Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

Earlier this week, Les Richter and Chris Hanburger were named the 2011 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.

Richter’s two rookie cards are a 1952 Bowman Large and a 1952 Bowman Small, issued the year he graduated from the University of California. (The 1952 Bowman Small is pictured here.) He served in the Army for two years after graduating, and he joined the Rams in 1954. Richter played for the Rams from 1954 to 1962, and he appeared on at least one football card in each year of his career–unusual for a defensive player. He passed away earlier this year.

Hanburger’s rookie card is a 1967 Philadelphia, issued in the third year of his career. After that, he appeared on at least one card or stamp each year until he retired after the 1976 season.

Judging by recent history, it is likely that at least one of the two senior nominees will be elected to the Hall. The Hall of Fame’s senior nominees page shows that at least one senior candidate has been elected each year since 1998. Since 2004, when the senior committee began nominating two players per year, 11 of the 14 nominees have been elected. One nominee, Bob Hayes, was not elected in 2004, but he was nominated again in 2009 and elected that year.

You can see all of Les Richter’s cards and all of Chris Hanburger’s cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Michael Thomas

Vic Janowicz is another player who played both NFL football and major league baseball. (See last week’s article on Carroll Hardy.) Janowicz won the Heisman Trophy for Ohio State in 1950, then opted for baseball rather than football after graduating in 1951. He made the Pittsburgh Pirates team in 1953, and he played in 83 games over two seasons. In that period he batted just .214, and he returned to football in 1954, joining the Washington Redskins late in the season. He fared much better in the NFL, finishing second in the league in scoring in 1955. In 1956 he was seriously injured in a car accident, and he did not play again.

Despite an unremarkable career in the major leagues, Janowicz appeared on several baseball cards. Both Topps and Bowman were producing baseball cards at the time, and I’m guessing that they printed cards of Janowicz mostly because he was famous for winning the Heisman. I don’t have his baseball cards, but you can see all of them on eBay.

Janowicz’s football rookie card is in the 1951 Topps Magic set, which pictures college players. Rookie cards of Heisman winners are popular with collectors, and the Janowicz card is the key card in the set. He also appeared on 1955 Bowman and 1956 Topps football cards. You can see all of Janowicz’s early football cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

The cards pictured here are Janowicz’s 1955 Bowman baseball card and his 1955 Bowman football card.

Jack Cloud, who played fullback and linebacker for the Packers and Redskins from 1950 to 1953, passed away on June 19. Before his pro career, Cloud starred at William and Mary, where he scored five touchdowns in one game and a school record 102 points in one season. After leaving pro football, he coached and taught physical education for 37 years, including 32 years at the Naval Academy. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1990.

Pictured here is Cloud’s 1951 Bowman card. He also appeared on a 1948 Leaf card while still at William and Mary. I don’t yet have that card in the Vintage Football Card Gallery, but you can see examples of it on eBay. Cloud’s obituary at hometownannapolis.com includes a relatively recent photo.

Jim Podoley, who played halfback and end for the Washington Redskins from 1957 to 1960, died on January 24. His obituary includes a nice recent photo. Podoley was a Pro Bowler in his rookie season, when he led the NFL with 20.5 yards per reception. Prior to his professional career, he starred in football and track at Central Michigan University. He was one of the inaugural inductees into the CMU Athletics Hall of Fame.

Pictured here is Podoley’s 1959 Topps card. He also has a card in the 1958 Topps set, but that card actually pictures Volney Peters.

Bill Dudley, Hall of Fame back for the Steelers, Lions, and Redskins, died this morning. Dudley was a star in all parts of the game, leading the league in rushing twice, interceptions once, and punt return yards twice. He was the Steelers’ leading passer in 1942 and 1946, and–in addition to his other duties–he was the kicker for the Lions and Redskins in his last four seasons. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966.

Pictured here is one of Dudley’s rookie cards, a 1948 Bowman. His other rookie card is a 1948 Leaf. Most of Dudley’s vintage cards are pictured in the Vintage Football Card Gallery. He also appeared in several recent Hall of Fame sets.

Al Dorow, who played quarterback for the Washington Redskins, Philadelphia Eagles, New York Titans, Buffalo Bills, and three CFL teams, died on December 7. Dorow was the New York Titans’ starting quarterback when the AFL started play in 1960. (The Titans became the Jets in 1963.) There is a detailed article about Dorow’s career on the profootballresearchers.com web site.

Pictured here is Dorow’s rookie card, a 1955 Bowman. Over his career, he appeared on five NFL and AFL cards. He also appeared on one CFL card, in 1959. I don’t have Dorow’s CFL card, but there are a lot of them on eBay.

Randy Johnson, the first quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, died on September 16. Along with Tommy Nobis, Johnson was a first round draft choice for the Falcons in 1966. Johnson played for five years with the Falcons, then went on to play for the Giants, Hawaiians (of the World Football League), Redskins, and Packers. In his last professional game, Johnson started for the Packers and led them to a win over his first team, the Falcons.

Pictured here is Johnson’s rookie card, a 1967 Philadelphia. You can see all of his cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

Even a non-Redskins fan could spent a couple of hours poking around the Redskins Football Card Museum. My favorite “room” in the museum is the author’s collection of oddball cards, posters, and lids. Many of the items there were new to me, such as the 1972 Gatorade lids pictured here.

The author also keeps a blog, where he chronicles his progress on his collection and the web site. I particularly enjoyed his entry on the technology he used for the site. I intend to come back to it for ideas for my sites!