My Football Blog Index

  JIM FROM DOWNINGTOWN'S MULTI-BLOG INDEX  (Updated 13-Apr-2024) This is a list of all the teams for the years covered by my football blogs ('66, '67, '68, '69, '71, '72). The years with links indicates that team has a post on that blog. I have listed the teams by the traditional 1970s-1990s divisions.

Click here to see the post index for my baseball card blogs.

TEAMS:

Dallas Cowboys       1966   1967   1968   1971   1972
New York Giants      1966   1967   1968   1971   1972
Philadelphia Eagles  1966   1967   1968   1971   1972
St. Louis Cardinals  1966   1967   1968   1971   1972
Washington Redskins  1966   1967   1968   1971   1972

Chicago Bears        1966   1967   1968   1971   1972
Detroit Lions        1966   1967   1968   1971   1972
Green Bay Packers    1966   1967   1968   1971   1972
Minnesota Vikings    1966   1967   1968   1971   1972

Atlanta Falcons      1966   1967   1968   1971   1972
Los Angeles Rams     1966   1967   1968   1971   1972
New Orleans Saints          1967   1968   1971   1972
San Francisco 49ers  1966   1967   1968   1971   1972


Baltimore Colts      1966   1967   1968   1971   1972
Boston Patriots             1967   1968   1971   1972
Buffalo Bills               1967   1968   1971   1972
Miami Dolphins              1967   1968   1971   1972
New York Jets               1967   1968   1971   1972

Cincinnati Bengals                 1968   1971   1972
Cleveland Browns     1966   1967   1968   1971   1972
Houston Oilers              1967   1968   1971   1972
Pittsburgh Steelers  1966   1967   1968   1971   1972

Denver Broncos              1967   1968   1971   1972
Kansas City Chiefs          1967   1968   1971   1972
Oakland Raiders             1967   1968   1971   1972
San Diego Chargers          1967   1968   1971   1972


OTHER POSTS PER SET:
Introductions        1966   1967   1968   1971   1972
Checklists           1966 67N 67A  1968   1971   1972
Miscellaneous cards  1966   1967                 1972
Hall of Famers              1967   1968   1971   1972
Custom Cards                1967  1968/9  1971
RetroCards Customs:   
-  Bears             1966   1967   1968   1971
-  Colts             1966          1968
-  Cowboys           1966   1967   1968   1971   1972
-  Eagles            1966          1968
-  Packers           1966   1967   1968
-  Saints                   1967
-  Chiefs                   1967
-  Raiders                  1967
-  Dolphins                                      1972


1969 CARDS:
(Players without cards in any of the above Topps or Philly sets)

Pete Banaszak
Craig Baynham
Sonny Bishop
Larry Bowie
Don Brumm
Jim Burson
Jim Cadile
Bob Cappadona
Pete Case
Jim Colclough
Ben Davis
Darrell Dess
Pete Duranko
Dave Edwards
Billy Gambrell
Charlie Harper
Matt Hazeltine
Fred Hill
Jerry Hill
Gene Howard
Pete Jaquess
Jim Keyes
Charley King
Ken Kortas
Rudy Kuechenberg
Izzy Lang
Chuck Latourette
Jim Lindsey
Bob Matheson
Don McCall
Karl Noonan
Ray Ogden
Pete Perreault
Brian Piccolo 
Nick Rassas
John Robinson (Lions)
Goldie Sellers
Dick Shiner
Jim Simon
John Stofa
Rosey Taylor
Tom Vaughn
Lonnie Warwick
Jerrel Wilson
Roy Winston
Dick Witcher


OTHER POSTS:
10-year AFL veterans
All-Decade Team
#1 Draft Picks
Best team in Super Bowl era
Football Blog Index  (wait, it's a trick!)
Cards per player (1964-72)
Top Coaches of 1960s and 1970s
RIP - 2016
RIP - 2017
RIP - 2018
RIP - 2019
RIP - 2020
RIP - 2021
RIP - 2022
RIP - 2023
RIP - Mike Curtis
RIP - Jim Kiick 
RIP - Don Shula
RIP - Bart Starr
RIP - Jim Taylor
RIP – Gale Sayers
RIP – Jim Brown
RIP – Dick Butkus

St. Louis Cardinals

And now for the St. Louis Football Cardinals. The Cardinals got the always-popular gray color scheme in the '66 and '67 Philadelphia Gum sets.

I had all these cards in 1967 except for Ken Gray and Joe Robb. There's the usual cross-section of positions here, except for no linebackers, and two safties.

Cardinals Team - Except for the 3-year period from 1974 to 1976 (and also 2008-2009), the Cardinals were pretty much the doormat of their division from 1949 to the present day, routinely winning less than 6 games per season. 1967 was no exception: the team finished at 6-7-1 with 2nd-year man Jim Hart in his first season as the starting QB. Hart took over the reins when 5-year starter Charley Johnson spent much of the season in the Army.

Charley Johnson was drafted by the Cardinals in 1960, and was the starting QB from 1962-66, and again for part of 1969. He spent the 1967 and 1968 seasons in the US Army, flying to the games on Sundays (as Hart's backup). Charlie was with the Oilers for 2 seasons (as the starter in '70, and as rookie Dan Pastorini's backup in '71), then finished up with 4 seasons in Denver (the first 3 as the Broncos' starting QB.)

Roy Shivers played 7 seasons (1966-72) in the NFL, all with the Cardinals. He was the team's top kick returner as a rookie, and was a return man and backup running back his entire career.

Johnny Roland was the Cardinals' 4th-round pick in 1965, but did not play that year. He was a starting running back from 1966 to 1969, and was also the team's primary punt returner as a rookie. Johnny also made the Pro Bowl in his first 2 seasons. After backing up MacArthur Lane (1970-71) and Donny Anderson (1972), Roland finished his career in 1973 with the Giants.

Bobby Joe Conrad was drafted by the Giants in 1958, but played for the Chicago Cardinals that year. He was the Cards' placekicker and part-time receiver from 1958-60, then was the starting flanker from 1961-1968. He led the NFL with 73 receptions in 1963. Bobby Joe finished his career with the Cowboys in 1969. (The Cowboys seemed to collect a lot of receivers at the end of their careers: Mike Ditka, Lance Alworth, Jackie Smith, Bobby Joe Conrad).

 

Jackie Smith was drafted by the Cardinals in 1963, and was one of the top tight ends of his day (along with Mike Ditka and John Mackey). He was the team's starting tight end for his first 13 seasons (1963-75), and made the Pro Bowl every year from 1966 to 1970. Smith was also the team's punter from 1964 to 1966. Jackie backed up tight end J. V. Cain for 2 seasons, then went to Dallas for his final season (1978), which included his infamous dropped pass in the end zone in the Super Bowl.

Ken Gray began his career as the starting right defensive end for the Chicago Cardinals in 1958. The next season he switched to offense, where he held down the Cardinals' starting right guard spot from 1959 to 1969, making six Pro Bowls. In his final season (1970) he was the Houston Oilers' starting left guard.

Jim Bakken was drafted by the Rams in 1962, and played 8 games that season - with the Cardinals. He was the Cardinals' regular kicker for the next 16 years (1963-78), and made the Pro Bowl 4 times ('65, '67, '75, '76). He led the NFL in scoring with 117 points in 1967, and was also the team's punter in '65 and '66.

Joe Robb played 13 seasons in the NFL (1959-71), and was a starter for all but his last two. After 2 seasons as the Eagles' starting left defensive end, he manned the same post for the Cardinals from 1961 to 1967. His only Pro Bowl appearance came in 1966. Robb also played for the Lions from 1968 to 1971.

Jerry Stovall played for 9 seasons (1963-71), all with the Cardinals. He was the team's #1 pick (2nd overall) in 1963 (and also the 3rd overall pick in the AFL draft). Jerry was the team's starting strong safety every year except 1969, when he missed all but 4 games. He was also the team's punter in his first 2 years (and to a lesser extent for 2 more seasons). He was also a kick returner for his first 3 seasons, and made 3 Pro Bowls.

Larry Wilson is the only Hall-of-Famer in this group. He was the Cardinals' starting free safety for his entire career (1960-72), made 8 Pro Bowls, and led the NFL with 10 interceptions in 1966. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1978.

"In contention" is a relative term.

Also check out the 1971 Cardinals.

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All-Decade Team

It occurred to me that I will run out of teams to post on this 1967 card blog before my other 3 football blogs, not that there were fewer teams, but because I don’t have many 1967 Topps AFL cards. So, I’m going to occasionally mix in other football topics on this 1967 blog. Today is one of those times…

For the above-stated reason, and to mix it up a little bit, today I’m posting one person’s opinion of the All-Decade team. By “decade”, I don’t mean the 1960s, but rather, the ten-year period that included Super Bowls I – X. (So that no math skills are required to follow along, that’s 1966-75.) This is a logical arbitrary starting point, and it saves me from explaining that I don’t own a card of Jim Brown (who retired after the 1965 season).

This All-Decade team consists of 48 players. Generally, I selected twice the number of players at each position than what is found in a starting lineup. An exception is kickers and punters. They get 1 slot between them, because after all, didn’t a wise man once say “They aren’t really football players”? Secondly, aside from Ray Guy, there probably isn’t another punter you could refer to using the “All-“ prefix. Thirdly, I like symmetry, and adding more kickers/punters would spoil my “multiples of 4” layout.

What criteria did I use? I’ll tell you that no stats websites or card backs were looked at to come up with the selections. Nor was “how many championships did he win” given primary consideration. This was based purely on my recollections, the player’s reputation, (perceived or actual) player’s and team accomplishments, and just a gut feeling.

Oh, one other thing: the player’s card needed to be in my collection, and (sorry, 49ers’ 1972 center Forrest Blue) it has to be a vertical card, because, you know, the whole symmetry thing.

Here now is the All-Decade team, arranged by position. Feel free to agree, disagree, reminisce, or offer up your own selections for the 1966-75 time period.


Offense:

Defense:

Some observations:

1. No Eagles :(
I knew Bob Brown was going to be a slam dunk to make this team, but I can't find my all-years Eagles binder, so here he is as a Ram.

2. I also can't find my 1973 binder, so Chiefs' guard Ed Budde and Colts' linebacker Ted Hendricks were late scratches.

3. I couldn't decide between DTs Joe Greene and Alan Page, so they're both here, with Page occupying the spare slot on the middle linebacker row (which was going to be a punter's only shot to make this team.)

4. Merlin Olsen appears to be saying "I'm gonna get you, Brodie!"

5. Re-capping players per team:

6 - Packers
5 - Chiefs, Rams
4 - Cowboys, Raiders, Dolphins, Vikings
3 - Colts, Bears
2 - Redskins, Browns, Chargers
1 - Steelers, Oilers, Broncos, Lions
0 - 10 teams


Let the debating begin!

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