Card Show Vintage Football

Well, football season is encroaching of baseball's summer spotlight and I know that bugs a lot of you. I'm OK with it though. I don't pay a lot of attention to the preseason football other than to gripe about having two meaningless games included with my Texans tickets...and paying the full regular season price for them.

But soon it'll be September and the baseball pennant races will be cranked up to 11, the NHL camps will be open and exhibitions underway and I'll be knee deep in the Texans season to say nothing of my Houston Cougars. It's my favorite time of the year.

In my more nostalgic moments I think about long ago Saturdays in the fall when I'd be supervising intramural football games. Then we'd all head for the Athletics office to watch pennant race baseball on TV when the shadows seemed always to be covering the mound in the late afternoon. Finally it was off to work the UH game versus Arkansas or Texas in the Astrodome. Wish I could be that carefree now.

These are some of the vintage football cards I snapped up at the last monthly card show I attended. They came out of the dollar bin but with my 'regular customer' discount I paid less than that per card. Back up at the top is a 1960 Topps Y.A. Tittle. I remember him as the quarterback of the Giants back when I'd listen to their games with my father.

Then there is Howard 'Hopalong' Cassady on his card from the same set. Cassady won the Heisman at Ohio State and played eight years in the NFL. Although he never had the impact in the pros that he did in college he was able to help the Lions win the league title in 1957. He had about a half dozen cards during his pro career but this is the only one that uses his nickname on the front.  BTW...the original Hopalong Cassidy was a fictional cowboy romanticized in pulp novels, movie shorts and on TV.

The last card is a Philly Gum Giants team card from the 1967 set. The '67 Giants added QB Fran Tarkington and in the process were able to rebound from a 12 loss season to a couple years of .500 football. And they were pretty entertaining with Scramblin' Fran at the helm.

For all the greatness of the Philly Gum sets of the mid-60s you can tell by reading the blurb on the back that they would have benefited by employing a better proofreader.

I have other stuff from the bargain bins at the show to post, including a few cards from a TV show I loved as a kid but haven't thought about in years.

Y. A. Tittle Rookie card (1950 Bowman)

Pulling in the Y. A. Tittle from the 1950 Bowman set means I'm just about done with collecting the mainstream cards on my vintage Baltimore Colts want list. All I need now is one Post Ceral card from 1962, that of Lenny Moore.

I didn't think I'd be able to pick up the Tittle this soon. I've been scouring the net pretty thoroughly for an affordable copy for months. I hadn't seen one, even ungraded, that went for less than $100 anyplace. Most were above the $170 mark, many way above.

This one showed up on eBay for $70 and I waited a day or two because I thought "well, if there's this one there may be another one cheaper around". But I came to my senses and realized that in this condition this card was a good buy. And here it is.

I have a soft spot for Y. A. Tittle. He was my Dad's favorite quarterback. He began his career with the AAFC Baltimore Colts in 1948. He remained with them through 1950 after they had spent one year in the NFL before folding. Tittle went on to play for the 49ers and Giants as he crafted a Hall of Fame career.

The 1950 Bowman is considered his rookie card. I have a couple of others including some other cool vintage ones. But my favorite (besides this Bowman) is a modern card, from the 1997 Upper Deck Legends set. This card right here is cardboard greatness.

Or Do They?

I was waxing nostalgic the other day on the merits of the Philly Gum football sets. I went back to find more in my mish-mash box of football cardboard and came across a couple of 'modern' cards I thought were blog worthy.

These are from the 1997 Upper Deck Legends set. For my $$ the Y.A. Tittle card is about as close to 'art' as a football card can get. I mean just look at it. That cliche which says a picture is worth a thousand words? This card embodies that.

Late in a tough game at Yankee Stadium, probably in mid-December, probably against the Packers. It's been dark since halftime and now it's pushing 6 p.m. Tittle comes off the field after a TD toss for the lead to Joe Morrison or maybe Del Shofner. He goes to the bench to warm his hands while Bart Starr takes over and tries to put the Pack back on top. Nobody goes over to talk to Tittle who is lost in thought as the Yankee Stadium lights shine off his helmet. Up in the booth Ray Scott, the best football broadcaster ever, calls the Packer drive as only he could. "Starr..." long pause while the ball travels downfield... "...this is Dowler.....touchdown".

Great card from a really cool set. I have two others, one the John Unitas card below. But I went looking at others online and decided I wanted the set, at least the base set. I don't need the autographed cards or any special inserts, I don't care about any of that. I think the photography of the base cards make it one of the best football sets ever.

I found the base set at a decent price so it's on the way. Meanwhile here is the Johnny U. It's another card that sparks a lot of good memories: the gorgeous Colt unis...Memorial Stadium...those high top shoes... the baseball infield dirt. I can't wait for the whole set to arrive.