Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

This might be the worst spelling error I have seen on a card, but it is not marked in the major price guides: on the back of Jon Arnett’s 1959 Bell Brand Rams card, his last name is misspelled “Arnettt,” with three t’s!

You can see all of the error cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery here.

Last week I added interactive 1956 Topps Los Angeles Rams and Chicago Bears team cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. You can see them by clicking on the non-interactive images shown here.

Like the other team cards in the 1956 Topps set, these two cards picture the 1955 teams. I believe that all of the players on the Rams card also appear in the 1955 Rams Team Issue set. About six of the players on the Bears card never appeared on cards of their own, so it was nice to give them a little recognition. One of the Bears players, Harry Hugasian, played part of the 1955 season for Baltimore, and he also appears on the Colts team card.

I have now finished making all of the 1956 Topps team cards intereractive; you can see the whole array here. Next up are the team cards in the 1958 Topps set.

Former NFL quarterback Jim Hardy is celebrating his 90th birthday today. Hardy played from 1946 to 1952 for the Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Cardinals, and Detroit Lions. He played in the first Pro Bowl, after the 1950 season, and he was a member of the Lions team that won the NFL Championship in 1952.

Hardy played college football at USC, leading the Trojans to Rose Bowl wins in 1944 and 1945. He was inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.

According to oldestprofootball.com, Hardy is the 66th oldest living American pro football player. He is pictured here on his 1948 Bowman football card.

Happy birthday, Mr. Hardy!

Former NFL defensive back Lindon Crow is celebrating his 80th birthday today. Crow played from 1955 to 1964 for the Chicago Cardinals, New York Giants, and Los Angeles Rams. In 1956, his second season, he led the league with 11 interceptions. He played in two NFL Championship games, both with the Giants, in 1958 and 1959. The Giants lost both games to the Baltimore Colts.

Crow’s younger brother, Wayne Crow, also played professional football. He was a halfback and punter for four seasons with the AFL’s Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills.

Crow appeared on football cards with all three of his NFL teams. My favorite, his 1962 Topps card, is pictured here. You can see the rest of his cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

According to oldestlivingprofootball.com, Crow is the 494th oldest living American pro football player.

Happy birthday, Mr. Crow!

Earlier this week, the National Football Foundation announced the names of the 2013 Football Bowl Subdivision candidates for the College Football Hall of Fame. Eleven of the 82 players and coaches on the ballot appear on cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery. (One of them appears on someone else’s card, however.) Here are the eleven in the Gallery:

Bob Berry, Quarterback, Oregon. Berry had a long NFL career with the Vikings and Falcons. He is shown here on his 1972 Topps card.

John Didion, center, Oregon State. Didion played six seasons for the New Orleans Saints. This is his 1974 Topps card.

Charlie Gogolak, kicker, Princeton. Gogolak played six seasons for the Washington Redskins and Boston/New England Patriots. In 1966, he set a record for most extra points attempted in a game, with 10. (He made 9 of them.) He is shown here on his rookie card, a 1967 Philadelphia. Gogolak’s brother, Pete, also played in the NFL.

Rob Lytle, running back, Michigan. Lytle played seven seasons for the Denver Broncos. This is his rookie card, a 1978 Topps. Lytle finished third in voting for the Heisman Trophy in 1976, so he also appears on my page of cards of Heisman Trophy candidates.

Paul Naumoff, linebacker, Tennessee. Naumoff had a 12-year NFL career with the Detroit Lions. He is pictured here on his 1973 Topps card.

Tom Nowatzke, linebacker, Indiana. Nowatzke played eight seasons for the Detroit Lions and Baltimore Colts. This is his 1969 Topps football card.

Phil Olsen, defensive end, Utah State. Olsen played six seasons for the Los Angeles Rams and Denver Broncos. One of his teammates with the Rams was his brother, Merlin. (See my Teammate Brothers article.) Olsen is shown here on his 1973 Topps football card.

Jim Otis, fullback, Ohio State. Otis played nine seasons for the New Orleans Saints, Kansas City Chiefs, and St. Louis Cardinals. His 1976 Buckmans Disc is pictured here. Otis also appears on my page of cards of Heisman Trophy candidates.

Don Trull, quarterback, Baylor. Trull played six seasons for the AFL’s Houston Oilers and Boston Patriots, and two seasons for the CFL’s Edmonton Eskimos. He is shown here on his 1971 O-Pee-Chee CFL card. Trull also appears on my page of cards of Heisman Trophy candidates.

Clancy Williams, running back, Washington State. Though Williams was a running back in college, as a pro he played defensive back. He played his whole eight-year NFL career with the Los Angeles Rams. Williams’s son, Clarence, also played a season in the NFL. The elder Williams is shown here on his only card, a 1967 Philadelphia.

Darryl Rogers, coach, several schools. Rogers never played in a regular season game as a pro, but he did coach the Detroit Lions from 1985 to 1988. Apparently, he also tried out with the Denver Broncos in the early 1960s, because his picture ended up on Goose Gonsoulin’s 1961 Fleer card. For more cards that picture the wrong player, see the Mistaken Identities page of the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

You can see all 82 of the 2013 Football Bowl Subdivision candidates on the National Football Foundation web site.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Three players in the Vintage Football Card Gallery have milestone birthdays today: Ron Waller is 80, and Mike Raines and Morris Owens are 60.

Ron Waller was a running back and kick returner for the Los Angeles Rams from 1955 to 1958. He also played for the AFL’s Los Angeles Chargers in their first season, 1960. In 1955, his rookie year, Waller led the NFL in all-purpose yards, and he made the Pro Bowl that season. Much later, in 1973, Waller was the head coach of the San Diego Chargers for the last six games of the season. In 1974 he coached the Philadelphia Bell of the World Football League. According to oldestlivingprofootball.com, Waller is the 493rd oldest living pro football player.

Waller is pictured here on his rookie card, a 1956 Topps. He appeared on three other cards, as well.

Mike Raines, a defensive lineman, played two games for the San Francisco 49ers in 1974. (One game less, and he would have made my Cups of Coffee page.) He then moved to the CFL, where he played from 1975 to 1982 and was a member of two Grey Cup championship teams. He finished his career with three seasons in the USFL. Raines is pictured here on his 1972 Alabama Playing Card. He also appeared on a 1973 Alabama Playing Card, identical except for the year on the back.

Morris Owens was a wide receiver from 1976 to 1979 for the Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Owens caught the first touchdown pass in Tampa Bay franchise history–from Louis Carter, who also turned 60 this month–and he was the Buccaneers’ leading receiver for three straight seasons, 1976 to 1978. He is shown here on his 1978 Topps card.

Happy birthday, Messrs. Waller, Raines, and Owens!

You might recall that a couple of weeks ago I bought a lot of crudely hand-cut Baltimore Colts cards on eBay. Included in the lot was the 1961 Topps Raymond Berry card pictured below. The card to the left of the hacked-up Berry card appears to be Frank Ryan, so I was able to add a piece to my slowly growing 1961 Topps virtual uncut sheet. You can see my progress here.

For a full list of the virtual uncut sheets I have worked on, see the bottom of one of my previous blog articles, “U is for Uncut Sheets.”

Larry Morris, a linebacker from 1955 to 1966 for the Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Bears, and Atlanta Falcons, passed away on December 19. Morris was a member of the Bears team that won the NFL championship in 1963. At Georgia Tech, Morris starred in both football and baseball, and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992. There is an obituary for Morris, including a recent photo, on the legacy.com web site.

The cards pictured here are Morris’s 1958 Topps and 1959 Topps cards. Though the 1959 card shows him with the Redskins, he played with the Bears that season. He also appeared in several food and regional issues with the Rams and Bears. You can see all of Morris’s cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

Tom McCormick, who played halfback from 1953 to 1956 for the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers, passed away on September 20. According to his obituary at legacy.com, McCormick served as an assistant coach with Minnesota and Green Bay after retiring as a player.

McCormick did not have a football card in a major issue, but he did appear on Rams team issue cards in 1953, 1954, and 1955. His 1953 Rams team issue card is pictured here. The back of the card says that he set school records at the College of the Pacific for yards rushing in a season, yards rushing in a career, and touchdowns in a season.

John Williams, an offensive lineman from 1968 to 1979 for the Baltimore Colts and Los Angeles Rams, passed away yesterday. There is a story and recent photo of Williams on the Minneapolis StarTribune web site. Williams played on three Super Bowl teams: the 1968 Colts, who lost to the Jets; the 1970 Colts, who beat the Cowboys; and the 1979 Rams, who lost to the Steelers.

Though Williams played twelve seasons in the NFL, and though he started every game at tackle for the Rams from 1973 to 1978, he never appeared on a regular issue football card. He did appear on a 1972 Sunoco stamp; it is pictured here.