Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

This week I picked up two more miscut cards that will help me figure out how 1962 Topps football cards were arranged on the uncut sheets. The Boyd Dowler card shown here has a sliver of Roger LeClerc’s card on the right, and the Steve Myhra card has a bit of Joe Walton’s card on the right. Both of these clues let me add on to pieces of the puzzle I already had. You can see my progress on the 1962 Topps virtual uncut sheet page of the Vintage Football Card Gallery. Scroll toward the bottom to see where the new pieces fit.

Why are uncut sheets interesting? See a previous article, U is for Uncut Sheets.

You might recall that a couple of weeks ago I bought a lot of crudely hand-cut Baltimore Colts cards on eBay. Included in the lot was the 1961 Topps Raymond Berry card pictured below. The card to the left of the hacked-up Berry card appears to be Frank Ryan, so I was able to add a piece to my slowly growing 1961 Topps virtual uncut sheet. You can see my progress here.

For a full list of the virtual uncut sheets I have worked on, see the bottom of one of my previous blog articles, “U is for Uncut Sheets.”

As I wrote last week, I recently won a group of crudely hand-cut 1961 Fleer Baltimore Colts cards on eBay. I thought that by piecing them together, I might be able to figure out the configuration of uncut sheets of first series 1961 Fleer cards. Well, I got the cards, and most of them indeed fit together. Though I haven’t quite figured out what a full sheet looked like, the cards gave me a pretty good clue. You can see the details toward the bottom of my 1961 Fleer virtual uncut sheet page.

In last week’s “Interesting eBay Auctions” article, one of the auctions I featured was a group of sheet-cut and otherwise trimmed 1960s Baltimore Colts cards. Well, I ended up winning the auction myself. Really, for resale, you’re wondering? No, I wanted them because they might help me figure out what a first series 1961 Fleer uncut sheet looked like. I have seen pictures of second series 1961 Fleer sheets (see my 1961 Fleer virtual uncut sheet page), but I haven’t yet seen a first series sheet. I’m hoping that the edges of the hand-cut cards from the eBay lot will fit together such that I can deduce the numbering pattern of the first series sheet.

As a bonus, the lot includes a 1961 Topps Raymond Berry card that is showing part of the card next to it. That should provide another piece to the first series 1961 Topps virtual uncut sheet that I am assembling. Stay tuned; I’ll post what I learn here.

As always, if you encounter uncut panels or miscut cards that you think could help me piece together an old sheet, please send me an email. See the bottom of a previous blog article, “U is for Uncut Sheets,” for a full list of the sheets I have worked on, both complete and incomplete.

I recently added 1961 Topps Flocked Stickers to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. The stickers, which represent NFL, AFL, and major college teams, were inserts in packs of 1961 Topps football cards. See my Gallery page for the stickers for a description of the set.

John Williams, an offensive lineman from 1968 to 1979 for the Baltimore Colts and Los Angeles Rams, passed away yesterday. There is a story and recent photo of Williams on the Minneapolis StarTribune web site. Williams played on three Super Bowl teams: the 1968 Colts, who lost to the Jets; the 1970 Colts, who beat the Cowboys; and the 1979 Rams, who lost to the Steelers.

Though Williams played twelve seasons in the NFL, and though he started every game at tackle for the Rams from 1973 to 1978, he never appeared on a regular issue football card. He did appear on a 1972 Sunoco stamp; it is pictured here.

R.C. Owens, 49ers, a receiver from 1957 to 1964 for the San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Colts, and New York Giants, passed away on June 17. Owens was known for his “alley oop” catches, which you can see him demonstrating on the San Francisco Chronicle web site. Owens was the first 49er receiver with 1000 yards receiving in one season; he accomplished that in 1961. He was inducted into the 49ers Hall of Fame in 2011.

Owens appeared on several football cards with the 49ers. His 1959 Topps card is pictured here. His rookie card, a 1958 Topps, pictures Don Owens, unfortunately.

As I have mentioned in other articles, I have been gradually adding fun facts for the cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery. In May I identified the players whose brothers also played pro football (see my blog article Teammate Brothers), and this month I marked the players whose fathers or sons also played professionally. I used the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s list as a reference.

Many of the players on the Hall of Fame’s list never appeared on cards, and some of them appeared on newer cards that I don’t yet have in the Gallery. I did find five pairs of fathers and sons who both appear in the Gallery, though. In honor of Father’s Day, here they are:

Tony Adamle played six seasons for the Cleveland Browns in the AAFC and NFL; his son Mike played six seasons for the Chiefs, Jets, and Bears. Tony is pictured here on his 1951 Bowman card, and Mike on his 1975 Topps card.

Ted Fritsch Sr., a member of the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame, played from 1942 to 1950 for the Packers. Ted Fritsch Jr. played from 1972 to 1979 for the Falcons and Redskins. Ted Sr. appears here on his 1950 Bowman card; Ted Jr. is shown on his 1974 Topps card.

Dub Jones played for the Miami Seahawks, Brooklyn Dodgers, and Cleveland Browns in the AAFC, and he remained with the Browns when they joined the NFL in 1950. He is shown here on his 1953 Bowman card. Bert Jones, Dub’s son, was a quarterback for ten seasons with the Baltimore Colts and Los Angeles Rams. His 1976 Topps card is shown here.

George Sauer Sr. played from 1933 to 1935 for the Green Bay Packers; he is shown here on his 1955 Topps All-American card. George Jr. played from 1966 to 1970 for the New York Jets; he is shown on a 1969 Glendale stamp.

Finally, George Wilson Sr. played for the Chicago Bears for ten seasons, and he was head coach of the Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins for thirteen. Wilson never appeared on a card of his own, but there is a small image of him on the 1964 Philadelphia Lions’ Play card shown here. Wilson’s son, George Jr., played for his father for one season at Miami. His 1967 Topps card is shown here.

Sisto Averno, a guard from 1950 to 1954 for the “old” Baltimore Colts, the New York Yanks, the Dallas Texans, and the “new” Baltimore Colts, passed away on March 26. The Baltimore Sun web site has a report and a recent photo. Averno moved so much because there was a lot of churn in the NFL in the early 1950s, and the franchises he played for kept folding.

Averno appeared on one football card, the 1953 Bowman card pictured here.

As I have had time, I have been adding trivia for cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery. As I wrote in a previous article, PSA’s set registry allows collectors to add comments for cards that they register, and I like the information that some collectors have entered. I decided to try my hand at it, and it’s been fun: I’ve found lots of interesting tidbits about the cards and players. For examples, see my page of Doak Walker cards. Did you know that Walker was married to an Olympic skier?

Anyway, yesterday I was searching for trivia for 1950 Bowman football cards, and I got to card number 3, Bob Nowasky. Oddly, my search for “Bob Nowasky” turned up football cards, but nothing else. Knowing that cards sometimes have the players’ names misspelled, I tried “Nowaski” instead. Nothing–or at least nothing related to football. Then I tried “Nowaskey,” and bingo, I got lots of hits. So I had my trivia: Nowaskey’s 1950 Bowman card is an error card; it has his name misspelled. I am probably not the first person to notice–I’ll bet Nowaskey’s mom did!–but I haven’t seen the error documented anywhere else.

Pictured here is the front of the card, which shows Nowaskey in Baltimore Colts green. (Green, you ask? That’s another story.) His name is misspelled on the back.

Like knowing about errors like this? Well, in case you weren’t aware, you can search the Vintage Football Card Gallery for all of the error cards, or you can combine that search with others, say to find all of the error cards in the 1960 Topps set. Just go to the Advanced Search page and search away.