Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

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!

Former NFL running back Louis Carter is celebrating his 60th birthday today. Carter played from 1975 to 1978 for the Oakland Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Carter was one of the original Buccaneers: Tampa Bay acquired him from Oakland in the 1976 NFL Expansion Draft. I learned today, from his profile at bucpower.com, that Carter threw the first touchdown pass in Buccaneer history–in the sixth game of the 1976 season!

Carter appeared on one card in the U.S., the 1977 Topps card pictured here. He also appeared on a 1977 Topps Mexican card. The front of the Mexican card looks like this one, except that it says “Bucaneros” rather than “Buccaneers.”

Happy birthday, Mr. Carter!

John Ward passed away on December 4; he was a lineman from 1970 to 1976 for the Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Chicago Bears. Ward was a member of the Vikings teams who represented the NFC in Super Bowls VIII and IX. There is a story about Ward and a recent picture at newsok.com.

Ward appeared on one football card, the 1976 Topps card pictured here. The card pictures Ward with Tampa Bay, who obtained him from Minnesota in the 1976 NFL Expansion Draft. He played just four games with Tampa Bay, then finished the 1976 season with Chicago.

Happy Valentine’s Day! Last year I gave you Flowers, this year it’s Harts. Here we go:

First is Leon Hart, a Heisman Trophy winner and College Hall of Famer. Hart played eight seasons for the Detroit Lions, and he appeared on at least twelve football cards. His rookie card, the 1948 Leaf pictured here, was issued while he was still at Notre Dame. It is a high number and one of the key cards in the set.

Next is Pete Hart, who played for the New York Titans in the AFL’s inaugural season, 1960. (The Titans were renamed the Jets in 1963.) Hart appeared on a 1961 Fleer card and the 1961 Fleer Wallet Picture shown here.

Jim Hart was a quarterback for nineteen seasons in the NFL, all but one of them for the St. Louis Cardinals. He was a Pro Bowler for four straight seasons, 1974 to 1977. Hart appeared on a lot of football cards; the one pictured here is a 1968 Topps Stand-Up insert card.

Doug Hart played from 1964 to 1971 for the Green Bay Packers. He had the NFL’s longest interception return in 1969, an 85-yarder. The Packers had a lot of great players in the 1960s, of course, so Hart didn’t appear on a card until 1970. His 1970 Topps card is pictured here. He also made it onto a 1972 Sunoco Stamp, but he did not play in 1972.

Tommy Hart played thirteen seasons for the 49ers, Bears, and Saints. He appeared on several cards during his career; you can see most of them in the Vintage Football Card Gallery. His rookie card, a 1973 Topps, is pictured here.

Finally, Harold Hart played four seasons, 1974-1975 and 1977-1978, with the Raiders and Giants. Ironically, his only card is a 1976 Topps that shows him with Tampa Bay, but he didn’t play in 1976, and he never played a regular season game for Tampa Bay. According to his page at bucpower.com, the expansion Buccaneers acquired Hart in the 1976 Veteran Allocation Draft, but he hurt his knee in the pre-season and spent the year on injured reserve.

That’s all the Harts! Next year, Roseys?

Mike Current, a tackle for 13 seasons with the Denver Broncos, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Miami Dolphins, has passed away. According to his page at bucpower.com, Current started 105 consecutive games for the Broncos and played in a total of 169 AFL and NFL games. Current was elected to the AFL West All-Star team after the 1969 season.

The cards pictured here are Current’s rookie card, a 1970 Topps, and his last card, a 1976 Topps. You can see all of Current’s cards and stamps in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

I was scanning 1976 Topps football cards for the Gallery yesterday, and I came across this Dan Ryczek rookie card. What do you suppose he’s looking at? The scoreboard? The Blue Angels? A Ray Guy punt? Ryczek was a center, so I wondered if Topps mistakenly turned the image 90 degrees. But no, the players behind him are right side up. It’s just a bad photo, not the first one Topps put on a card.

1976 was Tampa Bay’s first season in the NFL, and Ryczek’s card got me looking at the rest of the 1976 Topps Buccaneers cards. I noticed a few interesting things:

• Eight of the ten Buccaneer player cards are rookie cards, though all of the players had been with other teams in years prior. The players all appear in their old teams’ jerseys, so I presume Topps had the photos on file.
• Four players–Ira Gordon, Harold Hart, Durwood Keeton, and Larry Ely–never played in a regular season game for Tampa Bay. John Ward played in just four games before going to the Bears. (See the career stats for Gordon, Hart, Keeton, Ely, and Ward at pro-football-reference.com.)
• The back of the Buccaneers team checklist has a list of the players they chose in the expansion draft, a nice feature.

For an entertaining read, check out the Wikipedia article on the 1976 Buccaneers–especially coach John McKay’s quotes.