September 5th, 2012 |
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Player Deaths
Tom Keating has passed away; he played defensive tackle from 1964 to 1975 for the Buffalo Bills, Oakland Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Kansas City Chiefs. There is an article about Keating on the San Francisco Chronicle web site. Keating played on the three American Football League championship teams: the 1964 and 1965 Bills, and the 1967 Raiders. The 1967 Raiders team went on to play Green Bay in Super Bowl II.
The card pictured here is Keating’s 1968 Topps football card. In 1968, Topps honored the prior season’s Super Bowl contestants, the Raiders and Packers, by giving their cards a different design than the rest of the teams. Keating also appeared on a 1965 Topps card, a 1970 Topps card, and a 1972 Sunoco Stamp.
September 3rd, 2012 |
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New in the Gallery
Today I added a few more pieces to my partially completed virtual uncut sheet of 1957 Topps football cards. Below are two miscut cards that provided clues: a Dick Bielski card with a bit of Elroy Hirsch showing on the left side, and the back of a Paul Hornung card that shows a sliver of Sid Youngelman’s card along the bottom. You can click on either card to see how the sheet is progressing.
For a full list of the virtual uncut sheets I have assembled, see my article U is for Uncut Sheets. As always, if you happen to have pictures of full sheets, partial sheets, or miscut cards that would help the effort, please send me an email.
August 30th, 2012 |
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CFL Cards, Silly Stuff
Last week, when I added 1971 O-Pee-Chee CFL cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery, I discovered that three of the players in the set had played in exactly one NFL game before going to the CFL. So I added the three players–Greg Barton, Don Jonas, and Benjy Dial–to my Cups of Coffee page. If you haven’t seen it, have a look!
August 25th, 2012 |
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Halls of Fame
Dave Robinson and Curley Culp were named yesterday as the 2013 senior finalists for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. You can read the announcement and see the players’ biographies on the Hall of Fame web site. This is the first time that either player has been chosen as a Hall of Fame finalist.
Robinson, a linebacker, played for the Packers from 1963 to 1972, and for the Washington Redskins in 1973 and 1974. He made the Pro Bowl three times, and he was a member of the Packers’ NFL Championship teams of 1965-1967. Robinson’s rookie card, a 1967 Philadelphia, is pictured here. He appeared on a number of other cards and stamps, as well.
Culp, a defensive tackle, played from 1968 to 1981 for the Kansas City Chiefs, Houston Oilers, and Detroit Lions. He made the Pro Bowl 6 times in his 14 seasons, and he played on the Chiefs team that won Super Bowl IV. Culp’s rookie card, a 1973 Topps, is pictured here. Prior to his rookie card, Culp appeared on a 1971 Kellogg’s card and a 1972 Sunoco stamp, and he appeared on numerous Topps cards later in his career.
Chances are good that at least one of the two nominees will be elected to the Hall. The Senior Nominees page of the Hall of Fame web site shows that at least one senior candidate has been elected each year since 1998.
August 23rd, 2012 |
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CFL Cards, Halls of Fame, New in the Gallery
This week I added 1971 O-Pee-Chee CFL football cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. One thing I enjoyed about adding the cards was finding a few players who had also played in the NFL or AFL, but who did not appear on NFL or AFL cards. One of them, Dave Raimey, is pictured here. Raimey played for the Cleveland Browns in 1964, then he played ten seasons in the CFL and made the Canadian Football Hall of Fame.
In the notes for the 1971 O-Pee-Chee cards, I identified all of the players who also played in the NFL or AFL. I also marked the players who are members of the Canadian Hall of Fame. Check ’em out!
August 15th, 2012 |
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Player Deaths
Jimmy Carr, who played nine seasons for the NFL’s Chicago Cardinals, Philadelphia Eagles, and Washington Redskins, passed away on August 13. Carr also played one season for the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian Football League. Carr was a starting defensive back on the Eagles team that beat Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers for the 1960 NFL championship. After retiring as a player, Carr was an assistant coach in the NFL, USFL, and NFL Europe for almost thirty years.
Carr is pictured here on his rookie card, a 1958 Topps. Though the card shows him with the Cardinals, 1958 was the season that he played in the CFL. Carr also appeared on a 1962 Post Cereal card, a 1963 Topps card, and a 1960 Eagles team issue photo.
August 8th, 2012 |
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New in the Gallery
Yesterday I showed you some miscut 1967 Topps cards that I picked up at the National; today I have a handful of 1961 Topps cards. I hope to collect enough of these to determine what uncut sheets of 1961 Topps cards looked like. I have not seen an uncut sheet, partial sheet, panel, or strip of 1961 Topps cards, so I am starting from scratch with this set. To see what I have so far, check out my 1961 Topps virtual uncut sheet page. As always, if you have miscut cards that would help the project, I would love to see them.
August 7th, 2012 |
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New in the Gallery | 1 Comment
Last week, at the National Sports Collectors Conference, I picked up two badly miscut 1967 Topps football cards that will help me determine what an uncut sheet looked like. Here they are: a Johnny Robinson card with a bit of Wahoo McDaniel on the left, and a Jim Hunt card with a bit of Johnny Robinson on the left. You can see the pieces of the sheet I have so far on my virtual 1967 Topps uncut sheet page.
For a full list of the virtual uncut sheets I have assembled, see my previous blog article, U is for Uncut Sheets. If you happen to have pictures of full sheets, partial sheets, or miscut cards that would help the effort, I’d love to see them!
July 31st, 2012 |
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Football Card Trivia
While putting some 1967 Topps cards up for sale today, I noticed that on George Sauer’s card, the name on the back of his jersey was covered. That’s interesting, I thought, the jersey must have had someone else’s name on it. So I did some digging to figure out whose.
First I looked at Sauer’s other cards, and I found that his 1966 Topps card showed the same covering over the name. Sauer was a rookie in 1965, so I guessed that the pictures on his 1966 and 1967 cards came from a photo session early in 1965, before he had a jersey with his name on it. I then looked at pro-football-reference.com to see who wore number 83 the prior season, 1964. I found that it was Bill Rademacher. Rademacher switched to number 23 in 1965, so I’ll bet the jersey Sauer is wearing says “Rademacher” under the tape.
Sauer did pretty well wearing number 83. He played six seasons for the Jets, and he had over 1000 yards receiving in three of those seasons, 1966 through 1968. He lead the AFL with 75 receptions in 1967, and he had eight catches for 133 yards in Super Bowl III, the Jets’ famous upset of the Baltimore Colts.
July 24th, 2012 |
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New in the Gallery, Oddball
Yesterday I added 1976 Crane Discs to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. The Crane Potato Chip Company was based in Decatur, Illinois, and most of the discs picture players from NFL teams in the Midwest. See my Gallery page for the discs for details. I filed the discs under “Oddball.”
