1962 Fleer football card of former defensive back Billy Atkins, who played seven seasons of pro ball, starting in 1958 in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers. He jumped to the fledgling AFL when that league began play in 1960, and was an AFL All Star in ’61 while playing for the Buffalo Bills. After retiring as a player, Atkins became head coach at Troy State, and guided the Trojans to an NAIA national championship in 1968. He is still the second winningest coach in that school’s history.
1989 Score football card of former quarterback Doug Flutie, who had a long pro career in the old USFL, Canadian Football League and the NFL. After winning the Heisman Trophy playing for Boston College, he joined Donald Trump’s New Jersey Generals in the USFL. After that league folded, Flutie played briefly, and rather unsuccessfully, in the NFL with Chicago and New England. He then moved to the CFL, where he enjoyed an eight year stint with three different teams, winning three Grey Cup championships. That success sparked a comeback in the NFL, where he played eight more seasons, mostly for Buffalo and San Diego. He was a Pro Bowler and NFL Comeback Player of The Year in 1998 with the Bills. Flutie currently works as an analyst on college football broadcasts.
1989 Topps football card of former NFL linebacker Cornelius Bennett, who played for 14 seasons, nine of them with the Buffalo Bills. When he was selected in the NFL draft second overall out of Alabama in 1987, he became the highest selection from the school since Joe Namath in 1965. He was an outstanding player, being elected to the Pro Bowl 5 times. He was also named to the NFL All Decade team for the 1990s and the Bills’ All Time 50th Anniversary team. Bennett was fortunate to play in five Super Bowls, four with the Bills and one with Atlanta, but unfortunately lost all five of them.
1974 Topps football card of former NFL wide receiver Harold Jackson, who enjoyed a 20 year playing career in the league spanning 3 decades. A six-time Pro Bowler, he played for five different clubs, and did 2 different stints with the Los Angeles Rams and New England Patriots. Jackson joined the coaching ranks after retiring as a player, and worked for various pro and college teams over the years as a wide receiver coach and offensive coordinator. In 2014 Jackson was hired as head coach at his alma mater, Jackson State.
1972 Topps football card of former National Football League linebacker Phil Villapiano, who enjoyed a 13 year career in the league with the Oakland Raiders and Buffalo Bills. He was a four time Pro Bowler and a key defensive player on the Raiders’ Super Bowl XI championship team. Since retiring, Villapiano has worked in the logistics business and been involved in numerous charitable causes, including helping raise funds to rebuild the Jersey shore following Hurricane Sandy, and fund-raising efforts for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and to help find a cure or ALS.
1986 Topps football card of former NFL placekicker Gary Anderson, a native of South Africa who played 23 seasons in the league with 5 different teams. He spent 12 of those years with the Pittsburgh Steelers, and is that franchise’s all time leading scorer. He holds the distinction of having a perfect regular season, in 1998 while with the Minnesota Vikings, when he made all 35 of his field goal attempts and all 59 of his extra point attempts. Anderson was a four-time Pro Bowler and was named to the NFL’s All Decade teams for both the 1980s and ’90s.
1962 Fleer football card of former pro football linebacker Archie Matsos, whose entire seven year career was spent in the old American Football League. Matsos played for four different teams – Buffalo, Oakland, Denver and San Diego, and was an AFL All Star in his first four years. After 2 All Star seasons in Buffalo, Matsos was traded to the Raiders for 3 players, in one of the first moves made by Oakland’s new coach, Al Davis. It was the first of many shrewd personnel moves by Davis, as 2 of the 3 players sent to the Bills failed to make the team, while the third played only 3 games for the team.
1972 Topps football card of former NFL running back Ed Podolak, a versatile role player who spent his entire nine year career with the Kansas City Chiefs. He was a triple threat as a back – running, receiving out of the backfield and passing (he was a former college quarterback). He also was a demon on special teams and was the team’s top kickoff and punt returner. After retiring as a player, Podolak moved into broadcasting, working as a color analyst on NFL telecasts for NBC, then doing college games at his alma mater, the University of Iowa.
1982 Topps football card of former Buffalo Bills’ linebacker Shane Nelson, who played six seasons with the Bills, in the late 1970s and early ’80s, as part of their “Bermuda Triangle” on defense with fellow inside backer Jim Haslett and nose tackle Fred Smerlas. He was an undrafted rookie out of Baylor in 1977 and was discovered at a Dallas Cowboys’ tryout camp, where he was the only player out of 1,800 to be offered an NFL contract. He spurned Dallas’ offer, however, to sign with the Bills, where he thought his chances of sticking to the final roster were better.
1965 Philadelphia football card of former NFL quarterback Rudy Bukich, who is a little known player that enjoyed a long 14 year career that spanned 2 decades (the 1950s and ’60s). He played for 4 different NFL teams, including 2 different stints with the Chicago Bears, first in the late ’50s and then again from 1962 until 1968. That second chance in Chicago proved to be Bukich’s most successful of his years, as he was the backup QB to Bill Wade on the Bears’ 1963 championship team, tied an NFL record in 1964 by completing 13 consecutive passes, and was the second leader passer in the league in 1965.