football cards Archives - The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

May192014 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Worst Sports Cards Ever #2: MacArthur Lane (Topps 1972)

Ephemera, Sports

In my Worst Sports Cards Ever series, I look at the good, the bad and the ugly from the long and spotty history of sports trading cards. --- I can only imagine that few things sent trading card companies into a tizzy like an offseason trade. I'm sure the lead time needed to pull off a nice-looking card is pretty lengthy; especially so in the pre-digital days. So what happens when a player switches teams and a company such as, say, Topps has to scramble at the 11th hour to reflect that change? You get a card like #151 from the Topps 1972 NFL set, for running back MacArthur Lane. It seems likely that Topps was all ready to go in early 1972 with an image of Lane with his then-current team, the St. Louis Cardinals. But then he was traded to the Green Bay Packers in February of

Aug232013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Retired NFL Jersey Numbers: AFC West

Football Friday, Sports

Since it’s the off-season I thought I’d start a fun project involving NFL history. So I’m going to go division by division and post galleries of football cards (when available) featuring all NFL players who have had their jersey numbers retired by their teams. This week it’s the four squads of the AFC West — the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, and San Diego Chargers. Previous galleries: AFC East, NFC East, AFC North, NFC North, AFC South, NFC South Denver Broncos (3) #7 -- John Elway #18 -- Frank Tripucka #44 -- Floyd Little Kansas City Chiefs (10) #3 -- Jan Stenerud #16 -- Len Dawson #18 -- Emmitt Thomas #28 -- Abner Haynes #33 -- Stone Johnson On August 30, 1963, rookie RB/KR Stone Johnson suffered a fractured vertebra in his neck duri

Jul262013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Retired NFL Jersey Numbers: NFC South

Football Friday, Sports

Since it’s the off-season I thought I’d start a fun project involving NFL history. So I’m going to go division by division and post galleries of football cards (when available) featuring all NFL players who have had their jersey numbers retired by their teams. This week it’s the four squads of the NFC South — the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Previous galleries: AFC East, NFC East, AFC North, NFC North, AFC South Atlanta Falcons (0) The Falcons do not retire jersey numbers, but in 2004 they established their own Ring of Honor for former players. The inductees to date are Steve Bartkowski, Deion Sanders, William Andrews, Jeff Van Note, Jessie Tuggle, Tommy Nobis, Mike Kenn, and Claude Humphrey. Carolina Panthers (1) #51 -- Sam M

Jun212013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Retired NFL Jersey Numbers: AFC South

Football Friday, Sports

Since it’s the off-season I thought I’d start a fun project involving NFL history. So I’m going to go division by division and post galleries of football cards (when available) featuring all NFL players who have had their jersey numbers retired by their teams. This week it’s the four squads of the AFC South — the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tennessee Titans. Previous galleries: AFC East, NFC East, AFC North, NFC North Houston Texans (0) The Texans have yet to retire a number in their decade-plus of existence. If I had to bust out my crystal ball, wide receiver Andre Johnson (#80) is a potential future candidate. He holds a number of team records (some by a sizable margin) and is poised in 2013 to become one of the NFL's top 20 receivers ever for c

Apr192013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Retired NFL Jersey Numbers: NFC North

Football Friday, Sports

Since it’s the off-season I thought I’d start a fun project involving NFL history. So I’m going to go division by division and post football card galleries (when available) featuring all NFL players who have had their jersey numbers retired by their teams. This week it’s the four squads of the NFC North — the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, and Minnesota Vikings. Previous galleries: AFC East, NFC East, AFC North Chicago Bears (13) #3 -- Bronko Nagurski #5 -- George McAfee #7 -- George Halas I couldn't find a card from Halas's playing days, but how could I leave off Papa Bear? #28 -- Willie Galimore Galimore was killed in an automobile accident on July 27, 1964 in Rensselaer, Indiana at the age of 29 with teammate Bo Farrington. #34 -- Walter Payton

Apr52013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Retired NFL Jersey Numbers: AFC North

Football Friday, Sports

Since it’s the off-season I thought I’d start a fun project involving NFL history. So I’m going to go division by division and post football card galleries (when available) featuring all NFL players who have had their jersey numbers retired by their teams. This week it’s the four squads of the AFC North — the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, and Pittsburgh Steelers. Previous galleries: AFC East, NFC East Baltimore Ravens (0) The Ravens, who have only been in existence since 1996, have not yet retired any jersey numbers. Much like the Cowboys, the team has its own Ring of Honor for former players and personnel. So like Dallas, Baltimore gets no football cards here. The list, in order of induction: #19 -- Johnny Unitas #24 -- Lenny Moore #70 -- Art Donovan #

Mar292013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Retired NFL Jersey Numbers: NFC East

Football Friday, Sports

Since it’s the off-season I thought I’d start a fun project involving NFL history. So I’m going to go division by division and post football card galleries (when available) featuring all NFL players who have had their jersey numbers retired by their teams. This week it’s the four squads of the NFC East — the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, and Washington Redskins. Previous galleries: AFC East Dallas Cowboys (0) The Cowboys do not officially retire jersey numbers, opting rather to induct players into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. The Ring, which began in 1975, is made up of the players listed below (as of the end of the 2012 season, in order of induction). Sorry, no cards for the Cowboys, since they insist on being so different. #74 -- Bob Lilly #17 -- Don

Mar222013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Retired NFL Jersey Numbers: AFC East

Football Friday, Sports

Since it's the off-season I thought I'd start a fun project involving NFL history. So I'm going to go division by division and post football card galleries (when available) featuring all NFL players who have had their jersey numbers retired by their teams. This week it's the four squads of the AFC East -- the Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots, and New York Jets. Buffalo Bills (1) #12 -- Jim Kelly Believe it or not, #12 is the only jersey number officially retired by the Bills. There are three other numbers that aren't issued anymore -- #32, #34, and #78 -- but they have not been retired. It's unlikely that OJ Simpson's number ever will be at this point. Miami Dolphins (3) #12 -- Bob Griese #13 -- Dan Marino #39 -- Larry Csonka New England Patriots (7)

Oct122012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Football Friday: A Gallery of Alex Karras Detroit Lions Football Cards

Football Friday, Sports

Former NFL great and all-around media star Alex Karras died earlier this week from complications due to kidney failure. He had been in extremely poor health the last few years of his life. While most of my generation knows him best as Mongo in Blazing Saddles or George Papadapolis from Webster, Karras was first and foremost an outstanding defensive lineman for the Detroit Lions. Karras racked up four Pro Bowl selections in his Detroit career (1958 - 1970) -- which was interrupted by a season-long suspension for gambling in 1963 -- and was later named to the NFL's 1960s All-Decade Team at defensive tackle. As a small tribute to Karras, here is a gallery of football cards representing nearly each of his 12 NFL seasons. (more…)

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