Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

I don’t usually like cards that picture players wearing their helmets, because the helmets cover too much of the players’ faces. Well, here’s an exception: it’s Jim Doran’s 1958 Topps card, where his helmet looks as if it’s been through a battle. What a great image!

I was curious about the color of the helmet, since I thought the Lions had always worn silver ones. Indeed, the Helmet Project web site shows only silver helmets for the Lions. I found a statement on another site, though, that said that in the 1950s, the Lions had to paint their helmets a dark color for night games, so that the players would not confuse the helmets with the white ball. I’m guessing that that’s why Doran’s is blue, and it might also explain why the paint is chipping off. (Also see my earlier article, “What’s with the White Footballs?“)

I was curious about Doran, too, so I looked him up. I learned that he played nine years for the Lions, then two for the Cowboys after they picked him up in the 1960 expansion draft. I also found an article saying that he scored the game-winning touchdown, on a pass from Bobby Layne, in the 1953 NFL Championship game. And, finally, I learned that he was the Cowboys’ first Pro Bowler, in 1960.

You can see all of Jim Doran’s cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

Yesterday, while searching for information on 1948-1952 Exhibit football cards, I ran across The Herman Wedemeyer Home Page. What a fun site! Wedemeyer, who grew up in Hawaii, was a star player for St. Mary’s College in California in the 1940s, finishing fourth in the voting for the Heisman Trophy in 1945, and sixth in 1946. His running style earned him several colorful nicknames: “Squirmin’ Herman,” “The Hawaiian Hurricane,” “The Hawaiian Centipede,” and “The Hula-Hipped Hawaiian.”

After college, Wedemeyer played two years of pro football with the Los Angeles Dons and Baltimore Colts of the AAFC. Years later (after playing professional baseball, managing sales for the Ilikai Hotel, and serving in public office), he appeared in the Hawaii Five-O series as Sergeant Duke Lukela. The Herman Wedemeyer Home Page includes lots of pictures of Wedemeyer on the Hawaii Five-O set.

The card pictured here is Wedemeyer’s Exhibit card, printed in either 1948 or 1949. (The web page where I found it says 1948; my old Beckett says 1949.) I believe he is wearing his St. Mary’s uniform, since the image resembles an image in Randy Andrada’s “They Did It Every Time,” a book about St. Mary’s football. My Beckett says the card is short printed and much scarcer than most of the other Exhibit football cards. You can find a few Wedemeyer cards for sale on eBay, and they are definitely priced as if the card is scarce.

• Search eBay for 1948-1952 Exhibit football cards

Les Richter, who played linebacker, guard, and kicker in nine seasons with the Los Angeles Rams, passed away this morning. Richter made the Pro Bowl in eight of his nine seasons. According to an article on the Crazy Canton Cuts blog, Richter was traded from the Dallas Texans, who drafted him, to the Rams for eleven players. After he retired from football, Richter became involved with auto racing, and at one point he served as NASCAR’s director of competition.

Richter appeared on at least one card in each year of his football career–remarkable for a defensive player–and on two cards before his career even started. His rookie cards are 1952 Bowman Large and 1952 Bowman Small cards, issued after he graduated from the University of California. (The Large is pictured here.) He served in the Army for two years after college, so he did not play for the Rams until 1954.

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

One day, while scanning cards, I noticed that the cartoon on the back of Homer Jones’s 1968 Topps card said that “Homer defeated the Russians in the 1960 Olympics.” Hmm, I thought, that’s a good idea for a blog article. There was a problem, though: I couldn’t find a reference saying that Jones had ever competed in the Olympics. He was a star sprinter at Texas Southern, and he might have defeated the Russians in some competition, but it doesn’t appear to have been in the Olympic Games. (According to his Wikipedia page, however, Jones did invent the touchdown spike, which is “said to be the origin of post-touchdown celebrations.” While not quite beating the Russians, that’s still quite a legacy.)

In my research for Jones, I found a list of other pro football players who had competed in the Olympics. It’s a long list, so I narrowed it down to those who had won medals, and then to those who appeared on vintage football cards. That left six players, a number suitable for a blog article. I also added one more I knew of, Brick Muller.

Jim Thorpe

Jim Thorpe won gold medals in the pentathlon and decathlon in the Stockholm Olympics in 1912. In 1913, the International Olympic Committee took the medals away when they learned that Thorpe had played minor league baseball (and thus had been a professional athlete) before participating in the Olympics. In 1982, Thorpe’s family succeeded in having his medals restored.

Thorpe played professional football from 1915 to 1928, for six different teams. He was a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s inaugural class in 1963. Thorpe also played professional baseball–including seven seasons in the major leagues–from 1909 to 1922. Pictured here is his rookie card, from the 1933 Sport Kings multi-sport set.

Harold “Brick” Muller

Brick Muller took a silver medal in the high jump at the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp. He played and coached one season in the NFL, 1926, for the Los Angeles Buccaneers. (The Buccaneers lasted just one season in the NFL.) Like Jim Thorpe, in 1951 he was among the inaugural class of players elected to College Football Hall of Fame. Muller is shown here on his 1926 Spalding Champions card. He also appeared on a 1955 Topps All-American football card.

Clyde Scott

Clyde Scott won a silver medal in the 110 meter hurdles in the 1948 Olympics in London. He played four seasons in the NFL, as a running back and defensive back for the Eagles and Lions. He appeared on the 1950 Bowman card pictured here, and on a 1951 Bowman card. According to Scott’s profile on the Encyclopedia of Arkansas web site, the readers of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette named Scott the state’s Athlete of the Century in 2000.

Ollie Matson

Ollie Matson won a bronze medal in the 400 meters and a silver in the 1600 meter relay in the 1952 Olympics in Helsinki. He then had a fourteen-year, Hall of Fame career in the NFL. Matson appeared on a lot of cards. Pictured here is his 1962 Topps card.

Bo Roberson

Bo Roberson took silver in the long jump in the 1960 Olympics in Rome, missing the gold medal by a centimeter. He then played six seasons in the AFL, for four different teams. His 1966 Topps card is pictured here. According to a his profile at ivy50.com, after football, Roberson attended law school, earned a master’s degree at Whitworth College, and earned his doctorate degree at age 58. Wow.

Bob Hayes

“Bullet” Bob Hayes won two gold medals in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, in the 100 meter sprint and 400 meter relay. Hayes then played wide receiver for eleven years for the Cowboys and 49ers, and he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2009. Hayes appeared on many football cards; the one pictured here is a 1971 Topps Game card.

Henry Carr

Henry Carr also won two gold medals in the 1964 Tokyo Games, in the 200 meter sprint and 1600 meter relay. The New York Giants, according to an article at pe.com, then signed Carr primarily to cover Bob Hayes. Carr spent three years with the Giants, the highlight of his career being a 101-yard interception return for a touchdown in 1966. His 1966 Philadelphia card is pictured here.

• Search Nearmint’s Cards for: Jim Thorpe, Clyde Scott, Ollie Matson, Bo Roberson, Bob Hayes, Henry Carr, Brick Muller.

Jim Copeland, who played guard and center for the Cleveland Browns from 1967 to 1974, passed away on June 4. Copeland played in two NFL Championship games: in 1967, against the Baltimore Colts, and in 1968, against the Minnesota Vikings. After his NFL career, Copeland served as athletic director at William and Mary, Utah, Virginia, and Southern Methodist. There is a nice photo of Copeland and a summary of his career at VirginaSports.com.

To my knowledge, Copeland did not appear on any football cards–not unusual for a lineman. He did, however, appear on the 1972 Sunoco Stamp pictured here. There are twenty-four players per team in the base 1972 Sunoco Stamp set–twice as many as in a typical card set of the time–so the set includes numerous players who never made it onto cards. As I wrote in an earlier article, the photos of several Browns in the Sunoco set, including Copeland, were from a mud game against the Colts.

I started to write an article today about coaches on football cards, but then I realized that a lot of coaches appeared on football cards–too many to cover in one article. So I thought I’d break the subject into blog-sized pieces. This is the first.

Knute Rockne was the first coach to appear on a football card–or at least he’s the first I can think of. Pictured here is Rockne’s rookie card, from the 1933 Goudey Sport Kings multi-sport set. This is one of three football cards in the set, the others being Red Grange and Jim Thorpe. (The Virtual Card Collection web site shows all of the cards in the Sport Kings set.)

Until today, when I visited his official web site, I hadn’t realized that Rockne died in 1931, two years before his Sport Kings card was issued. He was only 43 when he was killed in a plane crash in Kansas, on his way to Los Angeles to assist with “The Spirit of Notre Dame,” a movie about–what else?–Notre Dame football. According to his Wikipedia page, “Rockne was…shrewd enough to recognize that intercollegiate sports had a show-business aspect. Thus he worked hard promoting Notre Dame football so as to make it financially successful.” His IMDB page shows that he worked on a number of short films released in 1931.

Rockne was also the second coach to appear on a football card, this one in the 1935 National Chicle set. His is definitely the odd card in this set, since the rest of the National Chicle cards show NFL players of the day. The image on Rockne’s National Chicle card also appeared on his 1955 Topps All-American card.

• Search eBay for: Knute Rockne, 1933 Sport Kings, 1935 National Chicle
• Search Nearmint’s Cards for: Notre Dame Alumni

Last year I wrote about players who appeared on other players’ cards, and I noted that some players who made guest appearances never appeared on cards of their own. Today I dug up a few more cards with uncredited players.

First is Andy Robustelli’s 1961 Fleer card. Number 60 from the Giants also appears on the card, with his back to the camera. Who is it? Well, there was no number 60 on the Giants’ 1961 roster, but the photo was probably taken the year before, and number 60 on the Giants’ 1960 roster was Bill Crawford. Crawford played in four games in 1960, but that was the extent of his NFL career, so having his back appear on another player’s card was a reasonably good showing. According to cflapedia.com, Crawford also went on to play in the CFL for four seasons. I don’t believe he appeared on a CFL card, though.

Next is a 1973 Topps Jim Files card, which actually shows two other players more clearly than Files. One of the players is Dave Roller, who played for the Giants in 1971. (He might also have been on the roster other years, but according to his page on pro-football-reference.com, he did not play.) Roller went on to play six seasons for the Packers and Vikings, but, as far as I know, he never appeared on a card of his own.

The other player on the Jim Files card, number 76, appears to be Fred Miller, a defensive tackle for the Colts from 1963 to 1972. Though Miller had a long career and made the Pro Bowl three times, he did not appear on a regular issue card. Perhaps, if he had played another year, he would have made it onto a 1973 Topps card, since Topps increased the size of their football card set from 351 cards to 528 in 1973. Miller did appear on a couple of oddball items–a 1967 Williams Portrait and a 1967 Johnny Pro Die-Cut–that you can sometimes spot on eBay.

Finally, we have a 1972 Topps Ed Podolak Pro Action card. The defensive player on the card–who’d like to smack that ball away from Podolak–appears to be Al Clark of the Lions. Clark spent the 1971 season with Detroit, then played five seasons for the Rams and Eagles. I don’t know of any other cards of Clank.

I frequently get inquiries from the families and friends of players who had short pro careers, and I have to tell them, sadly, that I don’t know of any cards of their uncle or granddad or friend. If I had more of these uncredited players cataloged, I could probably sell more cards!

• Search eBay for: Andy Robustelli, Jim Files, Ed Podolak
• Search Nearmint’s Cards for: 1961 Fleer, 1972 Topps, 1973 Topps

Yesterday I added 1973 Nebraska Playing Cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. This standard deck of cards includes fifty-one cards of players, two cards (the jokers) showing a packed Memorial Stadium, and one card picturing coach Tom Osborne. Osborne coached the Cornhuskers for twenty-five years, and 1973 happened to be his first season.

A page on Wikipedia summarizes the 1973 Cornhusker season in detail. According to that page, twenty-four members of the 1973 Nebraska team went on to play professionally: fourteen in the NFL, three in the CFL, and seven in the World Football League. Nineteen of those players are included in my deck of playing cards. Coach Osborne had also spent some time in the NFL: he was a receiver for the Washington Redskins for two seasons in the early 1960s.

Of the 1973 Huskers who made the NFL, John Dutton, a defensive end, was the most successful. Dutton played fourteen seasons for the Baltimore Colts and Dallas Cowboys, and he went to the Pro Bowl three times. He appeared on a lot of football cards as a professional, too. I don’t have any of them, since they are newer, but a lot of them are listed on eBay.

As far as I know, Bob Martin is the only other player in the 1973 playing card set who also appeared on a card as a professional. Martin played linebacker for four years for the Jets and 49ers, and he appeared on a 1980 Topps football card. You can find that card on eBay, too.

Two more players, Bob Nelson and Dave Humm, had ten-year NFL careers, and Nelson was a member of two Raiders teams that won the Super Bowl. Both played in reserve roles, though, and they did not make it onto cards as pros. They and several other 1973 Huskers later appeared in the 1989 Leesley set, however. I am not familiar with the Leesley cards, but they appear to be a Nebraska all-time star set. You guessed it: you can find them on eBay.

In my research for this set, I also turned up a site called HuskerJ’s Collectibles. HuskerJ has pictures of a few more decks of Nebraska playing cards–as well as many more Cornhusker toys. The other decks of playing cards don’t appear to feature individual players, but they’re worth a peek.

• Search eBay for 1973 Nebraska Playing Cards
• Search Nearmint’s Cards for Nebraska alumni
• Search the Vintage Football Card Gallery for Nebraska alumni

There is a great thread going in the Collectors Universe forums about favorite “combo” cards. I had not heard the term before, but it appears that combo cards are simply cards that feature more than one player. (Team cards don’t count, because they’re, you know, team cards.) Some of the cards posted in the CU thread have been autographed by all of the players–very cool.

Most of the cards posted in the CU thread are baseball cards, which isn’t surprising, since the card companies printed far more baseball cards than cards from other sports. What does strike me, though, is how few combo vintage football cards there are. The 1968 KDKA Steelers set is composed entirely of combo cards, but that is a minor regional set. Beyond that, I can think of only a few combos: the 1955 Topps All-American Four Horsemen card, the 1966 Philadelphia Morrall/Scholtz and Gabriel/Bass cards, League Leader and All-Pro cards in some of the 1970s Topps sets, and 1969 Topps 4-in-1 cards, which were actually meant to be separated into four stamps. Of these, only the Four Horsemen, Morrall/Scholtz, and Gabriel/Bass–a grand total of three cards–picture multiple players in the same image.

Vintage baseball cards, on the other hand, feature plenty of multi-player images. Some of the baseball cards posted in the CU thread are batting duos and trios from the same team: Aaron and Matthews; Brock and Flood; Schmidt, Rose, and Bowa. Where are all the football cards like this? Where are Unitas and Berry, Hornung and Taylor, Morris and Csonka, the Million Dollar Backfield, the Fearsome Foursome, and the Purple People Eaters? The football card folks had no imagination.

Some combo baseball cards even picture players from different teams in the same image. There’s Aaron and Mays; Banks and Aaron; Brett and Carew; Killebrew, Mays, and Mantle; on and on. I imagine that some of the multi-player baseball images were pieced together from multiple photos, but how many football cards picture players from different teams standing next to one another? Zero that I can think of. There have been Pro Bowls every year since 1951, but where are the cards of dream backfields, the league’s meanest linebackers, or even dueling punters? Someone must have taken photos–why didn’t the photos make it onto cards?

Oh well, I guess I have a little baseball card envy today. If you can think of more combo football cards, let me know.

• Search eBay for: Four Horsemen, Mays and Mantle, Banks and Aaron
• Search Nearmint’s Cards for: 1955 Topps All-Americans, 1966 Philadelphia

Stan Jones, Hall of Fame lineman for the Chicago Bears and Washington Redskins, passed away on May 21. According to his page on the Pro Football Hall of Fame web site, Jones played on the Bears’ offensive line for eight seasons, from 1954 to 1961, and he was selected for the Pro Bowl in seven of those seasons. In 1962, he played both guard and defensive tackle, and the following season he became a full-time defensive tackle. He played his last season, 1966, in Washington.

Though linemen in the 50s and 60s did not typically appear on many football cards, Jones appeared on at least eight. The card pictured here is his rookie card, a 1956 Topps. You can see all of Jones’s cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.