1959 Topps Football Cards as Baseball Cards

 Once again we see a hint of what's to come on Topps baseball cards from their football cards.  Specifically, I'm referring to the blue and red lettering on the player's name.  That same lettering would be used on the 1960 Topps baseball cards.  Here's a side by side comparison of a 1959 card of Hall of Fame Colts receiver Raymond Berry and the 1959 AL MVP Nellie Fox on the baseball version.  Nellie is looking particularly sweaty.  Perhaps he just swallowed his trademark cheek full of tobacco.

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.