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. 

1974 NFL Rookies of the Year

 In 1974 there were nine different Rookie of the Year awards. The Associated Press (AP) and Pro Football Weekly (PFW) awarded the top Rookie on Offense and defense. The Sporting News (TSN) and United Press International (UPI) awarded the top rookie from the AFC and the NFC. The Newspaper Enterprise Association (NEA) awarded just one overall Rookie of the Year.

The unanimous ROY winner from all five organizations was Chargers running back Don Woods. Woods was a quarterback from the University of New Mexico.  The Packers drafted him in the 6th round but dropped him before the start of the season.  San Diego picked him up and used him as a running back.  He set the  rookie record for rushing yards despite not playing in the first 2 games of the season.  A knee injury limited him to 5 games in the 1975 season.  With the addition of Rickey young to the Chargers backfield in 1975, then Lydell Mitchell in 1977, Woods' touches were greatly reduced. His numbers never matched those of his rookie season. 

The Steelers linebacker jack Lambert was the Defensive Rookie of the Year according to both AP and PFW.  The second round pick from Kent State was selected to the Pro Bowl in nine of his eleven NFL seasons. He has four Super Bowl rings and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1990.

The Sporting News and UPI disagreed on the NFC Rookie of the Year.  TSN chose 49ers running back Wilbur Jackson who was the first black football player to receive a scholarship at the University of Alabama.  Jackson was San Francisco's first round pick in the 1974 draft.  He ran for 705 yards his rookie season.  In all he played 8 seasons for the 49ers and Redskins.

UPI's pick for NFC Rookie of the Year went to Giants' guard John Hicks.  Hicks was the #3 pick of the 1974 draft. In 1973 he was runner up for the Heisman Trophy, All-American, All Big Ten and the winner of  both the Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy for best college lineman. After his Rookie season, injuries took their toll. His entire career was just 4 years with the Giants. In 2001 he was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

 

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....

1961 Fleer Earl Faison

Mike Ditka wasn't the only Rookie of the Year in Pro Football for the 1961 season. Earl Faison was named AFL Rookie of the Year. The All American from University of Indiana was drafted by both the Detroit Lions and the San Diego Chargers.  Although the Chargers were known for their offensive prowess, their defense had great nicknames. Faison and his linemates were known as the  "Fearsome Foursome" and the backs were known as the "Seven Bandits". 

This was only the second year for the AFL and already the Los Angeles Chargers had become the San Diego Chargers. Just prior to its first year, the AFL lost one of its 8 charter members, the Minnesota Vikings to the NFL the other owners scrambled to add the Oakland Raiders to the league.