1982 Topps football card of former Buffalo Bills tight end Mark Brammer, who played five seasons for the team in the 1980s. He was known mostly as a blocker, but totaled 59 receptions and 6 touchdowns in his first 2 pro seasons. Brammer is currently a Western New York resident, and a member of the team’s Alumni Association.
1985 Topps USFL football card of former pro football placekicker Luis Zendejas, who played eight seasons of pro ball in four different leagues. The Mexican-born kicker started his career in the USFL with the Arizona Outlaws, then landed in the NFL, where he split three years playing for the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. He was out of the game for two years before joining the Arena League for three years. His final season, in 1995, was split between the Arena League and the Canadian Football League’s Birmingham Barracudas.
1996 Topps Chrome football card of former wide receiver Eric Moulds, who played 12 seasons in the NFL, mostly with the Buffalo Bills. He was a three-time Pro Bowler and the first receiver in Bills’ history to record 100 receptions in a single season. Moulds also set an NFL record when he recorded 240 receiving yards in a playoff game against Miami.
1955 Bowman football card of Hall of Famer Tom Fears, a top split end for the Los Angeles Rams in the 1940s and ’50s. A Mexican-American, Fears was the first Latino to play in the NFL. He played a total of nine seasons, all with the Rams, breaking a number of receiving records along the way, and helping the Rams win the NFL championship in 1951. He was named to the All Decade team for the 1950s, and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1970. After his playing days ended, Fears was a long-time coach in the NFL, including a four year run as head coach of the expansion New Orleans Saints from 1967 until 1970. Fears passed away in 2000.
1974 Topps football card of former offensive lineman Conrad Dobler, who played 10 seasons in the NFL for 3 different teams. Most of his success came in his first 6 years with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he was voted to 3 Pro Bowls. He finished his playing days with a pair of 2 year stints in New Orleans and Buffalo, playing his final pro season with the Bills in 1981. Dobler was once named “Pro Football’s Dirtiest Player” by Sports Illustrated magazine. After retiring, he appeared in the Miller Lite “Tastes great, less filling” TV ads with other retired players such as Dick Butkus and Merlin Olsen.
1989 Score football card of former pro football wide receiver Don Beebe, who played nine seasons in the NFL for three different teams. He is still considered one of the fastest players in league history. Beebe holds the distinction of having played in six Super Bowls, including the four consecutive title losses suffered with the Buffalo Bills. He finally won that elusive championship in his first year with the Green Bay Packers in 1996. After retiring in 1998, Beebe founded a company called House of Speed, LLC, that specializes in training athletes to improve their speed and achieve top performance. The company now has franchises located in 11 states.
1970 Topps football card of former Buffalo Bills’ quarterback Dan Darragh, who played three seasons with the team. In his rookie season of 1968, he was one of five different quarterbacks to play the position for the Bills, as injuries knocked out Jack Kemp, Tom Flores, Kay Stephenson and “disaster” QB Ed Rutkowski. By the end of the 1970 season, Darragh was out of the game and on to law school. He is now a practicing attorney in Pittsburgh.
1966 Topps football card of former defensive end Ben Davidson, who played eleven seasons of pro football for three different teams. His career started in 1961 with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers, where he was part of that Packer championship team. He was traded to Washington after that one season and spent 2 years with them before jumping to the American Football League’s Oakland Raiders, where he established himself as one of that league’s fiercest defensive players. An intimidating figure with his hulking physique and trademark handlebar mustache, Davidson epitomized the Raider mystique for the nine years he spent with them. After retiring as a player, he dabbled in acting, and appeared in the famous Miller Lite “tastes great, less filling” ads that also included John Madden and Rodney Dangerfield. Davidson died of prostate cancer in 2012 at the age of 72.
1963 Fleer football card of former pro football lineman Ken Rice, who played seven seasons in the American Football League for three different teams. He was an AFL All Star in his rookie season of 1961 with the Buffalo Bills. He moved on to Oakland in 1964, and was left unprotected by the Raiders in the 1966 expansion draft, and was chosen by the Miami Dolphins. Injuries forced him to retire after the 1967 season.
1962 Post Cereal football card of former NFL halfback Ted Dean. This series was available on the back of boxes of Post cereal products. Dean was a prize rookie on the Philadelphia Eagles’ 1960 championship team, as a runner, kick returner and placekicker. He scored the winning touchdown in that season’s title game. Although considered a rising star, Dean played for the Eagles for only four seasons before injuries curtailed his production, and he was traded to Minnesota prior to the 1964 season. However, he suffered further injuries in an automobile accident and only played in 2 games for the Vikings. He became a teacher in the Philadelphia area after his playing career ended.