Sites I Like: The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game
July 11th, 2009 | Published in Football Card Trivia, Sites I Like
Sometimes you get to a topic in a roundabout way. Last night I came across this terrific 1954 Bowman Jim Dooley card, and I thought I’d look for other cards that picture players in their College All-Star uniforms. I found only John Brockington’s 1972 Topps rookie card, which I believe shows him in an All-Star jersey with the stars airbrushed off. It’s not an Ohio State jersey, and it’s not a Packers jersey, but it has the style of an All-Star jersey, and Brockington played in the All-Star game in 1971. (Topps also used this image of Brockington on his 1972 All-Pro card, where they airbrushed his jersey Packer green.)
Anyway, looking around the internet for pictures of players in their All-Star uniforms, I found a site called The Chicago Charities College All-Star Game 1934-1976. What a great site! It provides the background and history of the game, scores from each year, a summary of each year’s game, game records, the MVPs, and yearly attendance. Some of the early games drew over 100,000 fans!
The MVP awards were given only to the college players, and the positions that the MVPs played show how the game evolved. In the 30’s and 40’s, nearly all of the MVPs were running backs, and there was even an offensive lineman, Bill Fischer. In the 50’s and 60’s, as the passing game became more prevalent, the award went mainly to quarterbacks. In the late 60’s and 70’s, when the NFL dominated the game and stuffed the All-Star offenses, many of the awards went to the All-Stars’ defensive players. The college MVP in the final game, in 1973? The punter, Ray Guy!
Find Jim Dooley cards on: eBay, Nearmint’s Cards.
