Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

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.

The New York Giants introduced their Ring of Honor at New Meadowlands Stadium early this month. The inaugural class included twenty-two players, plus eight coaches, owners, and executives. You can see the full list of inductees on the Giants’ Wikipedia page. (You can also see the full list on the Giants’ web site, but beware: the page automatically starts a video, and it’s kind of startling.)

Thirteen of the inductees appear as individuals on cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery. You can search for them by choosing “Giants Ring of Honor” in one of the “Honor” menus on the Advanced Search page. At least one more inductee, coach Jim Lee Howell, does not appear on a card of his own, but you can find him on some of the team cards–see him on my interactive 1959 Topps Giants team card, for example.

Two of the inductees, Dick Lynch and Joe Morrison, first appeared on cards in the 1962 Post Cereal set, a minor issue. Their cards are pictured here. (For a description of the Post set, see W is for Wonder Bread–and Other Food Issues.) Lynch’s first card in a major issue–in other words, his rookie card–is a 1964 Philadelphia, and Morrison’s is a 1965 Philadelphia. Despite being stars, both players spent seven years in the league before appearing in a major set.

For more early Giants cards, matchbooks, etc., also check out revmoran’s Giants Football Cards page on the Giants web site. It’s great stuff!

A few weeks ago, when I reported that Cliff Livingston had passed away, Pastor Scott pointed out that Livingston’s 1962 Post Cereal card showed him with the Giants, and his 1962 Topps card showed him with the Vikings. Scott also named four other players who appeared on different teams on their 1962 Post and 1962 Topps cards. In all five cases, the player had been traded in the off-season, Post listed him with his old team, and Topps listed him with his new one. Post apparently was aware of the trades, because on four of the five cards, they added a footnote showing the player’s new team. Perhaps the cards were already close to production, and it was easier to add footnotes to the cards, rather than change their text.

Here are the cards that Pastor Scott pointed out:

The Browns traded Bobby Mitchell along with Leroy Jackson to the Redskins for Heisman winner Ernie Davis. (Davis contracted leukemia and never played.) Mitchell’s 1962 Post Cereal card shows him with the Browns; his 1962 Topps card shows him with the Redskins.

The Browns traded Milt Plum, Tom Watkins, and Dave Lloyd to the Lions for Howard Cassady, Bill Glass, and Jim Ninowski. Post had both Plum and Cassady with their old teams.

The Eagles traded Bill Barnes to the Redskins with Bob Freeman for Jim Schrader and Ben Scotti. Barnes’s Post Cereal card shows him still with the Eagles; his Topps card shows him with the Redskins.

Finally, the Giants traded Cliff Livingston to the Vikings for Dick Pesonen and a draft pick. Here are Livingston’s two 1962 cards:

Sam Etcheverry, a Hall of Fame quarterback for the Canadian Football League’s Montreal Alouettes, died on Saturday. Etcheverry also played for the St. Louis Cardinals in 1961 and 1962. Pictured here are Etcheverry’s 1961 Topps and 1962 Topps cards. He also appeared for the Cardinals on a 1962 Post Cereal card, and he had several CFL cards in the 1950’s. I don’t have pictures of his CFL cards, unfortunately.

Having seen only his NFL cards, I didn’t know about Etcheverry’s accomplishments in the CFL. As a player he appeared in three Grey Cups (CFL championship games), and he was the league’s most outstanding player in 1954. He passed for 586 yards in one game in 1954, and in 1956 he had a 109-yard pass–no, not a typo, because the CFL’s field is 110 yards long. Etcheverry’s CFL Hall of Fame page has a nice summary of his accomplishments and a great photo of him throwing a jump pass. (I love this shot: see my jumping quarterbacks post.)

I don’t yet have CFL cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery, but one day I hope to add them. It will be interesting to see how players like Etcheverry moved between the CFL and the U.S. leagues in their careers. With the addition of the Cowboys and Vikings to the NFL in 1960 and 1961, and with the creation of the AFL in 1960, the talent pool in the NFL was somewhat diluted, and I imagine that other longtime CFL players also got their shot at the NFL in the early 1960’s.

• Search for Sam Etcheverry on: Nearmint’s Cards, eBay.

Compared to quarterbacks, running backs, receivers, and even kickers, defensive players often got short shrift when the card companies chose the players to put on their cards. The 1968 Topps Stand Up insert set is an extreme example of the bias toward offensive players: in the 22-card set there is only one defensive player, Alex Karras. Even he might not have been included if the 1968 Lions had had an offensive star. Another example, the 1970 Topps Super Glossy set, is somewhat less unbalanced: it contains 25 offensive players, 7 defensive players, and 1 kicker.

Numerous Hall of Fame defensive players were in the league for years before appearing on a card. The most egregious example I can think of is Dick Lane. In 1952, his rookie year with the Rams, Lane had 14 interceptions, an NFL record that still stands–and he did it in 12 games! In 1954 he again led the league in interceptions, with 10, this time with the Cardinals. Despite his performance–and though the Cardinals were hardly flush with stars–Lane first appeared on a 1957 Topps card, and his next appearance was on a 1961 Fleer. (Lane’s biography on Wikipedia–assuming it is accurate–is fascinating. It says his mother found him in a Dumpster!)

Another Hall of Fame defensive player, Len Ford, played for 11 years but appeared on only two cards: his 1955 Bowman rookie card and a 1957 Topps card. He began his career in 1948 with the Los Angeles Dons of the AAFC, and he joined the Browns in 1950 when the AAFC folded and the Browns joined the NFL. No major company printed cards of AAFC players, but Bowman printed cards of NFL players every year from 1950 to 1955, and they finally included Ford in their last year.

At least four Lombardi-era Packers defensive players also made late rookie card appearances: Ray Nitschke began his career in 1958, and his rookie card is a 1963 Topps. Willie Davis also joined the team in 1958, and his rookie card is a 1964 Philadelphia. Herb Adderley joined the team in 1961, and his rookie card is also a 1964 Philadelphia–with his name misspelled, to boot. Willie Wood started in 1960, and his rookie card is a 1963 Topps.

Two Chiefs Hall of Fame defensive backs provide a final example: Willie Lanier joined the Chiefs in 1967, and his rookie card is a 1971 Topps. Emmitt Thomas joined in 1966, and his rookie card is a 1972 Topps.

Occasionally, when it took a while for a defensive player to appear on a card from a major company, the player would appear first on a “pre-rookie” card in a regional or oddball set. All four of the Packers mentioned above had pre-rookie cards in the 1961 Lake to Lake Packers set. Hall of Famers Bob Lilly, Jim Johnson, and Larry Wilson all had pre-rookie cards in the 1962 Post Cereal set. And as I wrote in a previous post, Rams star Ed Meador appeared on 1959 Bell Brand, 1960 Bell Brand, and 1962 Post Cereal cards before his 1963 Topps rookie card was issued. Another long-time Ram, Jack Pardee, whose rookie card is a 1964 Philadelphia, also appeared in the Bell Brand and Post Cereal sets.

Changing the subject a bit, it is worth noting that until 1959, football cards did not distinguish between offensive and defensive positions when there was ambiguity. For example, if a player’s card said “end,” he could have been either a receiver or a defensive end. If it said “back,” he could have been either a running back or a defensive back. Pictured here is an example: Jack Butler was a defensive back, but his 1957 Topps rookie card just says “back.” (This, by the way, is another late rookie card. Butler started his career with the Steelers in 1951.) Perhaps this was a vestige of the time when players played both offense and defense, and a back on offense would also have been a back on defense. Whatever the reason, because of the ambiguity, I probably still have some defensive players listed as offensive players in the Vintage Football Card Gallery. Occasionally a kind person sends me a correction.

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Shortly after I added 1962 Post Cereal cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery, a customer pointed out to me that Mike Henry, who appears on one of the cards, later had a successful acting career. After seven seasons at linebacker for the Steelers and Rams, Henry went on to play Tarzan, Junior Justice, and Donald Penobscot! Brian’s Drive-In Theater has a nice acting biography of Mike Henry.

Shown here is Henry’s 1962 Post Cereal card. To my knowledge, this is his only card, but he did also appear on a 1963 Salada Coin. There are usually one or two available on eBay.

Here’s a clip of Mike Henry as Tarzan. I like how the helicopter goes behind the bushes to blow up!

Earlier this week, via the Remember the Rams blog, I came across the Eddie Meador Hall of Fame Nomination site. The site is well-done and thorough–did you know that he worked in an Arkansas pickle plant during college?–and it’s clear that his friends and family are very devoted to him.

Meador played mostly before my time, and until I read his Awards and Statistics page, I didn’t know how good he had been. Meador’s rookie card, a 1963 Topps, is relatively easy to find, and it is inexpensive for a rookie card of a hall-of-fame candidate. Meador also had three cards issued before his rookie card: 1959 Bell Brand, 1960 Bell Brand, and 1962 Post Cereal, all of which are challenging to find. I can’t think of another other player with three “pre-rookie” cards, so if he does make the hall-of-fame, I’ll have to add a new section to my pre-rookie card page.

Altogether, Meador appeared on at least eleven cards, a large number for a defensive player in the 1960’s. The card pictured here is his 1960 Bell Brand Potato Chips card.

• Search Nearmint’s Cards for: Ed Meador cards, 1960 Bell Brand Rams
• Search eBay for: Ed Meador cards, 1960 Bell Brand Rams

Awhile back, a collector called to ask if I had any 1962 Post Cereal cards, because he was interested in the Bob Lilly card from that set. He said he collected pre-rookie cards of hall-of-famers, and that the 1962 Post Lilly was one he still needed. An interesting idea, I thought.

Today I added a page to the gallery that highlights a few pre-rookie cards. I included a few well-known players that aren’t in the hall of fame, in part because I wanted to include a few 1961 Nu-Cards. The Nu-Card set is one of the few vintage college sets, and it contains cards of a lot players who went on to play in the NFL and AFL.