Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

Fred Biletnikoff, the great Oakland Raiders wide receiver, is celebrating his 70th birthday today. Biletnikoff played 14 seasons for the Raiders, from 1965 to 1978. He played in Super Bowl II against the Green Bay Packers, and he was the MVP of Super Bowl XI, in which the Raiders beat the Minnesota Vikings. After retiring as a player, Biletnikoff went on to a long coaching career, including 18 more seasons with the Raiders. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988, and into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1991.

Biletnikoff is pictured here on one of my favorite football cards, a 1970 Topps Super Glossy insert card. He appeared on over twenty more cards and stamps, as well. You can see the whole array in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

Happy birthday, Mr. Biletnikoff!

Bill Asbury is celebrating his 70th birthday today; he was a running back from 1966 to 1968 for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Asbury’s best season was his rookie year, 1966, when he gained 772 yards from scrimmage and scored 9 touchdowns. In 1967, Asbury and Dave Osborn tied for the NFL’s longest run of the season, 73 yards.

Asbury is pictured here on a 1969 Topps card, wearing the Steelers’ “Batman” jersey. He also appeared on at least three other cards and stamps. You can read about the Batman jerseys in one of my previous blog articles.

Happy birthday, Mr. Asbury!

Happy Thursday! Here are this week’s interesting eBay auctions for vintage football cards and related collectibles:

• If you aren’t sensitive to condition, you might like this full set of 1948 Bowman football cards. The starting price was just $99.
• The starting price also seems reasonable for this full set of mid-grade 1953 Bowman football cards.
• Here’s a complete graded set of 1974 Town Talk Bread cards. These are identical to 1974 Wonder Bread cards, except that the “Wonder Bread All-Star Series” line was omitted from the back. (See the back of a Wonder Bread card here.) Town Talk bread was sold only in western Pennsylvania, so Town Talk cards are much scarcer than Wonder Bread cards.
• Any 1894 Mayo is a good 1894 Mayo, but these two are about as rough as I’ve seen.
• There aren’t many vintage cards among the
  most-watched football card auctions this week, unfortunately. The most interesting is a full display box of unopened 1978 Topps cello packs.
• I don’t think I’ve bought anything from seller strict_grader, but I really like the “Message to Collectors”section of his About page.
• Weird item of the week: a button with a picture of Jim Brown’s rookie card on it.
• Fans of miscuts, your card of the week is a 1973 Topps rookie card of Hall of Famer Jack Youngblood.
• Pre-rookie card collectors, here’s a pretty nice 1950 Admiral TV Rams Mel Hein pre-rookie card. Some day I’m going to collect this set!
• Finally, here’s a group of five 1966 Coke Lloyd Voss bottle caps, all from different Coke products. I’m not very familiar with these caps–does anyone know if this is the full set of products?

Like these? See my Interesting eBay Auction articles from past weeks.

Glynn Gregory, who played for the Dallas Cowboys in 1961 and 1962, passed away on February 14. Gregory’s obituary, including a recent photo, appears at dignitymemorial.com. Before his professional career, Gregory starred at Southern Methodist University, where he was a teammate of Don Meredith. He was elected to the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame in 1984.

Gregory appeared on one football card, the 1962 Post Cereal card pictured here.

I have been busy scanning 1978 Topps cards for the Vintage Football Card Gallery, and I have been amused by some of the images on the cards. The set contains a lot of sideline shots, so it’s no surprise that the players aren’t looking their best. Here are just a couple of beauties: Tom Banks going for the oxygen mask, and Bill Lenkaitis sporting an Ed Grimley ‘do.

Both players cleaned up well. Here are Banks and Lenkaitis on their 1976 Topps cards.

I am only about half done with the images, but you can scroll through the rest of the 1978 Topps cards here.

Two players in the Vintage Football Card Gallery, John Lee and Scott Laidlaw, are celebrating their 60th birthday today. Lee was a defensive end from 1976 to 1981 for the San Diego Chargers and New England Patriots, and Laidlaw was a running back from 1975 to 1980 for the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants. Laidlaw played on three Super Bowl teams in his first four seasons, all with the Cowboys. The Cowboys won one of them, Super Bowl XII, against the Broncos.

As far as I know, Lee did not appear on a football card during his NFL career, but he did appear on a 1974 Nebraska playing card while still in college. That card is shown below. He was one of at least fourteen players in the 1974 Nebraska football deck who later played in the NFL.

Laidlaw appeared on the 1977 Topps card pictured here, as well as a Mexican version of the same card. You can read about the 1977 Topps Mexican cards at toppsmexican.com.

Happy birthday, Mr. Lee and Mr. Laidlaw!

Two players in the Vintage Football Card Gallery are celebrating milestone birthdays today: Elbert Dubenion is 80, and Brig Owens is 70.

Elbert “Golden Wheels” Dubenion, a flanker, played his entire career with the Buffalo Bills in the AFL. He was one of the original Bills in 1960, and he stayed with the team until 1968. Dubenion was AFL All-Star in 1964, and he was elected to the Bills Wall of Fame in 1993. Before his pro career, Dubenion starred at Bluffton University, and there is a nice article about him on the school’s web site. According to oldestlivingprofootball.com, Dubenion is the 494st oldest living pro football player.

Dubenion is pictured here on his 1963 Fleer football card. He appeared on many other Fleer and Topps cards, as well.

Brig Owens, a defensive back, played from 1966 to 1977 for the Washington Redskins. He is second on the Redskins all-time leaders list for interceptions, behind Darrell Green. The team has named Owens one of the 80 Greatest Redskins, and he is member of the Redskins Ring of Fame.

Owens is pictured here on his 1970 Topps football card. He also appeared on several other cards and stamps during his career.

Happy birthday, Messrs. Dubenion and Owens!

Pat Tilley, a wide receiver who played his entire 11-year NFL career with the St. Louis Cardinals, is celebrating his 60th birthday today. Tilley led the Cardinals in receiving six times–1978 to 1982, and 1985–and he made the Pro Bowl once, in 1980. He is pictured here on his 1977 Topps and 1978 Topps football cards.

Happy birthday, Mr. Tilley!

Happy Friday! Here are this week’s interesting eBay auctions for vintage football cards and related collectibles:

• Here’s a nice picture of the 1957 Baltimore Colts, from National Bohemian beer. It’s the same image that appears on the 1958 Topps Colts team card.
• $150 seems like a fair price for a near-set of low-grade 1955 Bowman football cards. (This is the first time I have seen pictures of cards taken outdoors!)
• This week’s most watched auction that includes vintage football cards is a huge collection of baseball, football, and basketball cards. Last I looked, it was at $9450. Most of the other most-watched football card auctions are newer cards this week, but there are a couple of Walter Payton rookies on the list, at least.
• I need to bring the Vintage Football Card Gallery up to 1981 so I can include these Dallas Cheerleader cards!
• Miscut lovers, here’s a 1968 Topps checklist that includes a chunk of Daryle Lamonica. You can see the cards together on the uncut second series sheet.
• I don’t know how rare these are, but I think they’re cool: two uncut sheets of 1981 Red Rooster Edmonton Eskimos cards.
• Most-loved card of the week: a 1962 Topps Redskins team card with a bunch of stats hand-written on it. I can’t tell what they mean, though–can you?
• My random search this week was for AAFC memorabilia. The programs are cool, and so are the matchbooks.
• Finally, I’m not familiar with this issue, so I have to ask: on his 1952 Parkhurst CFL card, is Chuck Anderson wearing a suit over his uniform?

Like these? See my Interesting eBay Auction articles from past weeks.

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!

Last week I invested $2 in a miscut Fran Rogel card I found on eBay. It provided another piece to the 1957 Topps virtual uncut sheet that I am slowly assembling. As you can see, you can’t tell from the front which card was under Rogel’s, but you can tell from the back that the card beneath is Royce Womble.

If you’re following along, you can see my progress on the sheet here.

Two players in the Vintage Football Card Gallery, Art Kuehn and Abdul Salaam, turned 60 today. Kuehn, a center on the original Seattle Seahawks team, played from 1976 to 1983 for the Seahawks and New England Patriots. Kuehn played in two other professional football leagues, as well: he started his career with the World Football League’s California Sun in 1975, and he finished it with the USFL’s Memphis Showboats in 1984 and 1985. Kuehn is shown here on his rookie card, a 1977 Topps.

Abdul Salaam (who changed his name from Larry Faulk in 1977) played defensive tackle for the New York Jets from 1976 to 1983. Salaam, Joe Klecko, Marty Lyons, and Mark Gastineau comprised the “New York Sack Exchange,” the renowned defensive line of the early-80s Jets. Salaam’s 1978 Topps card is pictured below.

Happy birthday, Messrs. Kuehn and Salaam!

Not 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.

Allie Sherman, former NFL player and head coach, is celebrating his 90th birthday today. Sherman played from 1943 to 1947 for the Philadelphia Eagles, and he was the head coach of the New York Giants from 1961 to 1968. Sherman led the Giants to the league championship game in each of this first three seasons, and he was named NFL Coach of the Year in 1961 and 1962. He was inducted into the National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1995. According to oldestlivingprofootball.com, Sherman is the 68th oldest living pro football player.

As far as I know, Sherman never appeared on a football card of his own. There is a small photo of him, however, on the 1964 Philadelphia and 1965 Philadelphia Giants Play of the Year cards. The 1965 card is pictured here.

Happy birthday, Mr. Sherman!

Yesterday I added a few enhancements to the Most Watched eBay Listings page in the Vintage Football Card Gallery:

• There is now an option to see just the most watched auctions for a category. I added this because some of the fixed price listings never leave the top spots.
• The page is no longer limited to just sports cards. You can now see the most watched listings for any category: coins, stamps, real estate, women’s shoes, etc.
• The page will now show up to 100 listings, instead of just 20.
• For fixed price listings, you can now see the number of items sold.

Give it a whirl!