rayonsports.com

1996 Bowman’s Best football card of former NFL quarterback and coach Jim Harbaugh, who played 15 seasons in the NFL with a number of different teams. He spent the first seven years of his career with the Chicago Bears, where he had the unenviable task of trying to replace the popular Jim McMahon, and although he didn’t play terribly there he seemed to be in coach Mike Ditka’s dog house most of the time. His most successful stint as a player came in his four years in Indianapolis, where he made his only Pro Bowl appearance and led the Colts to the AFC championship game in 1995. Harbaugh has been a very successful head coach since retiring as a player, at Stanford, with the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers and currently at his alma mater, the University of Michigan.

1989 Topps football card of former pro football linebacker Ray Bentley, who played for ten years, splitting his time between the United States Football League and the National Football League. He helped the Michigan Panthers win a USFL championship in 1983, and after three years in that league signed with the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, where he helped that franchise reach the Super Bowl twice in the early 1990s while spending six years with them. After retiring as a player, Bentley worked in broadcasting with both Fox Sports as a play-by-play man on NFL telecasts and on Bills’ preseason game telecasts. During his Buffalo playing days, Bentley also published children’s books featuring a character he created, Darby The Dinosaur.

1968 Topps football card of former pro football running back Curtis McClinton, who played his entire career with the Dallas Texans/Kansas City Chiefs’ franchise, spanning an eight year period from 1962 until 1969. One of the young American Football League’s top stars, he was a three-time AFL All Star, and played on both of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl teams. McClinton had the honor of being the first AFL player to score a touchdown in a Super Bowl, catching a 7 yard scoring pass from Len Dawson in Super Bowl I.

1960 Fleer football card of Tom Dimitroff, who may be the player with the smallest playing resume in pro football history to get his own bubble gum card. He played in the Canadian Football League for the Ottawa Rough Riders in 1957 and ’58, then retired. He came out of retirement in 1960 to sign with the new American Football League’s New York Titans, but never played a game for them. He hooked up later that year with the Boston Patriots of the AFL, and played in 3 games for them, throwing 2 incomplete passes. Dimitroff’s son, Thomas Dimitroff, Jr. is the current general manager of the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.

1989 Score football card of long-time NFL quarterback Steve DeBerg, who carved himself out a 21 year career in the league that spanned three decades. He played for six different franchises, and was the ultimate backup quarterback. Although almost always used in a reserve role, his longevity allowed him to compile some decent career numbers, and his one niche as a player was his ability to fake handoffs on play-action passes. DeBerg had the bad fortune of being with the 49ers when they drafted Joe Montana, with the Broncos when they picked John Elway, and with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when they had Steve Young on their roster.

1973 Topps football card of a former NFL player, defensive end Phil Olsen. He played six seasons in the league as a defensive lineman and center for the Los Angeles Rams and Denver Broncos. He is the younger brother of Hall of Famer Merlin Olsen, a member of the famed Fearsome Foursome. He played alongside Merlin in 1971 and ’72, while in 1976 a third brother, Orrin, played for the Kansas City Chiefs, giving the Olsen family three NFL players in the era.

1998 Bowman football card of former wide receiver Randy Moss. This was Moss’s rookie card, printed in his first year in the NFL, playing for the team that drafted him, the Minnesota Vikings. He played 14 seasons in the NFL, half of them for the Vikings and was a seven-time Pro Bowler and a member of the NFL All Decade team for the 2000s. His 156 career receiving touchdowns rank second all time to Jerry Rice. Also, his 23 TD catches in 2007, while playing for New England, are a league record. After retiring, Moss dabbled in broadcasting and briefly was involved with a NASCAR truck racing team.

Today’s Classic Sports Card of The Day is actually four football cards – a 1959 Topps card of split end/back R.C. Owens, a 1961 Fleer card of fullback J.D. Smith, a 1954 Bowman card of quarterback Y.A. Tittle and a 1962 Topps card of fullback C.R. Roberts. Together, this quartet formed the famous “All Alphabet” backfield of the San Francisco 49ers of the late 1950s and early 1960s.  Tittle and Owens were known for connecting on high-arcing end zone pass completions that became known as the “Alley Oop” pass, while Smith and Roberts were stalwarts in the run game, with Smith totaling 46 career touchdowns in 10 NFL seasons.

1972 Topps football card of former NFL quarterback Bill Nelsen, who played 10 seasons in the league for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cleveland Browns. He was known mostly for his toughness as he lasted as long as he did despite suffering numerous serious knee injuries. He had limited success in 5 years with a lowly Steeler club, but after being traded to the Browns he took over as the starter when injuries sidelined Frank Ryan and guided the Cleveland club to the postseason 3 times. He served as an assistant coach with various NFL clubs after retiring as a player.

1972 Topps football card of former Oakand Raider safety George Atkinson, who played ten seasons of pro football. He was an American Football League All Star in his first 2 years, 1968 and ’69, and was a solid and dependable player in the Raiders’ secondary for a decade, helping them win a Super Bowl in 1977. Atkinson currently works on Oakland game broadcasts, and his son, George Atkinson III, had a brief stint with the Raiders in 2014 as a running back.