Card: 1979 Topps Football Card #390

Team/Position: Houston Oilers / Runningback

Cost: $2.80

I knew this deal was too good to be true, I knew it.  I purchased this Earl Campbell with a Dan Fouts Rookie Card because the seller agreed to ship it via standard airmail.

Rant Ensues, Feel Free To Skip

I didn’t feel like spending 11 dollars on shipping for 5 dollars worth of cards and she agreed, yet every time that I requested an invoice she sent it back with shipping of 11 dollars.  In her messages, she said she was going to ship it via the two dollar option, but her invoices said differently.

I eventually just paid the 11 dollar option and politely asked for a refund of the difference if she decided to ship it via the $2.00 option.  Of course that was the wrong decision as she shipped it via the two dollar option before ignoring my refund requests for 3 weeks.

I eventually won the dispute because she didn’t bother responding to eBay either.  I like to reward people that ship to Canada, even if they don’t get it postmarked until 10 days after payment, but this is just a piss-off.

Rant Ends, Earl Campbell Worship Begins

Some folks enjoy watching highlights of Barry Sanders or Gale Sayers, but in my opinion, neither could hold a candle to Earl Campbell.

In ’77 Campbell won the Heisman with the Texas Longhorns after leading the nation in rushing.

Sanders and Sayers would make your jaw drop, but Earl Campbell would make you grimace.

The Houston Oilers selected Campbell with the first overall selection in the 1978 Draft.  Campbell won the Offensive Rookie Of The Year Award in 1978 and followed it up with an MVP award in ’79.

As you see on the front of the card, Campbell was awarded the first of his three-consecutive All-Pro selections in his rookie year.  Campbell also has a “RECORD BREAKER” rookie card in the ’79 set, but it’s far less valuable.

Time For Another Video

Campebll went onto five Pro Bowls over the course of his eight year career.  Unfortunately, Campbell’s career was cut far too short by his bruising running style.

After his epic 1980 season (373 Attempts, 1934 Yards, 13 TD, 5.2YPC,) it was essentially down-hill for Campbell.  While he received a full workload in 1981, Campbell failed to average four yards per carry.

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: 1948 Leaf Football, Card #22

Team/Position: Philadelphia Eagles / Runningback

Cost: $23.00

The print-line across the top definitely detracts from this 1948 Steve Van Buren, but it also made it affordable.  There’s currently a PSA 5 available on eBay for just over 100 dollars, which is actually a pretty decent price — either way, Van Buren cards don’t come cheap.

Steve Van Buren began his life in Honduras before being orphaned and eventually sent to live with his grand-parents in N’Orleans.   Van Buren decided to stay in state after receiving a scholarship from LSU.  In Steve’s senior season, he lead the nation in total points and touchdowns.

The Eagles selected Van Buren with their first overall selection and the rest, as they say, is history.

Van Buren took home the NFL rushing crown on four different occasions and was selected an All Pro seven times.  With the Eagles, Steve Van Buren won the NFL Championship two different times and is most remembered for his performance in the winter of 1948 (the year this card was published).

Against the Chicago Cardinals, Steve Van Buren ran for the game’s only touchdown.  Ironically, Van Buren almost missed the game when he stayed home due to the ferocious snowstorm.  Van Buren was forced to take three trolleys and walk twelve city blocks to get to the game on time.

Van Buren was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965 and will be best remembered for his hard-hitting running style that transformed the Philadelphia Eagles into a contender, almost overnight.

Bowman almost produced a trading card of Steve Van Buren in 1948, but they were still producing black and white cards at that point.   The cards can be had a cheaper price, but aren’t nearly as presentable.

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: 1984 Topps Football Card #280

Team/Position: Los Angeles Rams, Indianapolis Colts,  Oakland Raiders / Runningback

Cost: $5.00

For some reason, I feel that runningbacks of the 80′s definitely get lost in the wash. Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders went about destroying records at such a frequency that the Eric Dickersons and Marcus Allens of the world are all too often forgotten.  The 80′s was essentially, Walter Peyton or bust.

Eric Dickerson was absolutely amazing though, and his rookie card comes from one of the best football sets out there: 1984 Topps Football.

Dickerson’s one of the few men to ever rush for over 2000 yards and still holds the record for rushing yards in a single season with 2,105 yards which he accomplished in his second season.

In 1989, Dickerson became the fastest player to reach 10,000 yards, accomplishing the feat in only 91 games — Faster than Sanders (103 G), than Brown (98 G) and Emmitt and LT too (106 G).

Dickerson was a terrific back, and probably best known for making things look easier than a sorority girl.  Dickerson was just so incredibly fluid through the hole, and then accelerating through the second level.

I’m a fairly avid reader of FootballOutsiders where Dickerson’s name pops up in one of the most circulated fantasy football caveat:

A running back with 370 or more carries during the regular season will usually suffer either a major injury or a loss of effectiveness the following year, unless he is named Eric Dickerson

Dickerson eventually began to falter late in his career, but that was mainly due to contract disputes and general unhappiness.  Early in Dickerson’s career, he defied the odds by running the ball almost 400 times per year without losing a step — He WAS the Rams offense.

Eric Dickerson was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999.

Card: 1967 Philadelphia Football Card #43

Team/Position: Cleveland Browns / Runningback

Cost: $13.00

For some reason, this card eluded me for a good chunk of time.  When I finally saw one on eBay, I pounced all over it.  I probably ended up overpaying for a GAI graded 2, but at least I’m able to check it off the list.

Leroy Kelly was drafted by the Browns in the eighth round of the 1964 NFL Draft; seven rounds after Paul Warfield.  Kelly went on to have a Hall of Fame career with the Browns, while Warfield went on to do the same with the Dolphins.

After becoming the starting runningback in 1966, Leroy went on to amass three consecutive 1000-yard seasons.  1966 was also the start of Kelly’s streak of six consecutive Pro Bowl and five consecutive All Pro selections.  Kelly was selected to the Pro Bowl in 1970, but failed to make the First-Team All American squad that year.

Kelly lead the league in rushing yards in ’67 and ’68 and rushing touchdowns in ’67 through ’69.

Kelly was blessed with a great combination of acceleration, balance and evasiveness, which allowed him to excel in the less than ideal conditions of Cleveland.

Kelly was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1994, yet is still often overlooked in the grand scheme of things.  Kelly piled up terrific yardage numbers, yet many are beginning to fall to the wayside as the NFL trudges along with it’s evolution.

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: 1956 Topps Football #60

Team/Position: Baltimore Colts / Halfback

Cost: $9.00

Lenny Moore was drafted by the Baltimore Colts in the first round (ninth overall) of the 1956 draft out of Penn State.  Lenny ended up being one of the few players to get his rookie card in his draft year.  The ’56 set holds some great Hall Of Famers on Topps cardboard for the very first time.  Lenny Moore, Joe Schmidt, Bill George, Stan Jones and Roosevelt Brown all have their Rookie Cards in the ’56 set.

I absolutely love the looks of these cards and I’m contemplating throwing together a low-grade set.  I got Lenny Moore and Joe Perry from the 1955 Bowman set, all for 9 bucks.  I’m going to considering Perry a Bonus! Bonus! card and just say that Lenny cost 9 bucks.  You can find Lenny Moore cards for under 5 bucks though, if you look hard enough.

Moore was a huge part of Baltimore’s offense, but his cards cost about 1/50th of the price as Unitas’.  Moore was another Flanker / Halfback combo-player that contributed whenever he touched the ball.

Over the course of Moore’s career, he notched seven Pro Bowls and seven All Pro selections.  Moore was named to the all decade team of the 1950′s and took home the UPI’s Rookie of the Year Award in 1956.

Lenny Moore was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975 after retiring from the game before the 1968 season.  Moore finished up his career with over 12K combined yards, and a then record, 18 consecutive games played with a touchdown.

Card: 1959 Topps Football Card #140

Team/Position: Halfback, Flanker / Washington Redskins, Cleveland Browns

Cost: $9.00

Bobby Mitchell was yet another incredible athlete from the prestigious Big-10 conference.  This time, rather than ranting and raving about Ohio State, we’re taking a trek westward to visit Champaign, Illinois, and their Fightin’ Illini.   Mitchell was a half-back for the Illini, but didn’t start until late in his sophomore season.  Mitchell finished up the season with a bang, but lost the majority of his junior year due to knee injuries.  His senior season was successful, but he failed to match his First Team All-American performance of just two years previous.

Mitchell’s athleticism landed him an offer from the St. Louis Cardinals to play baseball before even attending the University of Illinois.  Mitchell obviously declined and subsequently starred on the track and field team where his Olympic aspirations were born.

After the Browns drafted Mitchell in the 7th round of the 1958 Draft, Paul Brown had to contend with Mitchell’s Olympic dreams.  Brown’s offer of a $7000 salary was enough to change Mitchell’s mind and set the stage for arguably the best one-two combination that the game’s ever seen: Bobby Mitchell and Jim Brown.

Mitchell had track speed and unbelievable “make-ya-miss” potential.  Brown had the “make-yah-wish-yah-missed” skill that made him arguably the best player ever to have put on a helmet.

The combination was broken up in 1962 when the Washington Redskins underwent a drastic transformation.  The ‘Skins were under tremendous pressure to integrate the team by the local media and even congress, which lead to the eventual acquisition of Bobby Mitchell.  The ‘Skins had drafted Heisman winner, Ernie Davis, with the number one pick but traded him to the Browns for Mitchell and Leroy Jackson.

In one of the saddest stories ever told by the NFL (and eventually the silver screen,) Davis was the first African American to win the Heisman; However, Davis  succumbed to leukemia before ever playing a down of football in the National Football League.

The Redskins and Bill McPeak saw Mitchell as better suited for the outside and switched him to Flanker.  In Mitchell’s first year, he went off for — check this — 72 receptions, 1384 yards, and 11 touchdowns.

Mitchell was absolutely Dyn-o-mite.

Throughout the remainder of his career with the Redskins, Mitchell would never catch fewer than 58 passes in a year, despite being returned to his original half-back position in 1967 by new head-coach, Otto Graham.  When Mitchell retired after the 1968 season, his 14,078 combined yards was the second highest total in NFL history.

Mitchell was truly special in every aspect of the game. As a returner, Mitchell would end up returning almost 5% of kickoffs for touchdowns, which ranks fourth in NFL history.  As a runner, Mitchell was blessed with the break-away potential that few runningbacks, let alone defenders, could ever match.  As a receiver, Mitchell managed almost 8000 yards receiving despite spending a large portion of his career in the backfield.

Mitchell was inducted into the HOF in 1983 after being on the ballot for 10 years.

Seriously, 10 years.

Card: 1987 Topps Football Card #327

Team/Position: Oakland Raiders / Halfback

Cost: $5

Bo Jackson was absolutely one of the best football players of all time, if you’re basing the list solely on talent.  Unfortunately, Jackson’s career, in both football and baseball, was cut far too short by a devastating hip injury.

For this reason, I’m not sure whether or not to list Jackson as a Bonus! Bonus! card or not.  The card itself can be had for 99 cents, but personally I think it’s worth it to spend the extra few bucks to buy a graded copy.  This card was graded by PSA which ends up costing about 15 bucks if you were interested in submitting it yourself, but I don’t particularly care about the grade.  What I do care about is a well protected card — Why not get it sonically sealed for an extra couple bucks?

Canada isn’t like Arizona; cards will absorb every drop of humidity in the summer, only to give it right back when winter arrives.  If a couple bucks is all it costs to stop your cards from resembling Marty McSorley’s stick against the Habs, it seems worth it.

Bo Knows…

Bo definitely knows that his Nike commercial took him from a star and turned him into a superstar.  Athlete’s faced an uphill battle in the late-80′s and early 90′s when it came to marketing and  branding themselves and this was Bo’s break.   You could tell by simply looking at the man that he was the perfect athlete.  To this day, it’s still hard to think of a man that looked more athletic than Bo Jackson.

Jackson was the first athlete to play in both the MLB and NFL All Star games, but I’ll focus on his football career.

At Auburn, there was little doubt that Jackson was a once in a lifetime player.  Whenever Jackson took the field, there was an opportunity to see something that you’d never seen before.  It’s almost impossible to fathom, but Jackson could’ve been both the fastest and the most powerful runner in college football during his career.  Jackson eventually won the Heisman Trophy in 1985 before being drafted by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers first overall in the 1986 Draft.

The Bucs decided to take Bo on a little plane ride which eventually cost Bo his College eligibility.  Jackson was also given the choice of Football or Baseball by the Bucs, which resulted in Bo Jackson playing for the Royal’s minor league affiliate and the Buccaneers forfeiting his rights.

In 1987, Jackson was once again eligible for the NFL Draft.  The Raiders, in all of their brilliance, snapped up Bo Jackson in the 7th round and thus began history.  Al Davis wasn’t always Crazy-Lizard Man, as he allowed Jackson to play only part time for the Raiders until baseball season was over.   Davis may not have been Crazy Lizard Man, but he still valued speed above everything and anything else:  Bo Jackson ran a HOLY-WTF (mechanically timed) 4.12 second 40-yard dash at the combine.

In ’87, Bo Jackson played 7 games for the Oakland Raiders behind the soon to be washed-up Marcus Allen (Right, Al Davis?)  In those 7 games however, Jackson received 81 carries and posted…554 Rushing Yards and 4 Touchdowns.

That’s almost 7 Yards Per Carry (6.8 YPC) for someone who’d just finished a full baseball season (434 Plate Appearances).

Everyone, absolutely everyone, remembers Bo Jackson’s  Monday Night Game against Bustacular Brian Bosworth’s Seahawks.

When the Monday Night affair finally came to an end, Jackson had put together one of the best MNF performances of all time:  221 Rushing Yards, 2 TD’s and 12.3 YPC.

Jackson would only play four years in the NFL amassing 2782 Yards on 515 attempts (5.4 YPC).  Jackson’s career was cut terribly short when his hip became disjointed during a tackle, cutting off blood supply to the head of his left femur.  Jackson would require a hip replacement and while he continued playing baseball, his football career was over.

Jackson was one of the most talented runners that’ve ever played football and much like Gale Sayers, we’re just left to wonder What If?