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1966 Topps football card of former Buffalo Bills’ flanker Elbert Dubenion. After attending tiny Bluffton College, Dubenion was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in 1959 but opted to sign with the Bills and the new American Football League. Nicknamed “Golden Wheels”, he was one of the AFL’s most prolific downfield receivers, and helped lead the Bills to consecutive league titles in 1964 and ’65. Dubenion holds the AFL’s record for the longest pass reception TD in a playoff game, set in 1963 when he caught a 93-yard scoring throw from Daryle Lamonica. After retiring as a player, Dubenion was a successful talent scout for Miami, Atlanta and the Bills.

1960 Topps football card of former NFL defensive end Marion Campbell, who played eight seasons in the league with the San Francisco 49ers and Philadelphia Eagles. His real name is Francis Marion Campbell, so he was appropriately nicknamed “The Swamp Fox” during his career. The highlight of his playing days came in 1960, when he helped the Eagles win a surprising NFL championship, handing Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers their only postseason loss of the Lombardi era. Campbell had a long coaching career after he retired as a player, serving as head coach of the Eagles and two different stints as head man for the Atlanta Falcons, but unfortunately has the third lowest winning percentage in NFL history among coaches.

A couple of classic baseball cards featuring a father and son duo who both played for the same franchise – a 1962 Topps card of former Cleveland Indian Tito Francona and a 1989 Topps Tiffany card (courtesy of www.CheckOutMyCards.com )of his son, Terry, who played briefly for the Tribe and is their current manager. Tito was mostly a journeyman player, spending six of his 15 years in the major leagues with the Indians as a first baseman/outfielder. He played for 9 different teams in those 15 years. Terry’s playing career was similar to his father’s, as he played 10 seasons for 5 different teams, one of those years coming with the Indians. He has made his mark after retiring as a manager, winning 2 World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox.

1993 Upper Deck football card of one of the greatest special teams players of all time, former Buffalo Bill Steve Tasker.  Tasker joined the Bills in 1986 after being cut by the Houston Oilers and carved out a 12 year career with the team as a special teamer, revolutionizing the “gunner” position on kick coverage teams. He also was an accomplished field goal and punt blocker, and basically took advantage of the fact that the Bills’ coach at the time, Marv Levy, was a former special teams coach who put a great emphasis on that phase of the game. Tasker was a seven-time Pro Bowler in his career, and currently works as a game analyst on NFL telecasts for CBS.

1972 Topps football card of former Cincinnati Bengal back Paul Robinson, who was a fourth round pick in the team’s inaugural college draft class. He was an immediate success, as he rushed for 1,023 yards in his first season,1968,  for the Bengals, the first rookie to rush for over 1,000 yards for an expansion team in pro football history. He also led the AFL’s Western Division All Stars to a win over the Eastern stars, and was named American Football League Rookie of The Year for those achievements. Robinson wound playing a total of seven seasons in the AFL and NFL, for the Bengals and Houston Oilers.

1962 Fleer football card of former Buffalo Bills fullback Art Baker, who played 2 seasons, 1961 and ’62, with the team. Baker played his college ball at Syracuse, where he was a backfield mate of  Heisman Trophy winner Ernie Davis. He also was an NCAA wrestling champion. He followed up his AFL career with four seasons in the Canadian League with the Hamilton Tiger Cats and Calgary Stampeders, winning a pair of Grey Cup titles with Hamilton.

1961 Fleer football card of one of the original American Football League quarterbacks, Frank Tripucka, who recently passed away. He was a veteran journeyman quarterback who had floated around the NFL and the Canadian league, with six different teams, since 1949 before deciding to join his old CFL coach, Frank Filchock, with the new AFL Denver Broncos in the league’s inaugural season in 1960. He holds the distinction of throwing the first touchdown pass in AFL history, and wound up playing for the Broncos for 4 seasons, including an All Star season in 1962. Tripucka’s son Kelly is a former NBA basketball player.

1972 Topps football card of former Buffalo Bills’ defensive back Robert James. James joined the Bills in 1969 after graduating from tiny Fisk College, and played 6 seasons for them before a serious knee injury derailed his career. That career, though short, was a successful one, as he was named to 3 Pro Bowls and gained a reputation as a “lockdown” cornerback before that term was popular. James, a member of the Bills’ Wall of Fame, is currently a school administrator in his hometown of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

1963 Topps football card of former Minnesota Vikings’ tight end Jerry Reichow, who was a member of the team in its’ inaugural season in 1961, and was one of only 2 players from the expansion team to be named to the Pro Bowl that season. Reichow entered the NFL in 1956 when he was drafted by Detroit, and helped the Lions win the league title in ’57. He also played on the Philadelphia Eagles title-winning team in 1960 before joining the Vikings, who he played for until 1965. Upon retiring, Reichow stayed on with the franchise as a scout, and has been with the team’s personnel department  in some capacity for over 50 years, currently serving as a consultant.

1961 Fleer football card of one of the standout defensive players in the old American Football League, Harry Jacobs. He started out as a defensive end with the Boston Patriots in 1960, but his pro career really flourished when he moved to the Buffalo Bills in 1963 and was switched to middle linebacker. There he anchored a tough Buffalo defense that won back-to-back championships in 1964 and ’65. An AFL All Star in 1965 and 1969, Jacobs is one of only 20 players who played in the AFL throughout its’ 10 year existence.