost to the Dolphins, 24-7.) In 1974 he played for the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League. As far as I know, Gallagher did not appear on a football card, but he did appear on a 1972 Sunoco stamp, pictured here.

Jim Allison was a running back from 1965 to 1968 for the San Diego Chargers. In 1964, at San Diego State University, Allison set the school’s single-game rushing record with a 271-yard game against San Francisco State. That record held until Marshall Faulk broke it in 1991. Allison appeared on the 1967 Topps card pictured here, and he also appeared on a 1969 Topps 4-in-1 insert card.

Happy birthday, Messrs. Gallagher and Allison!

Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson is celebrating his 60th birthday today. Henderson played linebacker from 1975 to 1979 for the Dallas Cowboys, and in 1980 for the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Oilers. He made the Pro Bowl in 1978, and he played in three Super Bowls with the Cowboys. The Cowboys won one of them, Super Bowl XII, against the Denver Broncos.

Henderson now sponsors charitable work for youth in East Austin, Texas, and he has produced books and films to help prevent drug and alcohol abuse. You can read about his work on his official website.

Henderson is pictured here on his rookie card, a 1978 Topps.

Happy birthday, Mr. Henderson!

Two players in the Vintage Football Card Gallery are celebrating milestone birthdays today: Tom Vaughn is 70, and Roland Harper is 60.

Tom Vaughn, a defensive back and kick returner, played from 1965 to 1971 for the Detroit Lions. Before joining the Lions, he starred at Iowa State. He was elected to the Iowa State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005. Vaughn appeared on one football card, the 1969 Topps card pictured here.

Roland Harper played fullback from 1975 to 1982 for the Chicago Bears. His best season was 1978, when he rushed for 992 yards and had 340 receiving yards. If Harper had gained just 8 more yards rushing, he and his running mate, Walter Payton, would have been the third pair of teammates to rush for 1000 yards in the same season. Harper is pictured here on his rookie card, a 1976 Topps.

Happy birthday, Messrs. Vaughn and Harper!

Raymond Berry, the Hall of Fame receiver of the Baltimore Colts, is celebrating his 80th birthday today. Berry played for the Colts from 1955 to 1967, and he was a key player on the Colts’ NFL Championship teams of 1958 and 1959. In 1960 he averaged 108 yards receiving per game, an NFL record at the time, and still the 11th-highest all-time average for a season. When he retired from playing, he held the NFL records for both career receptions and career receiving yards. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973.

Berry went on to a long coaching career, including six seasons as the head coach of the New England Patriots. He coached the Patriots to their first Super Bowl appearance, Super Bowl XX, against the Chicago Bears. (The Bears won, 46-10.)

Berry is pictured here on his 1960 Topps football card and his 1964 Wheaties stamp. He appeared on many more cards, as well. (One of them, his 1967 Philadelphia card, actually pictures Bob Boyd.)

According to oldestlivingprofootball.com, Berry is the 494th oldest living pro football player.

Happy birthday, Mr. Berry!

Fred Biletnikoff, the great Oakland Raiders wide receiver, is celebrating his 70th birthday today. Biletnikoff played 14 seasons for the Raiders, from 1965 to 1978. He played in Super Bowl II against the Green Bay Packers, and he was the MVP of Super Bowl XI, in which the Raiders beat the Minnesota Vikings. After retiring as a player, Biletnikoff went on to a long coaching career, including 18 more seasons with the Raiders. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988, and into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1991.

Biletnikoff is pictured here on one of my favorite football cards, a 1970 Topps Super Glossy insert card. He appeared on over twenty more cards and stamps, as well. You can see the whole array in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

Happy birthday, Mr. Biletnikoff!

Bill Asbury is celebrating his 70th birthday today; he was a running back from 1966 to 1968 for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Asbury’s best season was his rookie year, 1966, when he gained 772 yards from scrimmage and scored 9 touchdowns. In 1967, Asbury and Dave Osborn tied for the NFL’s longest run of the season, 73 yards.

Asbury is pictured here on a 1969 Topps card, wearing the Steelers’ “Batman” jersey. He also appeared on at least three other cards and stamps. You can read about the Batman jerseys in one of my previous blog articles.

Happy birthday, Mr. Asbury!

Glynn Gregory, who played for the Dallas Cowboys in 1961 and 1962, passed away on February 14. Gregory’s obituary, including a recent photo, appears at dignitymemorial.com. Before his professional career, Gregory starred at Southern Methodist University, where he was a teammate of Don Meredith. He was elected to the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984.

Gregory appeared on one football card, the 1962 Post Cereal card pictured here.