1956 Topps Football Cards as Baseball Cards

1956 marked Topps' first foray into NFL football.  Again the card sizes were a bit larger, just like the 1956 Topps at 2 5/8" by 3 5/8".  As usual, I resized it to the modern day 2.5" x3.5". Here is a side by side of the actual 1956 Topps Football card of Hall of Fame quarterback Bobby Layne and the 1956 AL MVP Mickey Mantle. The Mantle card has already made an appearance on my Twitter page.  It stemmed from an off the cuff remark from my brother.  Now I am making baseball cards of all the (vintage) Topps football cards.  You never know what will set me off, lol.

1968 NFL / AFL Rookies of the Year

With 4 presenters of the Rookie of the Year award in 1968, it can get confusing. I'll try to break it down.

The Associated Press (AP) picked Earl McCullouch on offense and Claude Humphrey on defense.  The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA), who had just one award, also chose McCullouch. The Sporting News (TSN) chose McCullouch in the NFL and Paul Robinson in the AFL. United Press International echoed TSN's picks with McCullouch in the NFL and Robinson in the AFL.

On the trading card front, Topps was now the sole producer of football cards. They included both AFL and NFL cards in their set for the first time since 1961. Although there were 3 different Rookies of the Year in 1968, all of them would wait until 1970 before Topps included them in the set.

Earl McCullouch was a unanimous ROY winner. He received honors from AP, NEA, TSN and UPI. He was a two sport star and Olympic Hopeful at USC. Ultimately he chose the money of professional football over the glory of the Olympics in 1968. He played 7 seasons in Detroit from 1968-1973. He finished his career on the Saints in 1974.

Paul Robinson was chosen in the 3rd round of the combined 1968 AFL/NFL draft. In his rookie year he put up 1023 rushing yards and scored 9 TDs. In addition to winning the ROY in the AFL, he came in second to Joe Namath in MVP voting. He played for the Bengals from 1968 until the 4th game into the 1972 season when he was traded to the Oilers. He played sparingly in Houston in 1972 and 1973. In 1974 he played in the newly formed WFL for the Birmingham Americans. He ran for 599 yards and 2 TDs. The Americans won the championship in the WFL's only year in existence. 

 Claude Humphrey was chosen 3rd overall in the draft by the Atlanta Falcons. The defensive end from Tennessee played from 1968-1981 on the Falcons and Eagles. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014.

1967 NFL / AFL Rookies of the Year

In case you were wondering why my last post was a recap of cards I already posted, it is because the last post was two and a half years ago. Even I forgot where I left off. Plus I had a bunch more NFL/AFL rookie Cards That Never Were all set to post. I just needed to do a little research.

Since I need to clean up a few abandoned projects, this seems like a good place to start.

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Another year, another award. In 1967 the Associated Press (AP) started their own awards for offensive and defensive Rookies of the Year. So the Breakdown is this: AP offensive: Mel Farr, defensive: Lem Barney. NEA: Mel Farr. TSN AFL: Dickie Post. NFL: Mel Farr. UPI AFL: George Webster, NFL: Mel Farr.

1967 was the first year of  what was called "the common draft". Instead of 2 separate AFL and NFL drafts competing for players, the two leagues participated in a single draft. This was an early part of the eventual merger of the leagues. Webster and Farr were both first round picks. Barney went in the 2nd and Post in the 4th round.

In 1967 the NFL football cards were still being produced by Philadelphia. Topps was still producing the AFL cards. Neither set included any of the four Rookie of the Year award winners. In fact, none of these award winners would be put onto cardboard until the 1970 set. That's right nothing for the first 3 seasons for any of them. Wow.

Mel Farr was the clear winner. He won all 4 AP, NEA, TSN and UPI Rookie of the year awards. The halfback out of UCLA primarily played fullback his rookie season in Detroit. He had 1177 combined rushing and receiving yards and 6 touchdowns. He made the Pro Bowl his rookie year as well. He had knee injuries requiring surgeries in both 1968 and 1969. He played for the Lions until after the 1973 season. Detroit traded him to the Oilers and he announced his retirement 12 days later

The AP chose Farr's teammate and future Hall of Famer, Lem Barney, as the defensive Rookie of the Year. The 7-time Pro Bowler from Jackson State played for the Lions his entire career as well. He retired after the 1977 season.

The Sporting News chose Chargers halfback, Dickie Post AFL ROY. His best season was 1969 when he led the AFL with 873 yards rushing. The University of Houston alumni spent most of his career in San Diego. He played briefly for the Broncos before returning to Houston for the final 7 games in 1971.

UPI's choice for AFL ROY was Oilers linebacker George Webster. The Michigan State product was an AFL All-Star in each of his first three seasons. He played 10 seasons in the pros for the Oilers, Steelers and Patriots.

NFL & AFL Rookies of the Year 1960-1965

In 1960 the AFL was born. Both United Press International and The Sporting News added Rookie of the Year awards for the fledgling league. And oddly, both were in agreement on the recipients for several years in a row.

In 1960 the AFL Rookie of the year was Abner Haynes of the Texans. In 1960 Fleer was the official card of the AFL. Since technically all of the players in the AFL were rookies it is not surprising that Haynes was included in the set. Topps was still producing NFL cards in 1960 but that league's top rookie, Gail Cogdill was not included in the Topps set. I had originally made a post for Cogdill here.

  

 In 1961 once again, Topps made cards for the NFL while Fleer covered the AFL. This time, however, neither sets included the respective ROYs. The top AFL rookie was Earl Faison who played defensive end for the Chargers. I originally posted this Card That Never Was here.

This was the Chargers first season since moving to San Diego. The franchise originally played as the Los Angeles Chargers.  The Chargers are looking like they will return to L.A. in the 2017 season unless a referendum to keep them in San Diego is passed.

In the NFL the Rookie of the Year was "Da Coach" Mike Ditka. Remembered primarily for his coaching, Ditka revolutionized the position of tight end. I made this card after I found a picture of him wearing the unfamiliar number 82. Ditka had worn 89 in college at Pitt and throughout his NFL career (except his first year on the Eagle when he wore 98). He was initially given #82 because 89 was worn by kicker John Aveni. But in June of 1961 Aveni was dealt to the New York Giant and Ditka regained his number 89. Click here to see the original post.

The AFL rookie of the year was another Dallas Texan, Curtis McClinton. The was not a card in the Fleer set so I made two different cards of him. I came across a terrific painting of McClinton and emailed the artist for permission to use it. In the meantime I colorized a b/w photo of McClinton and made another card. The artist got back to me and granted use of the painting but suggested that I keep the watermark because McClinton himself was the owner of the original painting. So I decided to post both cards. Click here to see the original post.

 The 1962 Topps set actually include the NFL ROY, Ronnie Bull.  One of the best looking sets, 1962 Topps included a black and white inset action shot. Although Bull's card has him on the Bears, he is shown wearing his Baylor jersey and the inset action shot is from the annual Chicago College All Star game played at Soldier Field.  

In 1963 once again neither set included the Rookies of the Year. So I created a 1963 Fleer Card That Never Was for the AFL ROY, Billy Joe of the Denver Broncos, here. I also made a 1963 Topps Card That Never Was of Vikings receiver Paul Flatley, here. 

In 1964 there was a new player in the Rookie of the Year Game. Now not only were awards given out by The Sporting News and United Press International but the Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) also presented a Rookie of the Year award to the top NFL rookie.  

The other development in 1964 was that the NFL cards were now produced by Philadelphia and Topps took over producing cards for the AFL. In the AFL, Jets rookie fullback, Matt Snell rushed for 948 yards and 5 TDs. He was the top choice for both UPI and TSN. Meanwhile in the NFL all three organizations chose future Hall of Famer Charley Taylor. Taylor had 1569 all purpose yards and 10 TDs in his rookie year with the Redskins. Click here to see tho original post.

In 1965 once again there was agreement among the picks. Both UPI and TSN agreed that "Broadway" Joe Namath was the AFL Rookie of the Year. In the NFL, UPI, TSN and NEA unanimously awarded the "Kansas Comet" Gale Sayers the Rookie of the Year.  Topps of course included this iconic card of Namath in their 1965 set. Gale Sayers, however, would not get a card in the Philadelphia set until 1966. So I created this 1965 Philadelphia Card That Never Was of Sayers. You can see the original post here.

Ok, now that we're all caught up, I need to warn you, thing get muddier in 1966. Stay tuned....

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.

1960 Topps Gail Cogdill

The NFL's 1960 Rookie of the Year was Gail Cogdill of the Detroit Lions.  Cogdill was drafted by the Lions in the 6th round of the 1960 draft. He made an immediate impact as Detroit's leading receiver with 642 yards. He was also selected to the Pro Bowl in 1960.

Meanwhile in 1960 the AFL the Rookie of the Year was Abner Haynes. Although, technically, all of the players in the newly founded league were rookies, Haynes was also voted the league's "Player of the Year". Haynes was selected in the 5th round of the 1960 NFL draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers but instead chose to play for the AFL's Dallas Texans. Coincidentally, the Texans also drafted the NFL's 1960 Rookie of the year Gail Godgill.

While Topps did not have a card of the NFL R.O.Y. Gail Cogdill, the Fleer company did produce a card of the AFL R.O.Y., Abner Haynes: