1975 Topps Divisional Playoffs

 These were requested by someone who contacted me through eBay.  He wanted more complete NFL playoff cards from Topps.  I needed to add a few custom football cards to my binder cover anyway (more on that later).  Anyway, here are the divisional playoff from 1974 using a similar format of the 1974 AFC and NFC championship cards in the 1975 set.

Trailing Buffalo 7-3 to start the 2nd quarter, the Steelers scored 26 unanswered points.  Rocky Bleier caught a 27 yard TD pass from Bradshaw. Franco Harris rushed for 3 more TDs to make it 29-7 at the half. Pittsburgh went on to beat the Bills 32-14.

With the game tied 7-7 at the half, the Vikings scored 16 points in 7 minutes. 10 of which were off Cardinals turnovers. In the game Chuck Foreman had 1968 all purpose yards. He rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown and caught 5 passes for 54 yards.

Trailing 26-21 in a back and forth battle. and just 2 minutes left in the game, Ken Stabler mounted another comeback.  Drive the Raiders downfield culminating in a 8 yard TD pass to running back Clarence Davis. Down 28-26 with just 24 seconds left, the Dolphins' Bob Griese threw an interception on the second play of the drive. Phil Villapiano's pick iced Oakland's victory

In the final game of Sonny Jurgensen's Hall of Fame career, it was all about the defense.  There were only 2 offensive TDs and one of those was set up by a forced fumble. In all there were 9 turnovers between the Rams and Washington. The nail in the Redskins coffin was a 4th quarter pick-six by Isiah Robertson to put L.A. up 19-10.

1970 NFL Rookies of the Year

Another crazy-busy summer.  I just haven't found the time to post.  I am working on getting a few more baseball sets based on rejected Topps designs and will be posting them soon. In the meantime, here are a few more football Rookies of the Year card that never were.  We're already into the 3rd week of the season, so lets get into the '70s.

1970 was the first year of the newly merged NFL. The Steelers, Browns and Colts moved to the AFC. Other than that the conferences maintained the "old" NFL teams in the NFC and the AFL teams in the AFC. The breakdown of the divisions was difficult, too. Because there was no consensus among owners, the top five plans were thrown into a hat and the winner was drawn by Pete Rozelle's secretary.

There were also still 5 different presenters for the Rookie of the year. You'd think combining the league would reduce the awards. Instead, TSN and UPI began giving ROY awards to AFC and NFC. AP and PFW still gave out separate offensive and defense ROY's. NEA still gave out only one overall ROY award.

The breakdown went like this: the NEA gave its sole award to Raymond Chester, TE Raiders. AP and PFW agreed on the offensive ROY Dennis Shaw QB Bills. They also agreed defensively. Bruce Taylor CB 49ers was their choice. Oddly these were the same picks for TSN and UPI. Shaw was their AFC pick and Taylor was the NFC ROY.

Dennis Shaw and Bruce Taylor made their Topps debut in the 1971 set. Raymond Chester waited until the 1972 set for his rookie card.

1966 Topps Bobby Burnett

1966 AFL Rookie of the Year

With an exciting MLB postseason behind us, I can get back to where I left off. And that is making cards for all the NFL/AFL Rookies of the Year. I've posted cards from 1955-1965, but in 1966 it starts to get even more diverse with more and more ROY awards given out.

We'll start 1966 with Bobby Burnett, a player that both United Press International and The Sporting News agreed should be awarded the Rookie of the Year for the AFL. Burnett was drafted by both the Bills in the AFL and the Bears in the NFL. He chose not to share a backfield with 1965 Rookie of the Year, Gale Sayers. 

He had 1185 all-purpose yards and 8 touchdowns for the Bills and earned a spot on the All Star team. After winning the ROY, his 1967 season began with cracked ribs in training camp.  Burnett was used sparingly to protect his ribs. Then in a game against the Jets he took a hit to the knee that ended his career. The knee was dislocated, the tibia was broken. Cartilages and ligaments were torn. 

In 1968 he was picked up by the Bengals in the expansion draft but he was not healthy enough to play. In 1969 he signed with the Denver Broncos but played in just 3 games. He was given the ball a total of 5 time for just 9 net yards. He retired at the age of 26.

1969 Topps Jack Kemp

Jack Kemp was a 6 time AFL All Star for the Chargers and the Bills. In a preseason scrimmage in 1968 Kemp injured his knee and was out for the entire season. Despite his return in 1969 along with the addition of Heisman Trophy winner, OJ Simpson, the Bills managed only 4 wins. Kemp was named to the AFL All Star team for the 7th time.

In 1970 Kemp ran for Congress and began his long career in politics. Although Topps did not see fit to make a regular 1969 card of Kemp he was included in their 4 in 1 mini stamps which were inserted into 1969 packs.