Nearmint's Vintage Football Card Blog

Angelo Coia, a receiver from 1960 to 1966 for the Chicago Bears, Washington Redskins, and Atlanta Falcons, passed away on January 2. Coia was a member of the Bears team that won the NFL Championship in 1963. He also was a member of the first Falcons team, in 1966. According to Coia’s obituary at philly.com, he and Herb Adderley were teammates on the football and track teams at Northeast High School in Philadelphia. He played college football at The Citadel and USC.

Coia is pictured here on his rookie card, a 1962 Topps. He also appeared on a 1962 Post Cereal card and a 1965 Philadelphia football card.

Larry Morris, a linebacker from 1955 to 1966 for the Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Bears, and Atlanta Falcons, passed away on December 19. Morris was a member of the Bears team that won the NFL championship in 1963. At Georgia Tech, Morris starred in both football and baseball, and he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1992. There is an obituary for Morris, including a recent photo, on the legacy.com web site.

The cards pictured here are Morris’s 1958 Topps and 1959 Topps cards. Though the 1959 card shows him with the Redskins, he played with the Bears that season. He also appeared in several food and regional issues with the Rams and Bears. You can see all of Morris’s cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

John Ward passed away on December 4; he was a lineman from 1970 to 1976 for the Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Chicago Bears. Ward was a member of the Vikings teams who represented the NFC in Super Bowls VIII and IX. There is a story about Ward and a recent picture at newsok.com.

Ward appeared on one football card, the 1976 Topps card pictured here. The card pictures Ward with Tampa Bay, who obtained him from Minnesota in the 1976 NFL Expansion Draft. He played just four games with Tampa Bay, then finished the 1976 season with Chicago.

Yesterday I added 1976 Coke Bears Discs to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. There are 22 players in the set; I believe they were intended to represent the Bears’ 1976 starting lineup. Like most regional sets, the set contains a few players who never appeared on a regular issue football card. See my description of the set for more details. I filed the discs under Oddball.

For Halloween I thought I’d feature a couple of ghosts. First is a 1933 Sport Kings card of Red “The Galloping Ghost” Grange. This is Grange’s rookie card, one of three football cards in the multi-sport set. You can see the other 1933 Sport Kings football cards in the Vintage Football Card Gallery.

Grange also appeared in cards earlier than this: in 1926, the Shotwell Candy Company distributed two sets of cards featuring just him. I added one of the sets, 1926 Shotwell Red Grange Ad Back cards, to the Gallery earlier this year. Though the Shotwell cards were the first cards of Grange, they are not considered his rookie cards because they are a minor issue.

The second card pictured here is Dave “The Ghost” Casper’s rookie card, a 1977 Topps. Seeing Casper reminded me of the Raiders’ famous “Holy Roller” play against the Chargers in 1978. I found the play on YouTube; if you haven’t seen it recently, it’s worth a look.

For some scary football cards, check out my Halloween posts from 2009, 2010, and 2011. Happy trick-or-treating!

It’s Trivia Tuesday! Just pick the “Answer” links to see the answers.

1. Who scored the first field goal in Super Bowl history? Answer
2. What member of the Philadelphia Eagles Honor Roll appeared in both M*A*S*H the movie and M*A*S*H the television show? Answer
3. What Pro Football Hall of Famer, who played for the Chicago Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams, won two medals in track in the 1952 Olympics? Answer
4. What Boston Patriot was the American Football League’s top scorer in five of its ten seasons? Answer
5. What is the error on Doug Atkins’s 1960 Topps card, shown here? Answer
6. What former Harvard player, who appeared on a 1955 Topps All-American football card, was governor of Massachusetts from 1963 to 1965? Answer
7. What Dallas Cowboy was the first defensive player to be named Super Bowl MVP? Answer

Like these? See my trivia questions from past weeks.

Glen Holloway, a guard from 1970 to 1974 for the Chicago Bears and Cleveland Browns, passed away on December 20. The Corpus Christi Caller Times web site has a report. Holloway also played one season for the World Football League’s Shreveport Steamer, according to the article.

Holloway appeared on one football card, the 1973 Topps card pictured here. He also appeared on a 1972 Sunoco stamp.

Yesterday I added 1968 Topps Test Team Photo cards to the Vintage Football Card Gallery. There are 25 cards in the set, one for each of the NFL and AFL teams except Cincinnati. The Bengals were an expansion team in 1968, and Topps evidently did not yet have a photo of the team.

The back of each team photo card lists all of the players, coaches, and other personnel who are pictured on the front. The Cleveland Browns card actually pictures the 1967 team, and I assume the photos on the other cards are at least a year old, as well.

The team photos were inserts in packs of 1968 Topps Football Patches. (See a wrapper here.) I don’t yet have the patches in the Gallery, but you can see examples on eBay.

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.

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.