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Topps hockey card of long time NHL veteran center Doug Gilmour. Gilmour played on seven different teams in his career, and was on a Stanley Cup-winning team in Calgary in 1989. He currently coaches junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League.

1963 football card of Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Bob Lilly, a Hall of Famer who was one of the dominant defensive linemen of his era. This card lists Lilly as an “end”, which he was starting in his rookie season of 1961. Midway through the ’63 season Dallas coach Tom Landry moved Lilly to tackle to anchor the line of his famed “Doomsday Defense” and Lilly thrived at the spot. He was a seven time All-Pro and played on the Cowboys’ first Super Bowl champion team in the 1971 season.

Baseball card of a Hall of Fame legend, the late Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates. Clemente’s career lasted 18 seasons, all played with the Pirates. He won 12 Gold Glove Awards for fielding and was a 12 time all-star, and was voted the National League MVP in 1966. He was the key player on 2 Pittsburgh World Series winning teams, in 1960 and 1971. Clemente died in an airplane crash in 1972 while helping deliver supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua, and he was posthumously elected to the Hall of Fame in 1973, with the Hall waiving the customary five year waiting period for election.

A 1970s basketball card of Phil Jackson, who was one of the best “sixth men” in the NBA in his playing days, coming off the bench for the New York Knicks title teams of 1969 and 1973 to provide a spark at both ends of the court. Jackson’s coaching career has far surpassed his playing career, as he has coached the Chicago Bulls and now the Los Angeles Lakers to 11 NBA championships.

www.CheckOutMyCards.com is one of the best online sites for sports cards, and this hockey card of Buffalo Sabres Hall of Famer Gilbert Perreault is an example of the great cards that can be viewed there. The Sabres won a coin flip with the other expansion team entering the NHL in 1970, the Vancouver Canucks, and Buffalo general manager Punch Imlach used the pick to grab Perreault, who anchored the Buffalo franchise for 17 seasons, and led them to 11 straight playoff appearances.  Perrealt was a 9 time NHL All-star, won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year, and holds most Sabres franchise scoring records. His jersey number “11” has been retired by the team.

This is a 1957 Topps football card of Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr. Starr’s career began in 1956 when he joined the Green Bay Packers as an “afterthought” 17th round round draft pick, so this card is from early in Starr’s career, before Vince Lombardi arrived to coach the team. Starr flourished under Lombardi’s tutelage and developed into one of the most efficient, if not flashiest, quarterbacks of the 1960s, and without a doubt was the winningest signal-caller of the decade, leading the Packers to 5 titles.

This baseball card is of former Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Elroy Face, who along with Hoyt Wilhelm was a pioneer as a reliever. The “save” statistic didn’t exist in Face’s era, as starting pitchers were expected to finish what they started, and bullpens usually consisted of over-the-hill veterans who were only brought in to mop up hopelessly lost games. Face changed that, as the dominant relief pitcher of the time.  He still holds the National League record for career wins in a relief role.  “The Baron” was famous for his “forkball”, and in the 1960 World Series saved 3 of the Pirates’ 4 wins (even though the stat wasn’t recognized at the time) in their seven game series win over the Yankees.

Basketball card of the late great Randy Smith of the old Buffalo Braves. Smith was the only NBA player in history to come out of tiny Buffalo State College, where he was a three-sport standout, starring not only in basketball but also soccer and track. At one time, Smith was the NBA’s iron man, as he held the league record for consecutive games played at 906. He also was once voted the MVP of the NBA All Star game. Smith died of a heart attack in June 2009.

A Score hockey card of former Boston Bruin winger Cam Neely. Neely was the ultimate “power forward” of his era, combining size, a brutally physical style of play and a great scoring touch to lead the Bruins. He was acquired early in his career from Vancouver for Barry Pederson, in what may be the most one-sided trade in NHL history. Neely now works in the Bruins’ front office.

1955 Bowman football card of Kathie Lee Gifford’s husband Frank. Gifford was a “golden boy” of the 1950s and early ’60s as a star halfback, and later a flanker back when that position began to evolve, with the New York Giants. After his retirement he flourished as a sports broadcaster, first with CBS doing NFL broadcasts, and later as both play-by-play man and analyst on Monday Night Football.