1985 Topps football card of former wide receiver Cliff Branch, who played 15 seasons in the NFL for the Oakland/Los Angeles Raiders. A former college track star, he held the NFL records for career playoff receptions and receiving yards until Jerry Rice broke them in the 1990s. Branch, who passed away in 2019, was a four-time Pro Bowler and a major contributor to 3 Raider Super Bowl titles.
1968 Topps football card of former NFL flanker/punter Bob Scarpitto, who played eight seasons of pro ball in the American Football League for 3 different teams, most notably the Denver Broncos. He was an AFL All Star in 1966 and was named to the AFL’s All Time second team. He still holds team records for punting, including most punts in a game and a season, a reflection of how bad the 1960s Denver teams were.
1958 Bowman football card of former pro football end/fullback Leon Hart, who played eight seasons in the NFL for the Detroit Lions. He was the top choice of the 1950 college draft, the year the NFL absorbed teams from the AAFC. Playing during the last Lions’ glory era of the 1950s, Hart was a Pro Bowler in 1951 and helped the Lions win 3 NFL championships during the decade. After retiring from football, he ran a manufacturing business that made equipment for balancing tires.
1963 Stancraft football card of former pro football end Johnny “Blood” McNally, an early pioneer who played 15 years with 5 different teams starting in 1925, when the NFL was in its’ infancy. He had his most success with the Green Bay Packers, spending a total of 7 years with them in 2 different stints. He was a member of 4 championship teams with the Packers. McNally spent 4 years in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II after retiring as a player. He was named to the NFL’s All Decade team of the 1930s, and was part of the first class of players to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963.
1969 Topps football card of former pro football running back Willis Crenshaw, who played seven seasons as a hard-running fullback in the National Football League, all but one for the St. Louis Cardinals. He played his final season in the NFL in 1970 for the Denver Broncos, and had the honor of scoring the first touchdown at Mile High Stadium. After his playing days ended, Crenshaw carved out a career as a Manhattan-based financial planner, advising clients on long term financial planning and managing investments.
1984 Topps football card of former NFL fullback Matt Suhey, who played 10 seasons in the league for the Chicago Bears. His main role was to serve as a blocking back for Walter Payton during his career. They became close friends, and Suhey has been the executor of Payton’s estate since his death. He was a key member of the Bears’ 1985 Super Bowl-winning team.
1951 Bowman football card of former pro football fullback and linebacker Marion Motley, who played in the old All America Conference and the National Football League for 9 seasons, all but one with the Cleveland Browns. Along with Bill Willis, he became one of the first African American players to break the color line in pro football when he signed with the AAFC Browns. He was a major part of a Browns’ team that won the AAFC championship all 4 years of the league’s existence, and which also won the NFL title in 1950 when they were absorbed into that league. Motley was named to the All Decade team for the 1940s, the NFL 75th Anniversary team and it’s 100th Anniversary team. He became the second black player to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame when he was enshrined in 1968.
1999 Donruss football card of former pro quarterback Kurt Warner, who played 12 seasons in the NFL for 3 different teams. He was a Cinderella story in that he became the St. Louis Rams’ starting QB in 1999 due to injury, then led his team to a Super Bowl victory and was the game’s MVP. He got the Rams to another Super Bowl and later in his career directed the Arizona Cardinals to the big game also. Warner was a four-time Pro Bowler, a two-time NFL MVP and won the Walter Payton Man of The Year Award in 2008. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017 and currently works as a studio analyst for the NFL Network.
1951 Bowman football card of former pro football back Elmer “Bud” Angsman, who played seven seasons in the NFL for the Chicago Cardinals. He was a member of the last Cardinal team to win a championship, way back in 1947, and was selected to the first ever Pro Bowl in 1950. Angsman was a color analyst on both radio and television after his playing days ended, working both college and pro games for CBS Radio, ABC’s telecasts of the AFL and NBC. He died of a heart attack in 2002.
1974 Topps football card of former pro football defensive end L.C. Greenwood, who was a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ famous “Steel Curtain” defense in the 1970s. He was a two-time All Pro and a six-time Pro Bowler, despite playing in the shadow of his more famous teammate Joe Greene. He was known for wearing gold football spikes when he played, was named to the NFL’s All Decade team for the 1970s, and helped Pittsburgh win four Super Bowl titles in that decade. Greenwood died of kidney failure in 2013 at the age of 67.