rayonsports.com

Courtesy of www.CheckOutMyCards.com , a 1989 Score football card of one of the great Pittsburgh Steelers from the team’s 1970s Super Bowl era, running back Franco Harris. He played 13 seasons in the NFL and made the Pro Bowl 9 times, and played on all 4 of the Steelers’ Super Bowl-winning teams. Franco, who had his own cheering section – “Franco’s Italian Army” – in Pittsburgh, was involved in one of pro football’s most controversial plays of all time, the “Immaculate Reception”, when he grabbed a tipped pass and ran for an unlikely winning touchdown in a playoff game against the Oakland Raiders. Harris and former Colt player Lydell Mitchell now own SuperBakery, a company founded in 1990 to produce nutrition-oriented foods for school children.

1956 Topps football card of former Los Angeles Rams’ fullback Paul “Tank” Younger. Younger played in the NFL from 1949 until 1958, in an era when players went both ways, so he also was a standout linebacker for the Rams. He was 4-time Pro Bowler, and a member of the Rams’ “Bull Elephant” backfield along with Deacon Dan Towler and Dick Hoerner, and played on the Rams’ NFL championship team of 1951.  After retiring, Younger became the first African American front office administrator, serving as a scout and executive with the Rams until 1975. He then held the position of assistant general manager for the San Diego Chargers, from ’75 until 1987. He passed away at age 73 in 2001.

1961 Fleer football card of a quarterback who enjoyed a long, eventful career in the NFL, Earl Morrall. He played for 21 seasons with 6 different teams, as both a starter and a backup. He was named to the Pro Bowl twice, amazingly, 11 years apart, in 1957 and 1968. Morrall played on 3 Super Bowl-winning teams, and his best season may have been 1972, when he replaced injured starter Bob Griese and led the Miami Dolphins to the Super Bowl in their historic 17-0 undefeated season. After his playing days ended, he was QB coach at the University of Miami, tutoring Jim Kelly, Bernie Kosar and Vinnie Testaverde. He also was a politician, serving as mayor of Davie, Florida.

1973 Topps football card of former Buffalo Bills’ fullback Jim Braxton, who was one of the first to play the position the way today’s fullbacks do – not as much of a rushing threat but as a lead blocker for a star halfback. In Braxton’s case, that back was Hall of Famer O.J. Simpson. He played 8 seasons in the NFL, and had a well-earned reputation as a tough, physical player who was largely responsible for helping Simpson break league rushing records.  “Bubby” Braxton was an effective runner when needed, and even scored 31 career touchdowns (most modern-day fullbacks don’t get 31 career carries). He died of cancer in 1986.

1989 Score football card of former Cleveland Browns’ tight end Ozzie Newsome, who is considered one of the top players at the position of all time. He played 13 seasons with the Browns, and was a seven time Pro Bowler. He was named to the NFL All Decade team for the 1980s, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1999. After his playing career ended, Newsome moved into the Browns’ front office and moved with the club to Baltimore. In 2002, he was named general manager of the Ravens (a job he still holds today), becoming the first African American to hold that position.

1965 Topps football card of former linebacker and punter Paul Maguire, who is one of only 20 players to play for the entire 10 year existence of the old American Football League. Amazingly, Maguire played in the league’s first 6 championship games, the first 3 with the Los Angeles/San Diego Chargers followed by 3 with Buffalo, and was a part of 3 consecutive title-winning teams, 1 with the Chargers before moving to Buffalo and helping the Bills win back-to-back titles. He was considered a master of the “coffin corner” kick, in which the punter angles his kick toward the sideline to pin the opponent deep in his own territory. After his playing days ended, Maguire enjoyed a long career in broadcasting as a color analyst, working games for ESPN, NBC and ABC involving teams from college football, the NFL, Canadian Football League, the USFL and the United Football League. He also hosted the Budweiser Sportsline, a local sports call-in show in Buffalo.

1988 Topps football card of former NFL quarterback Jim McMahon, who played 14 seasons in the league. Seven of those seasons, and the most successful, were played with the Chicago Bears, where he led his team to the Super Bowl title in 1985. That Bears’ team became known as the “Super Bowl Shuffle” Bears, after a rap video made by players on the club, incidentally, before they even had qualified for the title game. McMahon played at the time of the “punk” music era, and carried the “punk” personna onto the field, routinely defying dress code orders from commissioner Pete Rozelle with headbands that had “unauthorized corporate logos” on them.

1956 Topps football card of former Washington Redskin receiver Jack Carson. Better known as “Johnny” Carson during his playing days, he had a non-descript career, spending 6 years with the Redskins before closing out his playing days with one season in the American Football League, in the league’s inaugural season of 1960, with the Houston Oilers, who won the league’s championship that year. I featured this card not so much to feature Carson but to highlight the white football that the NFL used in night games played in the early years up until the 1950s. The ball was used to help players see it better in the poorly lit stadiums of the day, and actually the NFL also prohibited teams from wearing white helmets and jerseys in night games, so that the white ball wouldn’t blend into a player’s uniform. This rule meant that some teams had to wear different color jerseys and helmets for day and night games.

This is a 1964 Philadelphia football card of “another” Bradshaw who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 1960s, former offensive tackle Charley Bradshaw. Although there does appear to be a slight resemblance, he is not related to Terry, the four-time Super Bowl winning quarterback of the 1970s Steelers. Charley played 11 seasons in the NFL, mostly for the Steelers but also with the Rams and Lions. He played for the Steelers during an era when they were one of the league’s perennial losers, and was so disliked by Pittsburgh fans that owner Art Rooney suspended pre-game introductions of the players due to how badly the home crowd booed him. Bradshaw served for a time as head of the NFL Players’ Association, and earned a law degree during the off-season of his playing days. He practiced law in Dallas, Texas up until his death in 2002.

1966 Philadelphia football card of former NFL kicker and punter Don Chandler, who played 12 seasons in the league, 9 with the New York Giants and the last 3 with the Green Bay Packers. Chandler has the distinction of having played in the NFL’s first 2 overtime games, with the Giants in the famous 1958 championship game against the Colts, and for the Packers, again versus the Colts, in a Western Conference playoff game. In that game, he was involved in a play that changed the game, as his fourth quarter field goal that tied the game appeared to sail wide right of the uprights. That kick directly resulted in the NFL raising the height of the goalpost uprights to their current height. Chandler was named the punter on the NFL’s All Decade team of the 1960s, and helped the Packers win the first 2 Super Bowls. He passed away in 2011.