RSS
 

Archive for the ‘Classic Sports Card of the Day’ Category

Classic Sports Card of The Day

24 Nov

69toppskilmer

1969 Topps football card of former pro football quarterback Bill Kilmer. This is the second time we’ve featured a Kilmer card on Rayonsports, which is understandable since his career spanned 18 seasons. He began his playing days with the San Francisco 49ers, became the first starting QB for the New Orleans Saints when he was picked in the 1967 expansion draft, and had his most success during an eight year stay in Washington, where he was named to the Pro Bowl twice and led the Redskins to the Super Bowl in 1972 .

 

Classic Sports Card of The Day

17 Nov

61toppsbillgeorge

1961 Topps football card of former pro football linebacker Bill George, who was a mainstay of the Chicago Bears’ “Monsters of The Midway” defense for 14 of his 15 seasons. He is credited with being the first player to play the middle linebacker position in a 4-3 defense with the Bears, and was named to the Pro Bowl 8 consecutive years from 1954 to 1961. He also helped the Bears win the NFL championship in 1963. A 1974 inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, George died in an automobile accident in 1982.

 

Classic Sports Card of The Day

10 Nov

68toppshart

1968 Topps football card of former pro football quarterback Jim Hart, who played an amazing 19 seasons in the NFL, all but one of those years with the old St. Louis Cardinals. His best days were in the mid-1970s, when he quarterbacked coach Don Coryell’s “Cardiac Cards”, a nickname the team earned by winning 10 games over a three year period with late game-winning drives engineered by Hart. Although he threw more interceptions than touchdown passes over his career, Hart was still a four-time Pro Bowler. After retiring, Hart co-owned a restaurant with teammate Dan Dierdorf, did some broadcasting on WGN with Dick Butkus, and served as athletic director at his alma mater, Southern Illinois.

 

Classic Sports Card of The Day

03 Nov

68toppsmatte

1968 Topps football card of former NFL running back Tom Matte, who had a long distinguished 12 year career with the old Baltimore Colts. The versatile back was a two-time Pro Bowler and was a member of the Super Bowl V winning Colts’ team, although he was hurt and didn’t play in the game. Since his retirement, he has worked in broadcasting as an analyst for CBS and for local coverage of Baltimore Ravens’ games, and also does work to raise funds to help retired players.

 

Classic Sports Card of The Day

27 Oct

69toppscollins

1969 Topps football card of former flanker back and punter Gary Collins, who played his entire 10 year National Football League career with the Cleveland Browns. He helped the Browns win the NFL championship in 1964, and was in fact named the title game’s MVP. He was a two-time Pro Bowler and was named to the league’s All Decade team for the 1960s. Collins served briefly as a college assistant coach after retiring, and also worked in insurance and as a broadcaster.

 

Classic Sports Card of The Day

20 Oct

70toppsgenewashington

1970 Topps football card of a former wide receiver for the Minnesota Vikings in the NFL, Gene Washington. Oddly, in the era that he played in the league, there was another player, also a star receiver, with the same name but no relation, who was with the San Francisco 49ers. Washington the Viking played seven years in the league, six with Minnesota before finishing up his playing career with a single season in Denver. Despite the relative shortness of his career, Washington was a two-time Pro Bowler and played in the Super Bowl in 1970.

 

Classic Sports Card of The Day

13 Oct

88toppsmetzelaars

1988 Topps football card of former NFL tight end Pete Metzelaars, who had a long 16 year career in the NFL with 4 different teams. His playing days spanned most of the decades of the 1980s and ’90s, with his longest stint being in Buffalo, where he spent 10 seasons. Since retiring as a player, Metzelaars has served in various capacities as an assistant coach in the NFL.

 

Classic Sports Card of The Day

06 Oct

69toppssambaker

1969 Topps football card of former pro player Sam Baker, who played 15 seasons in the NFL for 4 different teams. He was a halfback early on in his career but is mostly known as a longtime punter and placekicker. He began his career in 1953 with the Washington Redskins, then served 2 years in the military before returning to football in ’56. That year, he was a halfback but ended up handling both the punting and kicking duties to an injury to Eddie LeBaron and a car accident that ended kicker Vic Janovicz’s career. He wound up leading the NFL in field goals made and in average yards per punt and was named to the Pro Bowl, earning the nickname “Sugarfoot”. He earned 3 more Pro Bowl berths in his career, and passed away in 2007.

 

Classic Sports Card of The Day

29 Sep

82toppstootalljones

1982 Topps football card of former Dallas Cowboy defensive end Ed “Too Tall” Jones, who played 15 seasons in the NFL, from 1974 to 1989, all with the Cowboys. His years in the NFL were interrupted by a brief “retirement” in ’79 as he attempted to pursue a professional boxing career. He was a three time Pro Bowler, and helped Dallas win the Super Bowl in 1978. He was a durable player, as he never missed a game in his 15 seasons.

 

Classic Sports Card of The Day

22 Sep

64philadelshofner

1964 Philadelphia football card of former NFL split end Del Shofner, who had an underappreciated 11 year career in the league, split between the Los Angeles Rams and New York Giants. He was a five time Pro Bowl selection and was named to the NFL’s All Decade team for the 1960s. Shofner had the good fortune of playing with 2 Hall of Fame quarterbacks, Norm Van Brocklin in L.A. and Y.A. Tittle with the Giants.