Card: 1973 Topps Card #288

Team/Position: Oakland Raiders / Safety

Cost: $4.00

Continuing with the Ohio State trend, here we have Jack Tatum’s ’73 Rookie Card.  The Oakland Raiders selected Tatum in the first round of the 1971 Draft with the 19th overall pick.  Tatum quickly took over the starting free safety job and as they say, the rest is history.

Tatum was nicknamed the Assassin for good reason.  The hits he laid on receivers are legendary, and the only man to come close to the force that Jack hit with was Ronnie Lott, who often names Tatum as an idol.

In 1970 for the Buckeyes, Tatum was voted an unanimous All American and the National Defensive Player of the year.  When it comes to the best safeties in the history of college football, Jack Tatum is amongst the best.  Sports Illustrated named Jack Tatum as their starting free safety on the All-Century team in 1999. I’m not a huge fan of the card itself, but the photo of Jack Tatum is absolutely frightening.  I can’t help but think that Jack Tatum would be Vegas’ favourite in a prize-fight against a series of black bears, lions, and great white sharks.

As A Raider…

I guess there’s no place to start other than the Immaculate Reception. Jack Tatum’s the reason the ball flew upwards before eventually landing in Franco Harris’ hands.  Tatum was the one that separated John Fuqua from the football before Harris’ grab.  I always enjoy watching the former Raiders players question the call, saying the ball hit the ground or the ball hit Fuqua (illegal for the ball to be touched by two offensive players in succession back in the day).

Tatum was unfortunately also known for his pre-season hit on Darryl Stingley that left Stingley paralyzed from the chest down.  Tatum denied any responsibility for the hit, claiming it was well within the rules, but failed to immediately apologize.  Tatum claims that he’s attempted to apologize, and feels genuinely bad about the outcome of the play, but the people close to Stingley at the time refused to let it happen.

The Credentials

Tatum holds the record for the longest fumble recovery in the history of the game (t. 1) after returning a fumble for 104 yards against the Packers.

Tatum was a 3-time Pro Bowler, a 2-time 2nd team All Pro.  For some reason, Tatum has yet to be entered into the Professional Football Hall of Fame.

Tatum’s without a doubt one of the greatest safeties of all time and for the life of me, I cannot figure out why he’s being held out.  It’s apparent that there’s a chunk of sports-writers that aren’t all that fond of Jack “the Assassin” Tatum.

Tatum definitely looks like a Hall Of Famer and anyone who played with or against him would say he played like a Hall of Famer, so… What’s the problem?

Card: 1959 Topps Card #132

Team/Position: Baltimore Colts / Guard & Tackle

Cost: $4.50

After dealing with Jim Brown’s 1958 Rookie Card just the other day, it’s Jim Parker that shows up in my mailbox today.  As I said, the 1959 edition of Topps Football is absolutely gorgeous and this card’s in pretty good condition.  There’s a small unbroken crease that’s barely visible and most, if not all, of the gloss is still on the card.

So what does Jim Parker have to do with Jim Brown?  Parker was selected two picks after Brown as the 8th overall selection in the 1957 Draft.  The ’57 draft churned out HOFer (Hornung) after HOFer (Dawson) after HOFer (Brown) after HOFer (Parker) in just the first round!  Five others from the ’57 class also made the Hall of Fame.

Parker is the second Ohio State offensive linemen included and he comes with the same accolades.  Parker and Pace both won the Outland Trophy for Best Offensive Lineman and both finished top-10 in Heisman voting.  Orlando Pace was the winner of the Jim Parker Award; an award presented by the Touchdown Club of Columbus for the best offensive lineman, obviously named after Parker, himself.

At Ohio State, Parker was a bad-ass interior lineman on both sides of the ball.  Woody Hayes successfully used Parker’s power to run the ball directly at opponents in his patented “3-yards and a cloud of dust” style.

After Parker was drafted by Baltimore, he was moved to tackle and asked to keep Johnny Unitas upright.  Parker was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on the first ballot as the first true offensive lineman in 1977.  In his 11 seasons, Parker accumulated 8 Pro Bowl Selections, 10 All Pro Selections, and 2 Championships.

What Made Parker Special?

Parker’s ability to dominate the Tackle position after having very little experience in pass-blocking at OSU is impressive.  Very rarely do you see offensive linemen switch positions halfway through their career without missing a beat.  Parker handled the ends just as well as the tackles.

Parker’s versatility lends itself to many referring to him as the best offensive lineman of all time.  Very few linemen had the mix of speed, quickness and power, that Parker had.

Football has never really lent itself to statistics, and that’s why players are still judged on the number of championships they’ve won.   Football’s still without a statistic to adequately define All-Pro offensive lineman play and thus, the “Eyeball Test” is almost always used.

Jim Parker obviously passes this test.