Wednesday, June 23, 2010

New York Giants

Seven of the 10 Giants are pictured in helmets. In fact, of all the players in the 1967 set, only 12 are wearing helmets: 7 Giants, 2 Saints (pictured in their 1966 Giants' uniforms), and 3 Colts.

I had all these Giants cards in 1967 except for Spider Lockhart.


#109 Giants Team - The back of this card tells us that "After a spectacular rise from the cellar in '64, to a 2nd place tie in '65, the Giants fell to the cellar again in '66 with a 1-12-1 record".
With a new QB on board for 1967, they would soar to a 7-7 record, finishing 2nd in their division.


#114 Tom Kennedy - I always thought it was strange that Topps chose Tom Kennedy for their 1967 Giants' QB. Earl Morrall began the previous season as the starter, but after injuries sidelined him, he was replaced by backup Gary Wood, with Kennedy being called up from the Continental League as a backup. Wood was then lost to the Saints in the expansion draft, so the obvious choice for this card would have been Morrall. No matter, in March 1967 the Giants traded for Fran Tarkenton, making Morrall and Kennedy irrelevant. Kennedy's only NFL action was in 1966.


#112 Allen Jacobs - Allen's NFL career consisted of 1 year with the Packers (1965), and 2 years with the Giants. He played 34 games, starting none.

#116 Joe Morrison - Morrison was the Giants' 3rd-round pick in 1959, and played his entire career with the Giants (1959-72). Usually a running back or flanker, he also played defensive back during his career.

#113 Homer Jones - Homer played 6 seasons (1964-69) with the Giants before finishing his career in 1970 with the Browns. He was the Giants' starting split end from 1966-69.


#119 Aaron Thomas - Thomas was drafted by the 49ers in 1961, and was their starting split end as a rookie. He joined the Giants early in the 1962 season, and remained with them until retiring after the 1970 season. He was the starting tight end from 1964-68.


#117 Francis Peay - Peay was New York's #1 pick in the 1966 draft. After only 2 seasons with the Giants he moved on to the Packers, where he was their starting left offensive tackle for several years, before finishing his career with the Chiefs from 1973-74.


#118 Jeff Smith - Who's picking the subjects for these cards? Smith was a 10th-round pick in 1966, played 14 games for the Giants, and never played in the NFL again.


#111 Clarence Childs - Childs played for the Giants from 1964-1967, and the Bears in 1968. Primarily a kick returner, he was also the Giants' starting right cornerback in 1966. As a rookie, he returned a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown.


#115 "Spider" Lockhart - Lockhart was the Giants' 13th-round pick in 1965, and played his entire career (1965-75) with the Giants. After serving as the starting left cornerback for his 1st 2 seasons, he was the team's starting free safety for his remaining 9 seasons. He also returned punts (mostly from 1966-70), and punted from 1965-68.


#110 Henry Carr - Carr was drafted by the Giants in 1965, and after 2 seasons as a starting safety, he concluded his NFL career in 1967 as the Giants' starting right cornerback. A track star at Arizona State, Henry won 2 gold medals at the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo.



#120 Giants Logo - "The players try hard. The coach tries hard. Perhaps the fans should try harder." Whaaa? This is the funniest comment I've ever seen on the back of a sports trading card!


Next time: Philadelphia Eagles


Also check out the 1972 Giants.

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7 comments:

John Bateman said...

I have always wonder who the person at Topps (or Philadelphia) decided what players would be in the set. There have been some strange picks over the years.

Erik said...

Very true Jim.

In fact, The 1969 Topps Football set does not include Jack Kemp BUT, the four in one stamp insert does have Kemp.

Jim from Downingtown said...

Erik,

Who is the Bills' QB in the '69 set, James Harris?

Erik said...

Believe it or not Jim, there is no QB in the 1969 Topps set for the Bills which I find quite odd.

On a separate note, how long did it take you to complete the 1967 Philadelphia set?

I am eight cards shy of completing the 1967 Topps FB set which I have been collecting for about two years now.

Jim from Downingtown said...

Erik,

I got most of the cards in 1967. All the rest but 2 were picked during 1980s' visits to cards shows and stores. I got the last 2 (Don Meredith & Bart Starr) earlier this year, AFTER already starting this blog.
I'm looking through my 67 & 68 binder now, and the other cards I didn't have in 1967 were:

Ernie Wheelwright, Ron Smith, Lou Michaels, Lenny Lyles, Roger LeClerc, Dick Butkus, Ernie Green, Dave Manders, Chuck Howley, Karl Sweetan, Roman Gabriel, Bill Brown, John Morrow, Elbert Kimbrough, Carl Lockhart, Earl Gros, Bill Asbury, Roy Jefferson, Gary Ballman, Ken Gray, Charlie Johnson, Joe Robb, Dave Parks, Tommy Davis, Charley Taylor, Jerry Smith, Chris Hanburger, Signals card.

Jim from Downingtown said...

Erik,

I just re-read my 1968 Buffalo Bills post, where I said that Jack Kemp missed the entire 1968 season. That's probably why Topps left him off the 1969 set.

Rookie QB Dan Darragh started 7 games for the Bills in 1968, then made 2 starts each in '69 and '70 (his last season in the NFL).

Jim from Downingtown said...

Erik,

About a year ago, another blogger posted a custom-made 1969 Jack Kemp card:

http://cardsthatneverwere.blogspot.com/2013/06/1969-topps-jack-kemp.html