What I like most about this feature is that it highlights some cards that you typically find in the commons bin. Some players with stellar college careers had short or not-as-stellar pro careers, and you wouldn’t know from their cards how good they were in college. The player pictured here is one example: Jim Swink was runner-up to Howard Cassady for the Heisman Trophy in 1955, and he was elected to the College Hall of Fame in 1980. Swink played pro football for just one season–1960 for the AFL’s Dallas Texans–and this 1960 Fleer card is his only football card.

I found a few small surprises as I entered the information for the set. First, there is little overlap with the 1970 Kellogg’s set: only five players appear in both the 1970 and 1971 sets. Second, though most of the players in the 1971 Kellogg’s set were among the stars of their teams, two of the players never appeared on a card in a major issue. Finally, the cards apparently were issued–or at least designed–well before the 1971 season, because a number of players either played for a different team in 1971 or didn’t play at all. You can read the details on the Gallery page for the set.

I was thinking about what I want to accomplish in 2012 in the Vintage Football Card Gallery, and I decided that my goals follow two themes. The first theme is to finish some of the things I have already started. For example, last year I started identifying players who are in the College Football Hall of Fame, but I haven’t finished because there are way more of them than I thought. On the other hand, in the process of identifying the College Hall of Famers, I have learned some interesting things about them. Did you know, for instance, that Cosmo Iacavazzi, who played in only two games professionally, led the nation in scoring at Princeton in 1963? I love uncovering nuggets like that.

Which brings me to my second theme: doing more with the cards I already have. The Gallery now contains pictures of most of the vintage football cards out there, so now I can work more on depth than breadth. One thing I have started doing in this area is adding trivia for each card. Going back to Mr. Iacavazzi: did you ever notice that his 1965 Topps card pictures him in his college uniform, recolored Jets green? Until yesterday, I didn’t, either, but as I learn such things, I will make note of them. (For more examples, see the 1953 Rams Team Issue cards I recently added to the Gallery.)

Of course, as well as looking ahead to the new year, we should look back and remind ourselves of what we accomplished in 2011. This morning I took a quick look through my “New in the Gallery” blog articles, and it was gratifying to see all of the new cards and virtual uncut sheets I was able to add over the year. Most gratifying, I think, is that I had so much fun doing it.

Enjoy your collections, keep in touch, and have a terrific 2012!

Fans ordered the cards directly from the Rams, evidently. The 1953 set I obtained was still in the original envelope, pictured below.

I tried something new while entering the 1953 cards in my database: I added a note for each card. As I wrote in a previous article, I like it when collectors add notes when registering their graded cards, so I thought I would start entering notes for cards in the Gallery. I’ll never cover all of the cards, but when I learn something interesting about a card or a player, I’ll make a note of it. while researching this set, for example, I learned that most of the 1953 Rams players appeared in the film Crazy Legs, and that two of the players became the first head coaches of expansion teams. Check out my bits of trivia, and let me know what you think.

The back of each team photo card lists all of the players, coaches, and other personnel who are pictured on the front. The Cleveland Browns card actually pictures the 1967 team, and I assume the photos on the other cards are at least a year old, as well.

The team photos were inserts in packs of 1968 Topps Football Patches. (See a wrapper here.) I don’t yet have the patches in the Gallery, but you can see examples on eBay.

Pictured here are the front, back, and middle of the Green Bay Packers mini-card album.


The Packers mini-card album, with Bart Starr on the cover, is an exception. Most of the albums, strangely, have pictures of players from other teams on their covers. The San Francisco 49ers album, for instance, has a New York Giant on the cover. Commenting on an earlier blog article, a sharp-eyed reader pointed out that the player is Joe Walton, and that the image also appeared on Walton’s 1962 Topps card. Walton joined the Giants in 1961, so the photo must have been taken during the 1961 season.

Here’s a hint: it’s at least two. John Hadl played sixteen seasons for the San Diego Chargers, Los Angeles Rams, Green Bay Packers, and Houston Oilers. He is a member of the San Diego Chargers Hall of Fame. Curtis McClinton played eight seasons for the Dallas Texans and Kansas City Chiefs. (The Texans moved to Kansas City and became the Chiefs in 1963.) McClinton is a member of the Chiefs Hall of Fame.

Have your guess? See my 1961 Nu-Card page for the answer.

See the Gallery for more information on the 1959 Bazooka set.

Though Auburn had a great season in 1972, I counted only five players in the deck who went on to play in the NFL. (By contrast, fifteen players in the deck of 1974 Colorado Buffaloes playing cards got playing time in the NFL, and the 1974 Buffs finished just 5-6.) Here are the Auburn players who saw NFL action:

• Defensive back Mike Fuller played eight seasons for the San Diego Chargers and Cincinnati Bengals.
• Punter David Beverly played seven seasons for the Houston Oilers and Green Bay Packers.
• Center Lee Gross played four seasons for the New Orleans Saints and Baltimore Colts.
• Guard Dan Nugent played four seasons for the Washington Redskins.
• Linebacker Ken Bernich played one season for the New York Jets.

The 1972 Auburn Tigers set is one of several decks of 1970s playing cards that picture players from college teams. For more, see my earlier blog article, “P is also for Playing Cards.”