Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

If you follow this blog, you know that recently I have been creating interactive versions of the team cards in the 1956 Topps football card set. You also know that, while working on these team cards, I have encountered some notable players who did not appear on cards of their own. For example, Deral Teteak, a member of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, appeared on the 1956 Topps Packers team card, but he never appeared on a card by himself. And Chuck Noll, the Hall of Fame coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, appears on the 1956 Topps Cleveland Browns team card, but the card companies never gave him his own card as a player.

Well, Steve Liskey, owner of thecowboysguide.com, has been giving these neglected players their due. Steve calls his creations “RetroCards,” and he sells them on his web site and on eBay. Here are his Deral Teteak and Chuck Noll cards, part of the “StarCards” series. Click on any image to see a larger version.

The newest interactive team card in the Vintage Football Card Gallery is the 1956 Topps Cleveland Browns team card. Clicking on the image pictured here will take you to the interactive version.

The card pictures the 1955 Cleveland Browns, who won the NFL championship. Remarkably, at least six of the players on the team later became head coaches in the NFL: Otto Graham, Abe Gibron, Mike McCormack, Walt Michaels, Chuck Noll, and John Sandusky.

This is my fifth interactive 1956 Topps team card; I have seven more to go. Next up: the Baltimore Colts.

This week I added 1977 Touchdown Club cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. The set contains fifty cards of players who were former NFL stars when the cards were issued. According to Beckett’s description of the set, the addresses of the players were included with the cards, so that collectors who bought the cards could mail them to the players for autographs.

The best thing about this set is that it includes some stars who had not appeared on cards during their playing careers. One of those stars, Bill Willis, is pictured here. Willis played on five AAFC and NFL championship teams with the Cleveland Browns, and he was voted first team All-NFL three times in the early 1950s. Somehow he didn’t appear on a card before this one, though. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977, the year this card was issued.

I couldn’t decide whether to list the Touchdown Club cards under Regular Issues or Oddball, but for now they are under Regular Issues. Perhaps they belong in a new category, called Tribute Sets, along with sets like 1974 and 1975 Fleer Immortal Roll cards and 1963 Stancraft playing cards. Any opinions?

Tony Peters, who played defensive back for ten seasons with the Cleveland Browns and Washington Redskins, is celebrating his 60th birthday today. Peters played on the 1982 Redskins team that beat Miami in Super Bowl XVII, and he also made the Pro Bowl that season.

After retiring as a player, Peters went into coaching. He recently became the head coach at Nathan Hale High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

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

Happy birthday, Mr. Peters!

Two players in the Vintage Football Card Gallery are celebrating milestone birthdays today: John Morrow is 80, and J.R. Wilburn is 70.

John Morrow played center from 1956 to 1966 for the Los Angeles Rams and Cleveland Browns. He made the Pro Bowl in 1961 and 1963, and he was the starting center on the Browns team that won the 1964 NFL Championship. According to oldestlivingprofootball.com, Morrow is the 493rd oldest living American pro football player.

For a center, Morrow appeared on a remarkable number of football cards. He is pictured here on his 1964 Wheaties stamp.

J.R. Wilburn was a receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1966 to 1970. His best season was 1967, when he caught 51 passes for 767 yards. Wilburn, who grew up in Virginia, was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

Wilburn is pictured here on his 1968 Topps card, wearing a Steelers “Batman” jersey. He appeared on several other cards and stamps, as well. (For more on the “Batman” jerseys, see one of my previous articles.)

Happy birthday, Messrs. Morrow and Wilburn!

Robert Jackson, who played guard for the Cleveland Browns from 1975 to 1985, is celebrating his 60th birthday today. Jackson played college football at Duke, and he made the team as a rookie free agent in 1975. There is a nice summary of his career on the Browns web site.

Jackson’s 1977 Topps and 1978 Topps cards are pictured here. The 1977 Topps card is his rookie card.

Happy birthday, Mr. Jackson!

Former CFL and NFL running back Bo Scott is celebrating his 70th birthday today. Scott played for the Ottawa Rough Riders from 1964 to 1968, and for the Cleveland Browns from 1969 to 1973. He was a member of the Ottawa team that won the Grey Cup (CFL Championship) in 1968. There is a nice summary of Scott’s professional career in the Alumni Spotlight section of ClevelandBrowns.com.

Scott is pictured here on his first NFL football card, a 1970 Topps. He appeared on several more cards and stamps, as well.

Happy birthday, Mr. Scott!

Former NFL running back Chet Hanulak is celebrating his 80th birthday today. Hanulak played for the Cleveland Browns in 1954 and 1957, spending the intervening two seasons in the Air Force. He was a member of the Browns team that won the 1954 NFL Championship. He scored the team’s last touchdown in the championship game against the Detroit Lions.

Before his pro career, Hanulak starred at the University of Maryland. In 1953 he averaged nearly ten yards per carry and led the Terrapins to the National Championship. The Atlantic Coast Conference web site has a recent interview with Hanulak, including a video summary of his college career.

Hanulak is pictured here on his rookie card, a 1954 Bowman. He also appeared on a 1958 Topps card, but he had retired from football by the time it came out.

According to OldestLivingProFootball.com, Hanulak is the 494th oldest former professional American football player.

Happy birthday, Mr. Hanulak!

Former NFL linebacker Dale Lindsey turned 70 today; he played from 1965 to 1973 for the Cleveland Browns and New Orleans Saints. After his playing career, Lindsey became a coach, and he has had many coaching positions in colleges and the pros. (See the full list on the right side of his Wikipedia page.) Just three weeks ago, he was named head coach at the University of San Diego, a position recently held by 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh.

Lindsey appeared on one football card as a player, a 1973 Topps card, issued in his last NFL season. Though the card shows him with the Browns, Lindsey played for the Saints in 1973. Lindsey also appeared on a couple of NFL stamps while still with the Browns. You can see those on his page in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

As I have mentioned in other articles, I have been gradually adding fun facts for the cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery. In May I identified the players whose brothers also played pro football (see my blog article Teammate Brothers), and this month I marked the players whose fathers or sons also played professionally. I used the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s list as a reference.

Many of the players on the Hall of Fame’s list never appeared on cards, and some of them appeared on newer cards that I don’t yet have in the Gallery. I did find five pairs of fathers and sons who both appear in the Gallery, though. In honor of Father’s Day, here they are:

Tony Adamle played six seasons for the Cleveland Browns in the AAFC and NFL; his son Mike played six seasons for the Chiefs, Jets, and Bears. Tony is pictured here on his 1951 Bowman card, and Mike on his 1975 Topps card.

Ted Fritsch Sr., a member of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, played from 1942 to 1950 for the Packers. Ted Fritsch Jr. played from 1972 to 1979 for the Falcons and Redskins. Ted Sr. appears here on his 1950 Bowman card; Ted Jr. is shown on his 1974 Topps card.

Dub Jones played for the Miami Seahawks, Brooklyn Dodgers, and Cleveland Browns in the AAFC, and he remained with the Browns when they joined the NFL in 1950. He is shown here on his 1953 Bowman card. Bert Jones, Dub’s son, was a quarterback for ten seasons with the Baltimore Colts and Los Angeles Rams. His 1976 Topps card is shown here.

George Sauer Sr. played from 1933 to 1935 for the Green Bay Packers; he is shown here on his 1955 Topps All-American card. George Jr. played from 1966 to 1970 for the New York Jets; he is shown on a 1969 Glendale stamp.

Finally, George Wilson Sr. played for the Chicago Bears for ten seasons, and he was head coach of the Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins for thirteen. Wilson never appeared on a card of his own, but there is a small image of him on the 1964 Philadelphia Lions’ Play card shown here. Wilson’s son, George Jr., played for his father for one season at Miami. His 1967 Topps card is shown here.