1968 Topps football card of one of the National Football League’s all-time greats, the late John Mackey. Along with contemporary Mike Ditka, he revolutionized the tight end position in the early 1960s, transforming it from being an extra blocker for the run game into a downfield pass-catching threat. Mackey played 9 of his 10 seasons in the NFL for the Baltimore Colts, and although his career was shortened by injury, he was an extremely durable player, missing only one game in those 10 years. He stayed involved in the game after he retired, becoming the first president of the NFL Players Association, and is credited with bringing organization to the union, which was a fractured group at the time, and helping secure much-needed pensions and benefits for the players. Mackey was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992, and the award for the top tight end in college football is named for him. He died from the effects of a form of dementia in 2011.