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: 1959 Topps Football #4

Team/Position: Wide Receiver (END) / Green Bay Packers

Cost: $3.75

If there were a Hall of MAN Fame, Max McGee would be the very first inductee.

Speaking of which, who’s your very first induction class for the Man’s Hall of Fame?  Richard Roundtree as Shaft with Isaac Hayes getting a supporting nod is a good start. Shawn Kemp, The Rainman, definitely gets a first ballot induction — Hell, let’s give him one for each and every illegitimate child that he’s fathered.  JFK’s in, if even half the rumors are true, and Oliver Stone’s probably in too.  The entire Rat Pack gets an induction, but only Sinatra, Davis Jr. and Dean Martin get in on the first ballot.

Brett Favre, upon retirement, would also become eligible and definitely be a first ballot Hall of Famer.  Favre pitches Wrangler Jeans, makes fun of himself in a Sears commercial, and dealt with a Percocet addiction.  There’s also little doubt in my mind that Brett Favre rested a tall-boy of Budweiser on a sorority girls head whilst receiving a dirty gummer during his days at Southern Miss.

Danny McBride who plays Kenny Powers in East Bound and Down is well on his way to becoming a first ballot HOFer.

Back To McGee…

McGee didn’t have a HOF career, but he definitely put up some numbers:  6346 receiving YDS, 50 TD on 345 receptions.   McGee went to one Pro Bowl (1961) and was part of 3 Packers Championship Teams and 2 Super Bowl Championship teams.

McGee decided to serve his country as an Air Force pilot for two years after his 1954 rookie season.  After returning, McGee went on to a career worthy of induction into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.

The Story That Made McGee

Max McGee and Paul Hornung loved to party.  There’s rumors abroad about Max and Paul constantly sneaking out past curfew to party-it-up.

Before what’s now known as Super Bowl 1, Max McGee had succumbed to father time.  During the 1966 regular season, McGee only had 4 receptions for 96 yards and a touchdown, but his luck was about to change.

The Packers advanced to the Super Bowl and Lombardi told McGee that there’s no way in hell that he’d play.  Max took that as free license to go out the night before and have a jolly good time before getting but a single hour’s worth of sleep.  Max was so certain that he wouldn’t play, he decided to leave his helmet in the Packers locker room. McGee was as hungover as one can get and then, after he’d told Dowler not to get hurt because he was in bad shape, the impossible happened;  Dowler hurt his shoulder on the second play of the game.

McGee was forced to borrow a teammates helmet before going off for 7 receptions, 138 yards, and two touchdowns en route to a Packers victory in Super Bowl 1.

Hall of Famer

Just looking at Max’s male pattern baldness at 27 tells you everything that you need to know.  McGee eventually passed away at 75 — He fell off the roof while cleaning the eavestrough with a leaf blower.

Here’s to Max McGee, a man’s man.

Max McGee’s rookie-card is readily available for under 10-bucks.