Halls of Fame

New in the Gallery: 1979 Seahawks Police Football Cards

June 2nd, 2013  |  Published in Halls of Fame, New in the Gallery

Dave Brown 1979 Seattle Seahawks Police football cardYesterday I added 1979 Seattle Seahawks Police cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. Along with the 1979 Rams, Cowboys, and Chiefs Police sets, this is the one of the first NFL police sets ever produced. While I was at it, I added a search to the Gallery for members of the Seahawks Ring of Honor. One of the members of the Ring of Honor, defensive back Dave Brown, is pictured here.

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New Members of the College Football Hall of Fame

May 8th, 2013  |  Published in Halls of Fame

Steve Meilinger 1957 Topps football cardDon Trull 1966 Topps football cardTwo players in the Vintage Football Card Gallery, Steve Meilinger and Don Trull, were elected this week to the College Football Hall of Fame. You can see the announcement and the rest of the new Hall of Famers on the National Football Foundation web site.

Meilinger, an end at the University of Kentucky, went on to play five seasons for the Washington Redskins, Green Bay Packers, and Pittsburgh Steelers. He is pictured here on his 1957 Topps football card.

Trull, a quarterback at Baylor, played six seasons for the Houston Oilers and Boston Patriots in the AFL, then moved to the CFL and played two seasons for the Edmonton Eskimos. He is shown here on his 1966 Topps football card.

As seniors in college, both Meilinger and Trull placed in the top ten in Heisman Trophy voting. You can see them and the other top vote-getters on my page of football cards of Heisman Trophy candidates.

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2013 College Football Hall of Fame Candidates, Bowl Subdivision

March 8th, 2013  |  Published in Halls of Fame

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.
Bob Berry 1972 Topps football card
John Didion, center, Oregon State. Didion played six seasons for the New Orleans Saints. This is his 1974 Topps card.
John Didion 1974 Topps football 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.
Charlie Gogolak 1967 Philadelphia rookie football card
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.
Rob Lytle 1978 Topps rookie football card
Paul Naumoff, linebacker, Tennessee. Naumoff had a 12-year NFL career with the Detroit Lions. He is pictured here on his 1973 Topps card.
Paul Naumoff 1973 Topps football card
Tom Nowatzke, linebacker, Indiana. Nowatzke played eight seasons for the Detroit Lions and Baltimore Colts. This is his 1969 Topps football card.
Tom Nowatze 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.
Phil Olsen 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.
Jim Otis 1976 Buckmans football disc
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.
Don Trull 1971 O-Pee-Chee CFL football card
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.
Clancy Williams 1967 Philadelphia football card
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.
Goose Gonsoulin 1961 Fleer rookie football card
You can see all 82 of the 2013 Football Bowl Subdivision candidates on the National Football Foundation web site.

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New in the Gallery: Almost Hall of Famers

March 2nd, 2013  |  Published in Halls of Fame, New in the Gallery

George Young 1951 Topps Magic football cardI added a new page, called Almost Hall of Famers, to the Vintage Football Card Gallery this week. The page shows all of the players in the Gallery who have been finalists for the Hall of Fame, but who have not yet been elected. One of them, George Young, is pictured here on his 1951 Topps Magic card. Young, who was a general manager for the New York Giants for 19 years, was a finalist as a contributor in 2005.

Check out the new page and the Gallery’s other “Fun Pages“!

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Curley Culp’s Pre-Rookie Card and Stamp

February 11th, 2013  |  Published in Halls of Fame, New in the Gallery

Curley Culp pre-roookie 1972 Sunoco StampCurley Culp 1971 Kellogg's pre-rookie football cardNot surprisingly, there has been a lot of interest in Curley Culp’s 1973 Topps rookie card since he was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame a week ago. Less known are Culp’s pre-rookie issues, but there are collectors who find pre-rookies highly desirable, as well. Culp appeared on at least two: the 1971 Kellogg’s card and 1972 Sunoco stamp pictured here. They are the latest additions to the pre-rookie card page of the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

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Bob Simpson, Olympic Athlete and Canadian Football Hall of Famer

January 7th, 2013  |  Published in CFL Cards, Halls of Fame

Bob Simpson 1960 CFL football cardLast week, in the process of adding 1960 Topps CFL football cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery, I discovered that Bob Simpson, one of the players in the set, had played on Canada’s Olympic basketball team in 1952. Simpson went on to play thirteen seasons for the CFL’s Ottawa Rough Riders, and he was inducted into the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1975. He is pictured here on his 1960 Topps CFL card, shooting a layup.

After my discovery, I added Simpson to my page of Olympic athletes who appeared on vintage football cards. In case you haven’t seen it, take a look. Check out my other “fun pages,” too!

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New in the Gallery: Football Cards of Outland Trophy Winners

October 10th, 2012  |  Published in Halls of Fame, New in the Gallery

In honor of Alex Karras, who passed away this morning, today I identified all of the cards of Outland Trophy winners in the Vintage Football Card Gallery. The Outland Trophy is awarded annually to the nation’s outstanding college interior lineman; Karras won it in 1957. You can see the all-time list of winners on the sportswriters.net site.

Pictured here are cards of two other winners, a 1960 Mayrose Cardinals Mike McGee, and a 1974 Wonder Bread Mike Reid. Click here to see the rest, or use the Gallery’s advanced search page to do more complex searches.
Mike McGee 1960 Mayrose Cardinals football cardMike Reid 1974 Wonder Bread football card

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New in the Gallery: 1978 Country Kitchen Vikings

October 2nd, 2012  |  Published in Halls of Fame, New in the Gallery

Tommy Kramer 1978 Country Kitchen Vikings cardYesterday I added 1978 Country Kitchen Vikings photos to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. Pictured here is one of them, Tommy Kramer, who happens to be one of this year’s College Football Hall of Fame inductees. (The full list of 2012 inductees is here.) I listed the Country Kitchen set under Food and Regional Issues.

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Bookends

September 26th, 2012  |  Published in Football Card Trivia, Halls of Fame

Can you think of cards that look more like bookends than Bobby Bell and Buck Buchanan‘s 1964 Topps cards? Not only did the players’ rookie cards mirror each another, so did their careers:

  • Bell played from 1963 to 1974, all with the Chiefs. Buchanan played from 1963 to 1975, also all with the Chiefs.
  • Bell played in nine AFL All-Star and NFL Pro Bowl games; Buchanan played in eight.
  • Bell was inducted into the Chiefs Hall of Fame in 1980, Buchanan in 1981.
  • Bell was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983; Buchanan was inducted in 1990. Buchanan was also a finalist four times previously, starting in 1984.
  • Finally, both are members of the College Football Hall of Fame. Bell was inducted in 1991, Buchanan in 1996.

Bobby Bell 1964 Topps rookie football cardBuck Buchanan 1964 Topps rookie football card

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New in the Gallery: 1975 Fleer Immortal Roll Football Cards

September 8th, 2012  |  Published in Halls of Fame, New in the Gallery

This week I added 1975 Fleer Immortal Roll football cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. There are 84 cards in the set, one for each Pro Football Hall of Famer as of 1975, except for Jim Brown. The set includes cards of several early players who, to my knowledge, had not appeared on a card before. Here are two of them, Joe Guyon and Mike Michalske.
1975 Fleer Joe Guyon football card1975 Fleer Mike Michalske football card

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