Card: 1950 Bowman, Card #45

Team/Position: The Cleveland Browns / Quarterback

Cost: $15.50 for this snowed in version of one of the greatest rookie cards of all time

There were three or four cards that I genuinely thought I’d have no chance in hell of acquiring for a reasonable price.  The two big boys from the 1957 set, Johnny Unitas and Bart Starr, are almost impossible to acquire on the cheap regardless of condition — so they’ve been back-burnered.  Then there’s Topps’ 1965 version of Joe Namath, which literally offers no hope for eventual purchase.  Namath’s numbers don’t jump out at you, but when you’re the quarterback of the New York Jets and you captivated a nation of young people, your rookie card’s going to sit at 250 bucks with 24 bids and 4 days left in an eBay auction as a PSA5 .

Finally, there’s the 1950 Bowman rookie card of Cleveland’s Otto Graham. If you’re of the belief that a quarterback is the field general and should be judged based on his accomplishments rather than statistics: Otto Graham is the best quarterback of all-time, with very little room for argument.

Some people look at Montana and Bradshaw’s four Superbowls a piece or maybe Bart Starr’s epic courage under fire, but all Otto Graham did was win — something the Cleveland Browns haven’t done since his departure.  Graham’s career started with the Browns in 1946 after he finished his service with the U.S. Navy’s coast-guard division.  The legendary Paul Brown signed Graham to a 2-year deal paying him $7,500 per year to play with the AAFC’s Cleveland Browns.

Football History doesn’t look back kindly upon AAFC statistics, as it was generally considered an inferior league that produced meaningless statistics.  From 1946 until the 1950 merger, Otto Graham and his Cleveland Browns won four consecutive AAFC championships through utter domination.  In 1950 when the leagues merged, Otto Graham finally got his rookie card — a beautiful small Bowman, colour and all.

Graham also provided vindication for the AAFC in 1950 by leading the Cleveland Browns to the NFL Championship Game in their inaugural season.  Cleveland finished up the 1950 regular season with a 10-2 record with both loses coming courtesy of the New York Giants’ Umbrella defense (see. Emlen Tunnell). Graham would gain his revenge in the playoffs by defeating the Giants before leading a masterful drive against the Los Angeles Rams to win the NFL Championship for the Cleveland Browns.

In Graham’s six years with the Cleveland Browns of the NFL, he lead the team to six consecutive championship games (winning three).  If his AAFC career’s included, Graham lead the Browns to the title game in each of his 10 professional seasons: An accomplishment that’ll live on in the history books for eternity.

Graham’s four AAFC and three NFL titles place him amongst the most successful quarterbacks of all time; even if he is technically one NFL Championship short of matching Montana and Bradshaw.  Graham’s 57-13-1 record as a starter in the NFL represents the greatest winning percentage (81%) of all time for a starting quarterback.

Automatic Otto Graham or Otto-matic, also won an NBL Championship with the Rochester Royals, who would eventually become the Sacramento Kings,  in his only season of Professional Basketball.  Graham had an uncanny ability to excel in whatever athletic pursuit he engaged in, which will forever remain his legacy.

Graham was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965 along with Sid Luckman, Steve Van Buren and Bob Waterfield, forming one of the best NFL HOF classes of all-time.

Graham’s statistics are nowhere near those of the great quarterbacks, but nary a soul could match his proficiency on the field.  It’s unfair to Graham to limit him solely to his NFL statistics, eliminating some of his best years because they occurred in the AAFC.  With Lou Groza and Marion Motley at his side, Otto Graham was the perfect vessel for Paul Brown’s version of Football.

Card: 1951 Bowman Football, Card #91

Team/Position: NY Giants, GB Packers / DB, Safety.

Cost: Acquired in a Lot ($15)

As a side-project, I’ve started to put together than 1951 Bowman set.  That year really doesn’t offer a lot of value in the Rookie Card department, but it’s definitely cheaper than the ’50 or ’52 sets.  Emlen Tunnell is one of the few rookies in the set, along with Tom Landry and Stormin’ Norman Van Brocklin.

Now, my card doesn’t exactly have the best color to it, but wasn’t Emlen Tunnell supposed to be the first African American to ever suit up for the New York Giants?  If so, is there a reason as to why Emlen comes across as a son of the Mediterranean — Maybe Italian? Maybe Greek?  Thankfully by 1952, Bowman had corrected the matter and Emlen Tunnell was indeed the first African American to play for the New York Giants.

Tunnell has a fairly interesting story, especially for a man that passed away far too early. Tunnell started out at Toledo where he unfortunately broke his neck.  The injury cost him enlistment in both the Army and Navy during WWII, but Emlen was eventually accepted by the Coast Guard.  What I absolutely loved about that era of sports was the dedication to their country that these players showed.

Em eventually settled in Iowa after his tour of the Coast Guard was up.  Tunnell wasn’t drafted, as he surprisingly chose to forgo his third season at Iowa.  Tunnell eventually landed a gig with the New York Giants where he’d prove to be a cornerstone of their Umbrella Defense.

Tunnell was a 9-time Pro Bowl Selection, 8-time All Pro, a member of the All-Decade Team of the 1950′s and a two-time Champion.

Em was literally “offense on defense”  as you can see from the rear of the card: “On the defensive platoon, Em was a valuable factor in attack, returning 2 pass interceptions and 1 punt for TDs.  During season, he intercepted 10 passes and ran them back for 251 yards. Ran 26 punts back for 315 yards” (What awful grammar!)

I’d highly recommend checking out this biography of Emlen Tunnell:

Emlen Tunnell was, as he himself pointed out to Maury White of the Des Moines Register, the “first black everything” with the New York Giants of the National Football League—”player, scout, talent scout, assistant coach, and first full-time black assistant in the whole league.” Tunnell was more than a pioneer, however. Playing the position of safety, he was one of the greatest defensive backs in the history of the game, setting records that lasted for decades after his retirement in 1961. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967, he was not only the first African American to join that body but also the first defensive player. And on top of all this Tunnell was an individual with strong leadership skills that helped smooth the way for the integration of a pro game that was almost all-white when he first took the field.

Card: 1950 Bowman Gum, Card #23

Team/Position: Philadelphia Eagles / Runningback

Cost: Acquired in a $20.00 Lot

After writing about Steve Van Buren’s Leaf rookie card yesterday, I received a wonderful surprise today:  Steve Van Buren’s first Bowman card that doesn’t look like a boring old stock photo.

While the 1950 Bowman set looks a lot better than the earlier efforts, it doesn’t have the intricate team logos that make the ’51 and ’52 sets so gorgeous. 

I’m currently contemplating putting together the cheaper 1951 Bowman set because of cards like the Van Buren pictured right.

The cards have a good assortment of completely random backgrounds — I mean, Steven Van Buren running through a coniferous forest can’t be touched by modern cards.

Van Buren’s got the ball in his off hand, retaining all three points of contact.  Van Buren’s elbow’s a bit wide and the ball’s not as high and tight as we’d like to see but we’ll chalk this up to artistic license.

The market for vintage cards has also stabilized, which doesn’t make for terrific profits in the short-term, but if you’re ever forced to sell off your collection, you’re not going to lose too much money.

If cards are the stock market, than Vintage cards are the blue-chips.  Maybe they’ll lose ten-percent based on a poor auction time, but for the most part you’ll get back what you paid for ‘em.

Modern cards on the other hand will absolutely screw you over.  Even if a rookie succeeds, unless he’s on pace to break every conceivable record, you’re going to lose money.  There’s very little appreciation from early speculative prices.

Even if Sanchez goes onto multiple Pro Bowls, his cards won’t touch the early prices again unless he starts playing like Manning, or winning like Brady.  Even then, the cards from Playoff Prestige, Bowman Draft or Upper Deck Draft won’t come close to touching their early prices.

I suppose we just live in a society of instant gratification and pissing contests.   Throw in eBay and you’ve got cards going for ridiculous sums of money only to drop in value like a new car driving off the lot.

For the price of a loose pack of just about any product at your local card shop, you can acquire an early-50′s card of a Hall of Famer.  The rush of winning a great card at a damn good price should equal that of rippin’ packs.  You’re never going to pull that $300 Sanchez though, but you’ll avoid the awful cycle of ripping, selling, using the profits to rip more, and eventually selling more.  In the end, you’ll end up with a shit-tonne of base cards and no-name autographed rookies.

If you consider that fun; then, so be it.

Card: 1950 Bowman Football, Card #43

Team/Position: Cleveland Browns / Fullback

Cost: $30.00

The 1950 Bowman Gum Football set is one of the greatest sets of all time.  Prior to the 1950 season, the AAFC merged with the NFL and some of the all-time greats finally got their first rookie cards.  The Baltimore Colts, Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers joined the NFL intact; meanwhile, the AAFC New York franchise was split evenly between the two NFL teams in New York.

The remainder of the AAFC players were dispersed evenly amongst the NFL franchises in a draft.  So there you have it, that’s why the 1950 Bowman set is absolutely loaded.

In the AAFC’s four year existence, Marion Motley and the Cleveland Browns won every championship.  When the AAFC shut down in 1949, Motley was the league’s all time leading rusher with 3,048 yards.

When Motley and the Browns joined the NFL, Marion Motley lead the league in rushing in his very first NFL season with 810 yards on 140 carries.  Motley averaged 5.8 yards per carry that year, averaging under a dozen carries per game.

No cards were produced for the AAFC, so Motley’s first card came when he was already 30 years old.  The front of the card makes Marion Motley look like an absolute beast, and at 6’1″ / 235lbs, he certainly was.  When you first look at the card, Motley’s number 76 and large stature make him look more like an offensive lineman than a fullback.

During a game against the Steelers in 1950, Motley rushed for a staggering 188 yards on only 11 carries: In turn, setting a yards per carry average record of 17 yards per attempt.

When it comes to the best runningback of all-time, Marion Motley’s definitely in the conversation with Jim Brown, Walter Peyton and Barry Sanders.

Motley was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1968.

Card: 1952 Bowman Football, Card #129

Team/Position: Detroit Lions / Defensive Halfback

Cost: $4.00

The early Bowman Football cards are probably the best looking football cards ever produced.  After the black and white cards of the late 40′s, Bowman really stepped it up and produced football cards with incredibly bright, contrasting, colours and terrific team logos.

Another benefit of the ’52 Bowman set was the insertion of both large and small cards.  The ’52 set is the stuff dreams are made of, and PSA has documented the costly hobby of nailin’ down these sets, here (small) and here (large).

When it comes to purchasing these cards, I’ll definitely need to scale back my guidelines and stress that condition isn’t all that important.  The Jack Christiansen that I acquired almost spoils the mythology behind this set.  The colors aren’t as sharp, the corners are shot, and it’s filled with creases; BUT, it was under five dollars — Score!

I’ve included a thumbnail of a PSA 9 Christiansen, if you’re curious as to what this card should look like.  Try your best not to fall in love with high-grade vintage cards or you’ll end up going broke quick-fast.

Christiansen was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1970 after playing for the Lions from 1951 to 1958.

During his career with the Lions, Christiansen was elected to 6 First Team All Pro Teams, and 5 Pro Bowls.

Christiansen lead the Lions to two consecutive NFL Championships in ’52 and ’53.

As the Lions defensive leader, Christiansen finished his career with 46 interceptions.

Christiansen also gained fame for his outstanding return abilities and finished up his career with 8 touchdowns on 85 punt returns.

Personally, of the three Bowman’s (50, 51, and 52,) I think that I’m leaning towards ’52 set.  The 1950 set has the greatest “Rookie” class of all-time, but the ’52 set has a lot to offer.  Financially, the ’51 set is probably the most affordable, if that’s what you’re looking for.

Card: 1955 Bowman Football #44

Team/Position: San Francisco / Full Back

Cost: Free Money

No, not this Joe Perry, who was joined on-stage at the Fillmore by Steven Tyler to dismiss rumors of Aerosmith’s breakup. No, not the Joe Perry who came out the next day to say that the break-up was still on, either.

We’re talking about San Francisco 49ers fullback, Joe “the Jet” Perry.

Perry was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969. 

The 1955 card isn’t Perry’s rookie card; that honor goes to that 1950 Bowman Card.   The 1950 version of Perry is quite pricey, but is the case with all of the early Bowmans, it looks absolutely terrific.

Perry’s most notable attribute was his ability to boogey.  Perry notched a 9.7 in the 100-yard dash, which isn’t particularly useful nowadays: Converted, it’s about 10.5 second 100-m.  The world record around that time was about 10.2 seconds in the 100-m.  Needless to say, Perry was fast.

Why this card got a 2.5 is pretty much beyond me. When you compare the Lenny Moore 2.5 against the Joe Perry 2.5, there’s a world of difference.  Perry’s 2.5 looks much closer to the BVG 5.0 that Forrest Gregg pulled down.

Considering that the Perry and the Lenny Moore cost a total of nine dollars, I’m a pretty happy camper.

Card: 1954 Bowman Card #23

Team/Position: Chicago, Houston, Oakland / Quarterback & Kicker

Cost: $35

The NFL has taken it upon itself to Celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the AFL in 2009 with AFL rivalry games featuring some of the gaudiest jerseys known to man.  I’s clear that Joe Namath reigns supreme as the most recognizable ambassador that the AFL had, but without a doubt, George Blanda is Top-5.

Namath and Blanda represented the AFL in vastly different ways.  The AFL wanted itself to be seen as Namath, who had signed with the Jets for more money after they’d selected him first overall in 1965. Namath was a brash playboy with a youthful energy that seemed to be contagious, exactly what the AFL wanted.

The NFL wanted the AFL to be seen as George Blanda, though. Originally Blanda came off as an NFL washout, no longer good enough to play for the Chicago Bears of their prestigious league.  Blanda kept playing though…and playing…and playing…and playing, before eventually ending his career after 26 seasons in Professional Football.  Blanda is too often defined by the length of his career which indirectly reduces the significance of many of his other accomplishments.

Blanda’s Accomplishments

In 1949, Bears’ owner, George Halas, signed George Blanda for $600, thus beginning the start of a great career.  Almost none of that career occurred with Blanda’s original team though.  Blanda was the starting quarterback for the Bears in ’53, but an injury in ’54 sentenced Blanda to the role of full-time kicker, back-up quarterback.  Blanda retired after the 1958 season, knowing that he was a capable quarterback and not just a kicker and thus began the career of George Blanda.

When I acquired the 1954 version of Blanda’s rookie card, I was terribly tempted to grab the 1960 version of Blanda as a member of the Houston Oilers.  Blanda’s career started when he dawned an AFL jersey and Fleer’s 1960 card of George Blanda wearing the Oilers’ blue can be had for around twenty dollars.

Blanda lead the Oilers to the first AFL Championship in 1960 before going off in, what’s generally considered his best professional season, 1961.  Blanda once again took home the AFL Championship, but this time it came with AFL Player of the Year honors.   Blanda led the AFL in passing yards (3,330) and passing touchdowns (36) that year.  Blanda was a passing machine, leading the league in both attempts and completions from 1963 through 1965.

By 1967, Blanda’s time had run out with the Houston Oilers but he was quickly snapped up by the Oakland Riaders.  After a terrific career with the Oilers, Blanda was now comfortable operating in the role that the Bears had seen him in so long ago. Blanda, who was still a straight ahead kicker, repeatedly came up in the clutch for the Raiders.

In 1970, Blanda was released by the Raiders only to, you guessed it, resign with them before leading one of the craziest five game stretches in the history of football.

Game 1 vs. Steelers: Lamonica gets hurt, Blanda throws three touchdowns to win ‘er.

Game 2 vs. Kansas City: Blanda kicks a field-goal with 3 seconds left to tie ‘er up.

Game 3 vs. Cleveland: Off the bench, Again!  Blanda throws a TD with under two minutes to play to tie the game up before booting a ridiculous 52-yard field-goal to win ‘er.

Game 4 vs. Denver: Blanda gets the call in the 4th quarter only to throw the winning touchdown with two minutes left.

Game 5 vs. San Diego: Blanda knocks in a chip-shot field goal in the closing seconds to beat the Chargers and end one of the greatest streaks of balls-to-the-wall football in the history of the game.

Eventually, the 1970 season ended with Blanda becoming the oldest quarterback (age 43) to start a Championship Game.

Blanda’s Records (straight from wikiland)

• Passing TDs in a game: 7 (Tied with 4 others)
• Most seasons played: 26
• Only player to play in four different decades; (40s, 50s, 60s, 70s)
• Most PATs made (943) and attempted (959)
• Most interceptions thrown, single season: 42 (1962)
• Held record of most pass attempts in a single game: 68 until 1994, when Drew Bledsoe had 70
• Oldest person to play in an NFL game: 48 years, 109 days
• First player ever to score over 2,000 points
• Oldest quarterback to start a title game
• Most total points accounted for (including TD passes) in a career: 3,418

Blanda is no longer the proud owner of the Most Career Interceptions which now belongs to Brett Favre.

The Card

I absolutely love the look of this card; it’s simple, classic and it shows us that George Blanda used to be one very good looking dude.  It’s refreshing to see this shot of Blanda, rather than the grey haired man hunched on the Raiders sideline.

I’m still torn on whether or not I made the right call.  The Fleer card doesn’t look quite as classic and it’s not quite as old, but it’s Blanda as a member of the AFL.

1960 Fleer Blanda, Courtesy of Footballcardgallery.com

Card: 1993 Bowman’s Best Cuts Refractor #BC1

Team/Position: St. Louis Rams / Offensive Tackle

Cost: 2 Dollars

Orlando Pace’s moved onto the Chicago Bears and apparently has something left in the tank.  He’s not the monster he once was, but at this point in his career even playing left tackle is astonishing.

It’s probably unfair to claim that Pace was far and away the best offensive tackle in the history of College Football, but very few linemen can be mentioned in the same breath.

When you think of the Greatest Show On Turf, Pace’s name isn’t the first to come to mind, but he was certainly instrumental.

What Made Pace Special?

We’re talking about the man who invented the pancake block (sorta).  Orlando Pace dominated the tackle position with his ridiculous speed and size combination.   Pace was one of the very few tackles that could nullify both the bull and the speed rush on every down, regardless of the man standing opposite him.

From 1999 until 2005, Pace notched a ticket to Hawaii for 7 straight years.  Injuries definitely began slowing Orlando down in 2006 and he now finds himself in Chicago.

A Personal Note:

I’m an Ohio State fan that’ll definitely show bias when selecting certain players, but Orlando Pace isn’t one of those players.  Pace was simply dominant and even if you compare players with eras in mind, I still think Pace comes out top-5 All-Time.

Why This Card?

I didn’t collect during the late 90′s, so it’s hard for me to present a definitive reason for this card. I think my favourite part’s the rear that reminds us of Ohio State’s victory over Illinois and Simeon Rice.  Rice was made for the Tampa-Two and ended up having a terrific career himself, but Orlando Pace pancaked him 8 times during one college game.

As is generally the case, the SP Authentic foil version of Orlando’s rookie looks the sharpest and will set you back the most cash.  The Topps Finest Atomic refractors also tend to look great, but both of these cards were over priced for what we’re trying to achieve.  Bowman’s Best also looks sharp.