Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

It’s Trivia Tuesday! Just pick the “Answer” links to see the answers.

1. Who scored the first field goal in Super Bowl history? Answer
2. What member of the Philadelphia Eagles Honor Roll appeared in both M*A*S*H the movie and M*A*S*H the television show? Answer
3. What Pro Football Hall of Famer, who played for the Chicago Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams, won two medals in track in the 1952 Olympics? Answer
4. What Boston Patriot was the American Football League’s top scorer in five of its ten seasons? Answer
5. What is the error on Doug Atkins’s 1960 Topps card, shown here? Answer
6. What former Harvard player, who appeared on a 1955 Topps All-American football card, was governor of Massachusetts from 1963 to 1965? Answer
7. What Dallas Cowboy was the first defensive player to be named Super Bowl MVP? Answer

Like these? See my trivia questions from past weeks.

Awhile back, on the Pro Football Hall of Fame web site, I found a list of brothers who played pro football. I thought it was interesting, so I marked all of the players in the Vintage Football Card Gallery whose brothers had also played professionally. In many cases, only one brother appeared on a card, and it was fun to give the cardless brothers a nod. Did you know, for instance, that Terry Bradshaw’s brother Craig played a season for the Houston Oilers?

In the Hall of Fame’s list, the brothers who were teammates during their pro careers are marked with a diamond. Seeing these made me wonder how many brothers appeared on the same team in the same set of football cards. I did a quick check, and these are the ones I found in the Gallery:

Brothers Knox and Garrard (“Buster”) Ramsey were teammates with the Chicago Cardinals in 1950 and 1951. They both appeared with the Cardinals on 1951 Bowman cards.

Ebert and Steve Van Buren were teammates with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1951, and they both appeared on 1951 Bowman football cards.

Phil and Merlin Olsen were teammates with the Los Angeles Rams from 1971 to 1974. They appeared together on 1972 Sunoco Stamps and 1973 Topps football cards.


Tody and Bubba Smith were teammates with the Houston Oilers in 1975 and 1976, and they both appeared with the Oilers in the 1976 Topps set.

Finally, just missing the cut are brothers Mel and Miller Farr, who were teammates for the Detroit Lions in 1973. Both of them appeared on 1973 Topps cards, but Miller was not traded to the Lions until September, so Topps still had him with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Jesse Whittenton, a defensive back from 1956 to 1964 for the Los Angeles Rams and Green Bay Packers, passed away on May 22. There is a story about Whittenton on the Milwaukee Journal Sentinal web site. Whittenton made the Pro Bowl twice, in 1961 and 1963, and he was a member of the Packers’ 1961 and 1962 NFL Championship teams. He was inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in 1976.

Because the Lombardi-era Packers had so many other stars, Whittenton appeared on only one regular issue football card, the 1964 Philadelphia card pictured here. It was issued in his last season in the league. He also appeared on a 1961 Lake to Lake Packers card, a 1962 Post Cereal card, and a 1964 Wheaties stamp.

Dave “Super” Mann, who played three seasons for the NFL’s Chicago Cardinals and twelve seasons for the CFL’s Toronto Argonauts, passed away on May 22. At various times in his career, Mann was a running back, defensive back, receiver, punter, kicker, and kick returner. In 1958, he and Boyd Carter combined to return a missed field goal 131 yards, still a CFL record. Mann also had the third-longest punt in CFL history, a 102-yarder. The Toronto Star web site has a summary of Mann’s career.

Mann appeared on two NFL football cards and numerous CFL cards. His rookie card, a 1956 Topps, is pictured here. I don’t yet have all of his CFL cards, but you can see his 1962 and 1963 Topps CFL cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

It’s Trivia Tuesday! Just pick the “Answer” links to see the answers.

1. The quarterback pictured on this 1948 Bowman football card holds the NFL record for most interceptions thrown in a game. Who is he, and what is the record? Answer
2. What defensive back holds the NFL record for career interceptions? Answer
3. What University of Nebraska head coach was a receiver for the Washington Redskins in 1960 and 1961? Answer
4. What Dallas Cowboy married actress Joey Heaterton in 1969? Answer
5. What member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame has been an Associate Justice on the Minnesota Supreme Court since 1992? Answer
6. Who were the first two Heisman Trophy winners to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame? Answer
7. Which two teams were the participants in the longest NFL game ever played? Answer

Like these? See my trivia questions from past weeks.

Clarence “Ace” Parker, the oldest living pro football player, is 100 years old today. Parker played from 1937 to 1941 for the NFL’s Brooklyn Dodgers, served three years in World War II, then returned to play one season for the NFL’s Boston Yanks and one season for the AAFC’s New York Yankees. At various times in his career he was a tailback, defensive back, kicker, punter, and kick returner. He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1972.

Parker also played two seasons of major league baseball, for the American League’s Philadelphia Athletics. Today’s New York Times has a detailed account of his athletic career.

The card pictured here is Parker’s 1955 Topps All-American card. He also appeared on a 1975 Fleer Immortal Roll football card.

For a list of the 500 oldest living pro football players, see oldestlivingprofootball.com.

Yesterday the National Football Foundation announced the 2012 Football Bowl Subdivision College Football Hall of Fame Class. (That’s a mouthful, isn’t it?) You can see the full list of 12 players and 3 coaches on the NFF web site.

Four of the new College Hall of Famers appear on cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery. Their rookie cards are pictured here: Hal Bedsole on a 1965 Philadelphia, John Wooten on a 1967 Philadelphia, Otis Armstrong on a 1975 Topps, and Steve Bartkowski on a 1976 Topps.


I have identified all of the past College Football Hall of Fame inductees in the Gallery, as well. To see the College Hall of Famers from your favorite school, use a web address of the form http://www.footballcardgallery.com/honor1/College+Hall+of+Fame/college/Your+College/. (Example: http://www.footballcardgallery.com/honor1/College+Hall+of+Fame/college/Ohio+State/.)

Bill Walsh, who played center for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1949 to 1954, passed away on May 13. Walsh made the Pro Bowl in 1950 and 1951, and he was a first team NFL All-Pro in 1954. In college he played on Notre Dame’s national championship teams of 1946 and 1947, and after his playing career he coached college and pro football for over 30 years. There is a story and recent photo of Walsh on the lehighvalleylive.com web site.

The card pictured here is Walsh’s rookie card, a 1951 Bowman. He also appeared on 1953 Bowman and 1954 Bowman football cards.

Once upon a time, long, long ago, I bought a set of 1972 Sunoco Stamps, and I started adding them to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. I said at the time that it would take me months to take pictures of all the stamps, and it did: 30 months, to be precise. I finally scanned and uploaded the last of them yesterday–all but one, that is. I discovered yesterday that I have two Verlon Biggs stamps, but no Ron McDole stamp. Anyone have a picture of a McDole they can send me?

As I was scanning the stamps yesterday, I noted one thing I like about them: the images on them aren’t airbrushed. In 1972, Topps was still airbrushing logos off helmets and airbrushing new uniforms onto players–badly–but the Sunoco stamps show the players in the uniforms of their current teams, logos intact. I especially like seeing old helmets, and for most teams there’s at least one stamp with a good picture of the team’s helmet. Below are a few examples.

Now, on to the 82-stamp update set!

Last week I added 1969 New Orleans Saints Doubloons to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. These are the first coins I have added to the Gallery, and I filed them under Oddball. As usual with team sets, this set contains a few players who never appeared on regular issue football cards. That is my favorite feature of team sets: seeing players I have not seen before.

Doubloons are common souvenirs in New Orleans, and the Saints have been commemorated on other doubloons, as well. One example I found online is a series of doubloons showing the Saints’ 1967-1975 schedules, sponsored by Falstaff beer. Another set of doubloons, sponsored by Jax beer, contains a coin for each 1967 home game. You can see an example of that set on eBay.