Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

Wow. A PSA 5, with six days to go, and this Bronko Nagurski card is already up to $4050. I’ll have to wait for the next one to come around–or maybe the one after that. The card does look nice for a PSA 5.

I hadn’t noticed before (it’s on the back) that Nagurski was from International Falls, Minnesota, the “Icebox of the Nation.” I went to the City of International Falls web site to see if there was any mention of him, and I was surprised not to find anything. Searching further, though, I found that there is a Bronko Nagurski Museum in town (scroll down to Smokey Bear Park), and that the Falls High School Broncos were named after Nagurski. I wonder why the city doesn’t make more of these things?

In my search, I also found a nice tribute to Nagurski, with lots of stories, pictures, and links to other sites, on the Windy City Gridiron web site. Check out the story about Bronko’s service station.

Nagurski’s son, Bronko Nagurski Jr., also played pro football, but in the CFL, with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. (According to Wikipedia, Bronko Jr. was drafted by the 49ers in 1959, but he elected to play in Canada.)

For more on the 1935 National Chicle cards, see N is for National Chicle.

• Search eBay for: 1935 National Chicle, Bronko Nagurski Jr.

As I wrote in O is for Oddball, I don’t collect many oddball items. This full set of 1963 Nalley’s CFL coins is pretty darn cool, though, and if I had $12,000 to burn, I’d grab it. The seller has a 1964 set of Nalley’s coins up for auction, also.

I recognize a few names from NFL teams. Dave Mann, who played for the Chicago Cardinals in the 1950′s, finished his pro career with the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL. Bud Grant, Joe Kapp, and Bobby Walden jumped from the CFL to the NFL later in the 1960′s.

Bronko Nagurski, Jr., also appears in the 1963 Nalley’s set. He played eight years for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

You can also find lots of individual 1963 and 1964 Nalley’s CFL coins on eBay. For more interesting vintage football auctions, see the Interesting eBay Auctions tab.