1979 Topps football card of former tight end Russ Francis, who played 13 seasons in the NFL for the New England Patriots and San Francisco 49ers. He was a three-time Pro Bowler and twice a second team All Pro. Francis was a member of the 49ers’ Super Bowl XIX champion club. He was involved in pro wrestling and also was a pilot and was president of a charter flight airline. Unfortunately, Francis perished recently in a plane crash in Lake Placid, New York.
1955 Bowman football card of former pro fullback “Deacon” Dan Towler, who played 6 seasons in the NFL for the Los Angeles Rams. In those 6 years he earned 4 All Pro and Pro Bowl honors, and helped the Rams win the NFL championship in 1951. He also was the league’s leading rusher in 1952 and had the most rushing touchdowns in ’52 and ’54. After his playing days ended Towler became a pastor in Pasadena, California, was chaplain of Cal State University and served as president of the Los Angeles Board of Education. He passed away in 2001.
1968 Topps football card of former wide receiver Gary Garrison, who spent 12 years in the pro game in the AFL and NFL, all but 1 season with the San Diego Chargers. Nicknamed “The Ghost”, he was a four-time Pro Bowler and a member of the Chargers’ Hall of Fame, as well as being named to the franchise’s 50th Anniversary team. Garrison, along with teammate Dennis Partee, co-founded the coin-operated video game manufacturer Cinematronics in 1975.
1974 Topps football card of former pro running back Vic Washington, who enjoyed a 9 year career in the professional game. He was a star back in the Canadian Football League in the late 1960s, helping the Ottawa Rough Riders win 2 Grey Cup championships, and garnering the Grey Cup MVP award in ’69. He brought his game to the NFL with San Francisco in 1971 and earned Pro Bowl honors that year. He finished his playing days with Houston and Buffalo. After retiring, he battled injuries which led to divorce, drug addiction and homelessness, and passed away in 2008 at the age of 62.
1966 Topps baseball card of former major league pitcher Sonny Siebert, who threw for 12 seasons, half of which were for the Cleveland Indians before splitting the last 6 with 5 different clubs. Often overshadowed in the Tribe’s rotation by Sam McDowell and Luis Tiant, he consistently finished in the top 3 of American League hurlers in strikeouts and ERA, usually behind McDowell. Siebert was drafted by the NBA’s St. Louis Hawks the same year Cleveland picked him in the MLB draft. He tossed a no-hitter in 1966 against the Washington Senators. Siebert, now 86, is enjoying retirement living in St. Louis.
1952 Bowman football card of a former NFL running back who played 5 seasons for the Los Angeles Rams from 1949 until 1953, Vitamin Smith. Like vitamins do for your body, he provided extra energy to the Rams’ attack as a kick return specialist, and in 1950 returned 3 kicks for touchdowns, a league record that would stand until 1967. Smith served in the U.S. Army during World War II and took part in the battle of Normandy. A track star in college, he passed away in 2000 at the age of 76.
1967 Topps football card of former pro quarterback George Wilson Jr., who had a brief career, basically only a single season, in the American Football League with the Miami Dolphins. He was drafted by Buffalo in 1965 but never played for them, then was traded to Miami in ’66, where he linked up with the Dolphins’ head coach, his father George Wilson Jr. He played in all 14 games that year, the Dolphins inaugural season as a franchise, and his claim to fame was that he quarterbacked the first victory in team history that year. He was then traded to Denver but didn’t make the squad, so his short-lived pro career was finished. Wilson Jr. died of throat cancer in 2011.
1990 Fleer football card of former pro football quarterback Jim Kelly, who played 13 years, 11 of them in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills. He joined the Bills after spending 2 years with the USFL’s Houston Gamblers leading the “run and shoot” offense there. He enjoyed tremendous success in Buffalo, guiding the Bills to 4 consecutive Super Bowl appearances running the fast-paced “K Gun” offense. Kelly was a five-time Pro Bowler as well as a member of the Bills’ Wall of Fame, and his jersey number 12 is retired by the franchise. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002. He still lives in the Buffalo area, and has raised millions through his Hunter’s Hope (named after his late son) and Kelly For Kids Foundations.
A custom-designed 1954 Bowman football card of former NFL player and coach Don Shula. The card never actually existed in the ’54 Bowman set, but is the artwork of that master of producing fake football cards, Bob Lemke. Shula was a 7 year journeyman defensive back as a player in the 1950s, but went on to become the winningest head coach in NFL history with 347 combined regular season and playoff wins. He coached teams to the Super Bowl 6 times, winning a pair with the Miami Dolphins that included the undefeated 1972 club. Shula was voted to the 1970s All Decade team and the 100th Anniversary team as a coach. He was a four-time NFL Coach of The Year, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997.
1989 Pro Set football card of former NFL head coach Marv Levy, who has a long and storied coaching career at various levels dating back to 1951. He was an NFL head coach for 17 years, and had his most success in Buffalo, where he led the Bills to 4 consecutive Super Bowls. Levy also coached the Montreal Alouettes in the Canadian League for 5 seasons, winning 2 Grey Cup titles. A vegetarian, the 98 year old Levy lives with his wife in the Chicago area. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2001 and the CFL Hall of Fame in 2021.