Some 1974 Football Customs

 I am in the process of getting my old cards from the 70s into binders.  Most of these sets fit nicely into Walmart cheapo 2 1/2" D-ring binders. I am making custom art to make the binders look better.  Since I haven't made many football customs, I've been creating a lot lately and I thought I'd share them with you.

Len Dawson was in the twilight of his Hall of Fame career.  But at 39 he was still the Chiefs opening day starting QB.  I'm not sure why he was excluded, but it gave me an excuse to use this famous shot of him enjoying and post-game lung dart and a Fresca?  Namath was famously missing from Topps sets after 1973.  There are many customs made of this card.  There was even an actual Topps prototype of a 1974 Joe Willie before he pulled the plug. Here that one is in case you've never seen it:

In 1974 Topps baseball there was a subset of traded cards.  Obviously these weren't part of the football set, but I thought I'd include one of the bigger trades of the season.  John Hadl, who was a star QB for the Chargers then the Rams was dealt to the Green Bay a few games into the season.  1974 also saw the birth of the World Football League.  I made a card of Virgil Carter of the Chicago Fire.

Another Topps baseball staple that never appeared in their football sets, was the Rookie Stars card.  Here is a San Diego Chargers Rookie Stars card of future Hall of Famer Dan Fouts and the 1974 Rookie of the year Don Woods.

I also wanted to make a card commemorating the College All Star game.  This was an old tradition played in Chicago which pitted, you guessed it, College All Star against an actual NFL team.  Not just any team either, they played the previous year's NFL Champs.  While this seems very one sided, the tradition goes back to when the NFL was young and college football was hugely popular. The early games were very competitive. AS the NFL grew the games became less so. It eventually ceased in 1976.  Still would've made for a cool looking card.

So here is what my final binder cover will look like. In addition to these six cards, I added a rookie Jack Lambert card that had already appeared on this blog. I also used the 1974 pack design.  I also use the center row of cards as the spine of the binder.

I haven't gone to the printer with my football versions yet, but this is what my baseball binders look like on the shelf:

One last thing, Like I said, I am trying to complete 1974-1979 both baseball and football.  This is very much early in the process, but if you are in the same boat, and are looking to trade dupes of commons or semi-stars, let me know.  I would like to get in touch and help each other out.  Keep in mind that in 1974 these cards were kept in cigar boxes with rubber bands. Some cards are rougher than others.  They were well used and well loved by a nine-year-old version of myself.  I guess that's the kindest way to put it. 

1972 NFL Rookies of the Year

We're well into October and I haven't made a football post (other than the Gale Sayers tribute.)  Although these haven't been my most popular posts, I enjoy them.  It fascinates me that there were so many different "Rookies of the Year".  There were so many overlapping awards.  It's so unlike baseball or hockey where there is one clear award winner.  Some turned out to be true Hall of Famers.  Others. not so much.  But the common thread is that Football cards have historically been behind the curve as far as young stars are concerned.  So there are many opportunities for "Cards That Never Were".

In 1972 there were, once again, 5 Rookie of the Year presenters and a total of 10 ROY awards. These 10 awards were divided amongst 4 different players, none of whom had a card in the 1972 Topps set. Chester Marcol and Franco Harris would have rookie cards in 1973. Willie Buchanon and Sherman White would have rookie cards in the 1974 Topps set.

Franco Harris was the unanimous pick of all the presenters, He was the AFC Rookie of the Year for The Sporting News (TSN), United Press International (UPI) and the Newpaper Enterprise Association (NEA).  He was the Offensive ROY for  Pro Football Weekly (PFW) and the Associated Press (AP).

With the Steelers' 1st round pick in 1972 they chose Penn State RB Harris. With this piece of the puzzle, the Steelers won their first playoff game ever and appeared in their 1st since 1947. Although they lost the conference championship to the Dolphins, this was the beginning of the Steelers dynasty.

Willie Buchanon took home 2 awards the AP Defensive ROY and the NEA's Rookie of the Year in the NFC.  A San Diego area native, Buchanon was the Packers' 1st round pick from San Diego State. He would eventually return to San Diego in 1979 and finish his career with the Chargers.

Buchanon's teammate Chester Marcol took home 2 awards as well he was NFC's top rookie according to TSN and UPI.  Marcol was the Packers' 2nd round pick out of Hillside College, a Division II college. He made news there kicking a 62 yard field goal and converting 104 consecutive PATs. In his rookie season he led the NFC in points. Unfortunately his career was cut short due to drug abuse. 

Sherman White was awarded Defensive ROY by Pro Football Weekly (PFW). With the 2nd overall pick in the 1972 draft the Bengals took White.  He was an All American from Cal Berkley. He played 4 seasons in Cincinnati before being traded to Buffalo, where he played 8 more seasons.

1971 NFL Rookies of the Year

In 1971 there were a total of  5 different Rookie of the year presenters each giving out 2 awards each. Some were divided among offensive and defensive, others AFC or NFC. But for the most Part they were in agreement and the 10 awards were split between 3 players; John Brockington, Jim Plunkett and Isiah Robertson. None of these players had Topps cards in 1971. All three made their Topps debut the following year.

John Brockington won 4 different Rookie of the year honors. He was named NFC ROY by The Sporting News (TSN), United Press International (UPI) and the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA).  He was also named Offensive ROY by the Associated Press (AP). Brockington was the Packers 1st round pick from Ohio State. He was a 3 time Pro Bowler.

Jim Plunkett also collected 4 Rookie of the Year awards. He was the AFC Rookie of the Year per TSN, UPI and NEA. He was crowned Offensive ROY by Pro Football Weekly (PFW). Plunket was the overall #1 pick in the 1971 Draft. He was the 1970 Heisman Award winner for Stanford beating out Joe Theisman and Archie Manning. He led the Raiders to 2 Super Bowl victories despite being the back up quarterback both seasons.  I made this card several years ago for Jim from Downingtown's 1971 Football Cards blog.

Isiah Robertson was named Defensive ROY by both PFW and AP. Robertson was the Rams 1st round pick in 1971 out of Southern University. He was a six time Pro Bowler for the Rams. He was traded to the Bills in 1978 and was among the highest paid linebackers at the time.

1968 Alt-Topps *Football Edition*

A Tribute to Bart Starr

First a tribute to Bart Starr who past away last week. He died the day before Bill Buckner, to whom I have already paid tribute. As much as it pains me (a lifelong Bears fan), I have to respect the man if not the uniform. A five Time NFL Champion including the first 2 Super Bowls. He was also MVP of those Super Bowls. The accolades go on for this first-ballot Hall of Famer, but I won't.

When looking for a suitable card to make, I decided to use one of the discarded Topps demo card designs. This was one of the football card mock-ups among the Topps baseball card prototypes I have been experimenting with.

Overall, it is a pretty cool design. But I'm not sure where to begin when stating what's not right with this mock-up.  Let's start with the obvious, that is a close-up of a basketball.  Not a football.  

Second, that is not Paul Warfield. It is Jimmy Warren.  That photo was taken from his 1968 Topps card.  But we're not done yet. That card has him on the Dolphins but the photo is obviously him in a Chargers uniform. He played for the Chargers in 1964 and 65. The Dolphins took him in 1966 durning the AFL's first expansion draft.

Color photos of football players in that era are pretty hard to find.  I tried unsuccessfully to find one of Warren in a Dolphins uniform. The search did turn up one interesting photo over and over.  Warren was infamously the last man to beat on Franco Harris's "Immaculate Reception". At this time he was wearings a Raiders uniform.

Here is a card that actually features Paul Warfield with a football in the background instead of a basketball. Warfield played for the Browns and Dolphins from 1964-1974. In 1975 he and Dolphins teammates Larry Csonka and Jim Kiick joined the WFL Memphis Grizzlies (AKA Southmen). He returned to the NFL and the Browns in 1976.

And here is a similar treatment for Jimmy Warren.  Alas, I had no luck in finding a color photo of him on the Dolphins so I re-used the same photo on the original prototype.

I also created a few more. First were the eventual MVPs of the 1968 season from their respective leagues.  Joe Namath for the AFL and Earl Morrall of the NFL.

After a pre-season injury to Unitas, Morrall led the Colts to a 13-1 record and ultimately Superbowl III.  After 3 interceptions he was pulled and Unitas was reinstated. But the damage had been done. The AFL Jets beat the heavily favored NFL Colts.

I felt the need to balance these offensive MVPs with defensive stars. So I chose the defensive MVPs from their respective all star games. Although these games were technically played in 1969, they were played by the 1968 season all star selections.

 

The MVP of the AFL All Star game was George Webster. He was the AFL rookie of the year in 1967 as selected by United Press International. He was an All Star selection in each of his first 3 seasons.

In the NFL, Merlin Olsen was co-MVP of the 1969 Pro Bowl along with Rams teammate Roman Gabriel. Olsen was a Pro Bowler 14 of his 15 NFL seasons and was a first ballot Hall of Famer.  

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Just a footnote here: football sets of this era were pretty small. The actual 1968 Topps set was only 219 cards which was actually the largest football set they had issued to date. It was also the first to contain both NFL and AFL players since 1961. These sets contained almost no cards that were not player cards. In 1956 and 1957-1964 Topps also had team cards. The 1961 set also included a handful of "Highlights" cards.  The team cards never really returned. In the late 70s they added team-leader cards. It wasn't until 1972 that Topps had anything other than basic player cards and checklists. In 1972 they went all out. Topps added All-Pro cards, post season cards, leader cards and "Pro Action" cards. That set contained 348 cards and moved football cards into a new era.

The point of this abbreviated history on Topps football cards?  It's my way of saying, "this is it."  I won't be making any additional subsets.  If I ever did choose to make football subsets, I think I would make them for the existing Topps (or Fleer or Philadelphia) football sets. If there is interest, I will make a couple requests. Just be aware of the scarcity of useable player photos from this era.  So I may not be able to cover your request, but I will try.

1959 Topps Nick Pietrosante

Again in 1959 UPI and The Sporting News had differing opinions on the Rookie of the Year. Earlier I made  a Card That Never Was of UPI Rookie of the Year, Boyd Dowler. Dowler was drafted out of Colorado and his rookie year was also the first year Vince Lombardi coached the Packers. His 549 receiving yards and 4 TDs helped the Pack improve from 1-10-1 in 1958 to 7-5 in 1959.

The Sporting News ROY was a fullback out of Notre Dame that was the Lions first round draft pick. Nick Pietrosante led the league in rushing yards per carry with 5.9 his rookie season. He was also a receiving target out of the backfield and finished his first year with 587 all-purpose yards. 

Pietrosante was a two-time Pro Bowler and when he left the team after the 1965 season he was the Lions all-time leading rusher with 3933 yards. In 1966 he was signed by the Cleveland Browns to help fill the gaping hole left by the loss of Jim Brown. Pietrosante, however, saw limited action as Ernie Green moved from halfback to fullback and return specialist Leroy Kelly took over at halfback. Pietrosante retired after the 1967 season.

1959 Topps Boyd Dowler

On the football side of Topps, rookie cards were seldom made for the player's actual rookie year. So making Cards That Never Were of the NFL Rookies of the year is kinda like shooting fish in a barrel. Boyd Dowler was used primarily as a quarterback in a single wing formation at Colorado. The formation they used would be similar to a wildcat formation today. Selected 25th in the draft by Green Bay, Dowler was made a flanker under Vince Lombardi in his first year as head coach. His 549 yards and 4 touchdowns was enough to earn the Rookie of the year award.