Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

Clarence Self, a back from 1949 to 1955 for the Chicago Cardinals, Detroit Lions, and Green Bay Packers, passed away on January 21. Self played college football at Wisconsin, and he still holds the school record for kickoff return yards in a game, with 178.

Self appeared on one football card, the 1948 Leaf card pictured here, while still at Wisconsin. It is one of the scarce high-numbered cards in the set. 1948 Leaf cards were printed on two sheets, one holding cards 1-49 and the other holding cards 50-98, and Leaf apparently printed the second sheet in much smaller quantities. The Self card is number 78.

Bill Stits, who played in the NFL from 1954 to 1961 for the Detroit Lions, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Redskins, and New York Giants, passed away on December 5. At various times in his career, Stits was a defensive back, running back, punt returner, and kick returner. He intercepted six passes and recovered a fumble in his rookie season in Detroit, and he made the Pro Bowl that year.

The cards pictured here are Stit’s rookie card, a 1954 Bowman, and his 1956 Topps card. He also appeared on two 49ers team issue photos, in 1957 and 1958. I don’t yet have his 1957 photo, but can see his 1958 photo in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

Harley Sewell, who played guard from 1953 to 1963 for the Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams, passed away on December 17. The Austin Statesman web site has a report. Sewell was selected for the Pro Bowl four times while with Detroit, and he played on the Lions’ NFL Championship teams of 1953 and 1957.

The cards pictured here are Sewell’s rookie card, a 1953 Bowman, and his last card, a 1963 Topps. The 1953 card is evidence that Sewell was highly regarded coming out of college, because it was unusual in the 1950s for a player, especially a lineman, to appear on a card in his rookie season. The 1963 card pictures him still with the Lions, but he played for the Rams in 1963. He also appeared on a 1959 Topps card and a 1962 Post Cereal card.

Tom Watkins, running back and kick returner from 1961 to 1968 for the Cleveland Browns, Detroit Lions, and Pittsburgh Steelers, passed away on October 29. Watkins led the NFL in yards per punt return in 1964, and in yards per kickoff return in 1965. Watkins is a member of the Iowa State University Athletics Hall of Fame, and there is a summary of his football career on the Iowa State web site.

Watkins is pictured here on his first two football cards: a scarce 1961 National City Bank Browns card and a 1965 Philadelphia card. The 1965 Philadelphia card, though it came four years later, is considered his rookie card because it was produced by a major card company. Watkins also appeared on a 1966 Philadelphia card and a 1968 Topps card. His 1968 Topps card has him with the Rams, but he actually played for the Steelers that year.

Don’t ask me how I got there, but the other day I found myself thinking about players with “Mad” nicknames. Here are four I thought of: Daryle “Mad Bomber” Lamonica, on his 1968 Topps Stand Up insert; Ted “Mad Stork” Hendricks, on his 1975 Wonder Bread card; Alex “The Mad Duck” Karras, on his 1966 Philadelphia card, and Jim “Mad Dog” Mandich, on his 1976 Topps card.

Can you think of more?

Dick Stanfel and Jack Butler were named yesterday as the 2012 senior finalists for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. You can read the announcement and see the players’ biographies on the Hall of Fame site. This is the second time Stanfel has been chosen as a senior finalist; the first time was in 1993.

In the 1950s, defensive players and offensive linemen often got short shift, card-wise, and that is the case with these two players. Butler, a defensive back, played for the Steelers from 1951 to 1959, but he did not appear on a football card until his seventh season, 1957. His rookie card, a 1957 Topps, is pictured here. He also appeared on 1958 Topps and 1959 Topps cards.

Stanfel, who played from 1952 to 1958 for the Detroit Lions and Washington Redskins, was a five-time first team All-Pro at guard. He appeared on just two football cards, his 1955 Bowman rookie card, pictured here, and a 1958 Topps.

Chances are very good that at least one of the two senior nominees will be elected to the Hall. The Senior Nominees page of the Hall of Fame web site shows that at least one senior candidate has been elected each year since 1998.

• Find Dick Stanfel football cards on eBay
• Find Jack Butler football cards on eBay

Last week, while I was scanning 1969 Glendale Stamps for the Vintage Football Card Gallery, I noticed that the Bob Griese and Mel Farr stamps have reversed images. The players’ jersey numbers were what clued me in: Griese wore number 12 for the Dolphins, and Farr wore number 24 for the Lions. I’ll bet that there are more reversed images in the set, but most of the players’ jersey numbers are not visible, so it is hard to tell.

There are several other reversed images in the Gallery: Charley Trippi on one variation of his 1948 Kellogg’s Pep card; Bill Wade, Doug Atkins, and Frank Varrichione on their 1960 Topps cards, and Dick Butkus and Joe Namath on variations of their 1972 NFLPA Vinyl Stickers.

Lee Riley, who played defensive back from 1955 to 1962 for the Detroit Lions, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, and New York Titans, passed away on June 9. Riley’s best season was 1962, when he intercepted 11 passes for the Titans, leading the AFL. Riley was the son of Leon Riley, who played briefly for baseball’s Philadelphia Phillies, and the brother of Pat Riley, longtime NBA coach and current president of the Miami Heat. He is mentioned in Pat Riley’s profile on the NBA web site.

The card pictured here is Riley’s rookie card, a 1955 Bowman. (1955 Bowmans are the only vintage football cards I can think of that indicate which players were rookies.) He also appeared on a 1963 Fleer card, issued after his last season.

You can see Lee Riley’s career stats at pro-football-reference.com.

John Henry Johnson, who played fullback from 1954 to 1966 for the San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Houston Oilers, passed away on June 3. Johnson also played one season, 1953, with the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders.

Johnson was a four-time Pro Bowler, once with the 49ers and three times with the Steelers. He was also a member of the Lions NFL Championship team in 1957. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1987.

The card pictured here is Johnson’s rookie card, a 1955 Bowman. Topps used the same image, recolored, on his 1957 Topps card. (See them side-by-side in an earlier blog article.) Johnson appeared on many other cards during his long career, as well.

Also see:

• A summary of Johnson’s career on the Pro Football Hall of Fame web site.
• Johnson’s career NFL and AFL statistics at pro-football-reference.com.

I recently put some 1969 Topps football cards up for sale, including this one, Tom Vaughn of the Lions. The Lions logo that Topps used in this set has always looked familiar to me, so yesterday I did some searching. I believe I found what I was thinking of: a Ford Mustang logo from around that time. This might be obvious to Detroit fans, but it appears to me that the designer of the Lions logo gave a nod to the city’s main industry. (The image of the Mustang logo is from motortopia.com.)

This card happens to show Vaughn in my favorite football card pose, where the player is about to put on his helmet. For more examples, see My Favorite Pose, More of My Favorite Pose, and Still More of My Favorite Post.

I read today on boston.com that Jon Morris will be inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame this year. Morris was a center in the AFL and NFL for fifteen seasons: eleven with the Patriots, then three with the Lions and one with the Bears. He was an Pro Bowler in each of his first seven seasons, according to his page at pro-football-reference.com.

The card pictured here is Morris’s rookie card, a 1965 Topps. Topps apparently liked the image, because it also appears on his 1966 Topps and 1967 Topps cards.

You can see all of Jon Morris’s cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery. You can also search the Gallery for cards of other members of the Patriots Hall of Fame.

Paul Briggs, who played tackle and linebacker for the Detroit Lions in 1948, passed away on February 14. According to Briggs’s obituary at bakersfield.com, a knee injury cut short his football career. The obituary includes an account of his World War II heroism, a list of his college football awards, and a recent photo. Cubuffs.com has a photo of Briggs with the 1947 University of Colorado football team.

Despite having a short NFL career, Briggs appeared on a football card, the 1948 Bowman card pictured here. His card is one of the short prints in the set, and one of the more difficult cards in the set to find in high grade. (For details, see the 1948 Bowman uncut sheet page.)

• See the stats for Paul Briggs at pro-football-reference.com.

When I read yesterday that Ollie Matson had passed away, I thought I’d do a quick web search for him. It kept me busy for a couple of hours. A San Francisco Chronicle article provides the best summary I found of Matson’s career. The article includes a recent photo and a few photos from his playing days.

Before reading about Matson yesterday, I didn’t know about his 1951 San Francisco Dons team. The Dons went undefeated in 1951, but, because they refused to play without their two black team members, Matson and Burl Toler, they were not invited to a bowl game. A book about the team, by Dr. Kristine Setting Clark, is available. Two other Pro Football Hall of Famers, Gino Marchetti and Bob St. Clair, were also members of the 1951 Dons team.

Matson’s two rookie cards–1952 Bowman Large and 1952 Bowman Small–picture him in his Dons uniform. His 1952 Bowman Large card, pictured on the right, is one of my all-time favorite football cards. The back of the card shows that Matson was drafted by the Chicago Cardinals in 1952. He shared NFL Rookie of the Year honors that season with Hugh McElhenny.

Before joining the Cardinals, Matson ran track in the 1952 Helsinki Summer Olympics. He won two medals: a bronze in the 400-meter dash and a silver in the 1600-meter relay. (For other pro football players who won Olympic medals, see my blog article on the subject.)

According to Matson’s page on the Pro Football Hall of Fame web site, he spent the 1953 season in the military, and he returned to the Cardinals in 1954. In total, he played 14 seasons for the Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, Detroit Lions, and Philadelphia Eagles. According to his page at pro-football-reference.com, he was a fullback, halfback, flanker, defensive back, and kick returner at various times during his NFL career. He is a member of the Cardinals Ring of Honor and the Philadelphia Eagles Honor Roll.

During his long NFL career, Matson appeared on at least 16 football cards. My favorite, after his 1952 Bowman cards, is his 1959 Topps card, pictured on the left.

You can see all of Ollie Matson’s football cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

Here’s another amazing record I found on the nfl.com individual records page: On October 29, 1950, against the Los Angeles Rams, Detroit’s Wally Triplett returned 4 kickoffs for an average of 73.5 yards per return! I found the box score for the game at pro-football-reference.com, and I was surprised to see that only one of the returns was for a touchdown. Searching further, I found an account of the game in an article about Triplett on the Pro Football Researchers web site. According to the article, the returns were for 81, 97, 74, and 42 yards, and the 97-yarder was for the touchdown.

Unfortunately, the rest of the Lions didn’t play as well as Triplett that day. The Rams scored 41 points in the third quarter, and they beat the Lions 65-24. The 41 points in a quarter tied a record, too–a record that the Packers had set 5 years earlier, also against the Lions.

Triplett had a short NFL career: two seasons with the Lions and two with the Cardinals, with two years in the Army between. The card pictured here is Triplett’s only card, a 1950 Bowman. You can find a summary of Wally Triplett’s career at pro-football-reference.com.

John Greene, who played for the Detroit Lions from 1944 to 1950, passed away yesterday. Greene was a lineman at the University of Michigan, and he spent his first season with the Lions at guard. In his second season, the Lions moved Greene to end, where he had great success. According to his obituary on the Detroit Free Press web site, he led the Lions in receiving from 1945 to 1947, and he was the Lions’ all-time leading receiver when he retired.

I believe that the card pictured here, a 1950 Bowman, is Greene’s only football card. The major sports card companies did not print football cards during his first four seasons, 1944-1947.