May 28th, 2012 |
Published in
Brothers, New in the Gallery
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.
Tags:
1950 Bowman,
1951 Bowman,
1973 Topps,
1976 Topps,
Bubba Smith,
Buster Ramsey,
Chicago Cardinals,
Detroit Lions,
Ebert Van Buren,
Houton Oilers,
Knox Ramsey,
Los Angeles Rams,
Mel Farr,
Merlin Olsen,
Miller Farr,
Phil Olsen,
Philadelphia Eagles,
Steve Van Buren,
Tody Smith
August 5th, 2011 |
Published in
Brothers, Player Deaths, Players Who Became Actors
By now, most NFL fans have heard that Bubba Smith passed away. Smith was a defensive end from 1967 to 1976 for the Baltimore Colts, Oakland Raiders, and Houston Oilers. He made the Pro Bowl twice, and he played in two Super Bowls: Super Bowl III, which the Colts lost to the Jets, and Super Bowl V, in which the Colts beat Cowboys. A New York Times article from earlier this week has a summary of Smith’s career, along with a few photos.
After football, Smith appeared in many films and television shows, most notably the Police Academy movies. I had no idea how many until I checked out his IMDB page.
Smith’s brother, Tody, also played in the NFL. You can see the family resemblance in one of my earlier articles.
Smith appeared on numerous football cards in the 1970s, and most of them showed the same image. Pictured here are his rookie card, a 1970 Topps, and his last card, a 1976 Topps. You can see the rest in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.
October 12th, 2009 |
Published in
Brothers, New Cards for Sale
Today I listed a bunch of new 1973 Topps cards on my sales site. While I was scanning them, the back of one card, Tody Smith, caught my eye. I had no idea he was Bubba Smith’s younger brother, but there it is, in blue and white. Of course, I also didn’t know that they both played high school ball for their father.
The 1973 Topps card above is Tody’s rookie card. For his 1974 Topps card he had grown a beard, and I’d say there’s a clear resemblance to his brother. Bubba is shown here on his 1972 Topps card.
My new resolution: read more card backs!
