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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.

1965 Philadelphia football card of a guy who has spent 51 years in the professional game, Dick Lebeau. He played for 14 seasons as a defensive back for the Detroit Lions, and still holds the franchise record for career interceptions. He was a three time Pro Bowler, and when he retired after the 1972 season, his NFL career was hardly over. He has coached at various levels for 37 years, and is currently the defensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is widely considered the greatest D-coordinator in the game, having invented the “zone blitz” concept that is so popular in today’s game. LeBeau was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2010.

1956 Topps football card of former NFL quarterback George Ratterman, who had the distinction of playing in the old All America Football Conference (AAFC), the Canadian Football League and the NFL. After he retired he wrote a book titled Confessions of A Gypsy Quarterback , and that title pretty much describes his career. He played for the Buffalo Bills in the AAFC and New York Yanks for 2 years in the NFL, but his best years came from 1952 to 1956 with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, where he succeeded one of the game’s greatest of all time, Otto Graham. While playing for innovative coach Paul Brown with the Browns, Ratterman became the first player to wear a radio receiver in his helmet, with the coach sending in plays using a microphone. Also after his playing days ended, Ratterman served as general counsel for the American Football League players’ union, and was a color analyst on AFL game telecasts.

1968 Topps football card of one of the National Football League’s all-time greats, the late John Mackey. Along with contemporary Mike Ditka, he revolutionized the tight end position in the early 1960s, transforming it from being an extra blocker for the run game into a downfield pass-catching threat. Mackey played 9 of his 10 seasons in the NFL for the Baltimore Colts, and although his career was shortened by injury, he was an extremely durable player, missing only one game in those 10 years. He stayed involved in the game after he retired, becoming the first president of the NFL Players Association, and is credited with bringing organization to the union, which was a fractured group at the time, and helping secure much-needed pensions and benefits for the players. Mackey was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1992, and the award for the top tight end in college football is named for him. He died from the effects of a form of dementia in 2011.

1972 Topps football card of former  wide receiver J.D. Hill, who played 7 seasons in the National Football League for the Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions. He was a member of the Bills during the O.J. Simpson era, when the Bills rarely passed and relied on Simpson’s running abilities. Still, the colorful Hill put together some good years, even making the Pro Bowl in 1972. His son Lonzell also played in the NFL, logging 4 seasons as a receiver for the New Orleans Saints.

1984 Topps football card of former Buffalo Bills’ safety Steve Freeman. Freeman, after being cut by the Patriots, was plucked off the waiver wire by the Bills, and turned out to be a pretty good scrap heap find for the Bills, spending 12 years with the franchise as a mainstay in the defensive secondary. He wound up his playing career with a season in Minnesota, but retired as a player after that year. He did, however, stay active in the game, working as an official in the Southeast Conference and NFL Europe, before graduating to the NFL, where he currently works as a back judge on Jeff Triplette’s crew.

1965 Topps football card of one of the top receivers in the early years of the American Football League, Bo Roberson. He played for 7 seasons in the AFL for 4 different teams, with his longest stint lasting 3 1/2 years with the Oakland Raiders. Roberson got a lucky break in the middle of the 1965 season – when the defending champion Buffalo Bills ran into injury problems at the receiver position, they traded with the Raiders to acquire him – and he helped the Bills win a second straight title. Roberson, a graduate of Cornell, also was a track star in his college days, and won a silver medal in the long jump at the 1960 Rome Olympics.

1984 Topps football card of one of the greatest offensive linemen of all time, former Cincinnati Bengal tackle Anthony Munoz. He played 13 years in the National Football League for the Bengals, and was a Pro Bowler 11 times. He was named to the NFL’s 75th Anniversary All Time Team, and the All Decade Team for the 1980s. He was known for his charitable work off the field as much as his play on it, and won the Walter Payton Man of The Year Award in 1991. When he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1998, Munoz became the first former Bengal to receive the honor.