TAGS: #football
If you are a collector and loves collecting football sports cards, you should have proper checklists of all time valuable football cards. Surprisingly, most of the valuable and priciest ones are from the 1960s. During that period, three major manufacturers were in limelight producing cardboards for the NFL and AFL, but, Topps was the only company producing throughout the decade. The other two companies are; Fleer and Philadelphia. The decade produced some remarkable designs, vertical and horizontal and even experimental phase for over-sized item in 1965.
1960s had the highest Hall of Famers debuting trading card industry. Some of rookies reached the iconic phase and became the most desirable among the collectors. I have compiled a list of 10 most valuable football cards of all time.
1962 Topps Ernie Davis RC #36 SP – Ernie Davis became the first player to pick in the 1962 NFL Draft after winning the 1961 Heisman Trophy. Also, he was the first African-American included in the NFL Draft. Shockingly, he was diagnosed with leukemia before he could showcase his sportsmanship in NFL regular season. He passed away when he was just 23 years of age. It is short-printed and the black border made it intensely condition sensitive.
1963 Topps Bob Lilly RC #82 SP – This Bob Lilly’s Topps rookie card value is boosted due to the fact that it’s a short print. He did not miss any regular season game between 1961 and 1974. He was first inducted into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor.
1963 Topps Ray Nitschke RC #96 – Though his rookie football card came in 1963, he debuted in the NFL league regular season in 1958 with the Packers. Throughout his entire career, he played in Green Bay. He was a key player in the team for both of their Super Bowl I and II victories.
1962 Topps Mike Ditka RC #17 – Mike Ditka is not only the best player, but, also one of the most popular coaches of all time. He was the third member of the Chicago Bears on the list.
1965 Topps Joe Namath RC #122 SP – This 1965 Topps rookie is unquestionably the most sought-after card of the decade. It is one of the most real sport cards of all-time.
1965 Topps Fred Biletnikoff RC #133 SP – He was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1988. He was also a six-time Pro Bowl receiver. His 1965 Topps rookie is a classic short print.
Apart from the Topps 6 valuable football sports cards, adding to the list is the Fleer and Philadelphia’s releases. Check out the remaining 4 treasured football cardboards from the 1960s.
1963 Fleer Lance Alworth RC #72
1963 Fleer Len Dawson RC #47
1966 Philadelphia Gale Sayers RC #38
1966 Philadelphia Dick Butkus RC #31