Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

Houston Antwine, a defensive lineman from 1961 to 1972 for the Boston/New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles, passed away last night, according to the Boston Globe web site. His wife passed away today. Antwine was an American Football League All-Star six straight seasons, from 1963 to 1968.

Antwine appeared on numerous football cards and stamps during his career. The cards pictured here are his rookie card, a 1964 Topps, and his last card, a 1970 Topps. You can see all of Antwine’s cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

A while back, someone told me that Adrian Young’s 1971 Topps card pictures not Adrian Young, but Rick Duncan. Today I searched for pictures of the two players to see for myself. As far as I know, neither of the players appeared on another standard football card, but I did find pictures of them on a few other items listed on eBay.

Rick Duncan, a kicker and punter, played in four games over three seasons for the Broncos, Eagles, and Lions. He had been out of football for two years by the time he showed up on Young’s card. Topps apparently used a photo of Duncan from 1968, because he is pictured in an Eagles uniform, and 1968 was the season he spent with the Eagles. He evidently had a tryout with the Bears in 1967, because I found a press photo of him and Bruce Alford in Bears uniforms.

Adrian Young, a linebacker, played for six seasons with the Eagles, Lions, and Bears. I found two items that picture the real Adrian Young: a 1969 Eagles team issue photo and a 1972 NFLPA stamp. (Young is in the bottom row, second from the right.) I’d say there’s not much resemblance between Young and Duncan.

Coincidentally, while searching for a photo of Young, I learned that he will be inducted into the USC Athletic Hall of Fame in 2012. I also found an article that says he once intercepted four passes in a game against Notre Dame. Unfortuately, the article uses the image from Young’s 1971 Topps card–the one that pictures Rick Duncan!

For more vintage football cards that picture the wrong player, see my Mistaken Identities page and my blog article about errors in the inset photos on 1962 Topps football cards.

Norm “Wild Man” Willey, a defensive end from 1950 to 1957 for the Philadelphia Eagles, passed away on August 18. ESPN’s web site has a report of his death. Willey was a Pro Bowler twice, in 1954 and 1955. According to the book The Eagles Encyclopedia, Willey once got 17 sacks in one game–but this was before sacks were counted among the official NFL statistics.

Willey appeared on three football cards, the 1954 Bowman and 1956 Topps cards shown here, and a 1955 Bowman card. I especially like the 1956 Topps card, in which he appears to be imitating the logo in the upper right corner.

Pete Pihos, Hall of Fame end for the Philadelphia Eagles, passed away this morning, according to the team’s web site. Pihos played nine seasons for the Eagles, from 1947 to 1955, and he made the Pro Bowl the last six of those seasons. He was also a member of the Eagles’ 1948 and 1949 NFL Championship teams. Pihos’s page on the Pro Football Hall of Fame web site has a summary of his career.

Pihos had two rookie cards, the 1948 Leaf and 1948 Bowman cards pictured below. The 1948 Leaf card shown here is the variation with yellow numerals; there is also a rare variation with blue numerals. You can see all of Pete Pihos’s cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

Ken Payne, wide receiver from 1974 to 1978 for the Green Bay Packers and Philadelphia Eagles, passed away on August 1. Payne led the Packers in receptions and receiving yards in 1975 and 1976.

The card pictured here is Payne’s rookie card, a 1976 Topps. He also appeared on a 1977 Topps card.

• See Ken Payne’s career NFL stats at pro-football-reference.com.

Jimmy Harris, a defensive back in the NFL and AFL from 1957 to 1961, passed away on August 8. Harris played one season each for the Philadelphia Eagles, Los Angeles Rams, Dallas Texans, and Dallas Cowboys. He did not play the 1959 season.

Before his pro career, Harris was a star quarterback at Oklahoma. He went 25-0 over three seasons, contributing over half of the wins in the Sooners’ 47-game winning streak. NewsOK.com has an account of Harris’s college career, along with lots of photos.

The card pictured here is Harris’s rookie card, a 1957 Topps. Topps apparently colored a college photo of Harris to put him in Eagles green, because the image closely resembles the photo in the NewsOK.com article, and Harris wore number 20 for the Eagles, not number 15. The image on Harris’s 1960 Fleer card appears to have come from the same photo session, as well.

Harris appeared in a Dallas Texans uniform on a 1961 Fleer card and a 1961 Fleer Wallet Photo, but he played for the Cowboys that season.

Over the weekend I picked up a couple of miscut 1959 Topps first series cards. That allowed me to add a 1959 Topps section to my page of partial virtual uncut sheets. The cards are Bill Barnes, with a sliver of Leo Nomellini’s card showing on the right side, and the Colts pennant, with a sliver of Bob St. Clair’s card on the left side.

A previous blog article, U is for Uncut Sheets, contains a full list of the virtual uncut football card sheets I have completed. As always, if you have miscut cards from sheets I haven’t done yet, I’d love to see them.

Richard Harris, the assistant head coach and defensive line coach of the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers, passed away this afternoon. The Winnipeg Free Press web site has a report and a recent photo. Harris was a defensive lineman in the NFL from 1971 to 1977, playing for the Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears, and Seattle Seahawks.

Harris appeared on one football card during his playing days, the 1974 Topps card pictured here. He also appeared on a 1972 Sunoco Stamp.

Here’s another old record from the nfl.com individual records page: in the 1963 season, Don Hultz, a rookie for the Minnesota Vikings, recovered nine opponents’ fumbles. That broke Joe Schmidt’s record of eight, set in 1955, and no player has come close since. According to The Vikings Timeline at vikingupdate.com, Hultz’s feat earned him a new nickname, “The Magnet.”

In 1964, the Vikings traded Hultz to the Philadelphia Eagles, and he never again came close to his 1963 record. Hultz’s page at pro-football-reference.com says that in his last eleven seasons, he recovered just three more opponents’ fumbles.

The card pictured here is Hultz’s rookie card, a 1968 Topps. He also appeared on a 1972 Sunoco Stamp and a 1973 Topps card.

Frank Ziegler, who played halfback for the Philadelphia Eagles from 1949 to 1953, passed away on March 6. According to his page at pro-football-reference.com, Ziegler finished second in the NFL in rushing in 1950. He was a member of the 1949 Eagles team that finished 11-1 and won the NFL Championship.

The card pictured here is Ziegler’s 1952 Bowman Small football card. He also appeared on a 1952 Bowman Large card and a 1953 Bowman card. Bowman used the same image for all three cards.

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.

Gerry Huth, a guard for six seasons with the New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, and Minnesota Vikings, passed away on February 11. Huth was a member of the 1956 Giants and 1960 Eagles NFL Championship teams. His obituary at newcomerlouisville.com includes a summary of his football career.

Huth’s only football card, the 1963 Topps card pictured here, was issued in his last NFL season. This is the “blue sky” variation of the card; there is also a “purple sky” variation. You can see the variations side-by-side in the PSA Set Registry.

• See Gerry Huth’s NFL stats at pro-football-reference.com.

Yesterday, while I was adding the Eagles Honor Roll to the Vintage Football Card Gallery, I did a web search for “Whitey Wistert.” Al Wistert is a member of the Eagles Honor Roll, and some of his cards say “Al ‘Whitey’ Wistert.”

My search results were interesting: they included a lot of references to Al’s football cards and a lot of references to Al’s older brother, Francis “Whitey” Wistert. Only a couple of non-football-card references, which appeared way down in my search results, referred to Al as “Whitey.” Most references to Al said his nickname was “Ox.”

According to an article on profootballresearchers.org, both Francis and Al were called “Whitey.” I’m guessing, though, that if people called Al “Whitey,” they did so out either out of confusion or as a tribute to Francis. Francis was a football and baseball star at Michigan, and he played major league baseball for Cincinnati.

Anyway, since Al’s brother Francis was well-known as “Whitey,” since Al was more often called “Ox,” and since mistakes are far from unusual on old football cards, I would say that calling Al “Whitey” was just another card company mistake. I suspect that some writers referred to Al as “Whitey” because that’s what it said on his cards.

Pictured here is one of Al’s error cards, a 1951 Bowman. His 1948 Leaf and 1949 Leaf cards also say “Whitey.”

• Search Nearmint’s Cards for Al Wistert football cards
• Search eBay for Al Wistert football cards

Today I added the ability to search the Vintage Football Card Gallery for members of the Philadelphia Eagles Honor Roll. I found the list of Honor Roll inductees, along with summaries of their careers, in the Eagles media guide. As I have written in earlier posts, I like looking at team halls of fame because they include the second tier of stars, the ones who have not made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

One name on the Eagles Honor Roll surprised me: Ollie Matson. I didn’t know that he had been an Eagle! So I looked up his stats and found that he had played for Philadelphia from 1964 to 1966, his last three seasons before retiring. He didn’t appear on a football card during those years, I suppose because his production had waned by then. According to Wikipedia, when the Eagles introduced their Honor Roll in 1987, they inducted all former Eagles who were members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. So they included Matson, though his best years had been with the Cardinals and Rams.

Another member of the Eagles Honor Roll inaugural class, Harold Carmichael, is pictured above. This is Carmichael’s rookie card, a 1974 Topps.

You can use the Gallery’s Advanced Search page to find cards of members of the Eagles Honor Roll or other team halls of fame.

Woody Peoples, a guard for thirteen seasons with the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles, passed away on Tuesday. Peoples made the Pro Bowl twice for the 49ers, in 1972 and 1973, and he was a member of the Eagles’ 1980 NFC Championship team. A tribute to Peoples at lehighvalleylive.com includes a nice photo of him warming up for Super Bowl XV.

Peoples appeared on a few cards during his long career. The card pictured here is his rookie card, a 1970 Topps. He also appeared on a 1973 Topps card, a 1981 Topps card, and a 1972 Sunoco stamp. His 1981 Topps card, his only card with the Eagles, was actually issued the year after he retired.