Philadelphia Eagles (bonus cards - part 2)

Here are the remaining 6 cards in the 1968 Eagles set produced by RetroCards.

(You can see the other 12 cards here in part 1.)
 
Lane Howell was the Eagles’ left offensive tackle from 1965-69. He was a backup with the Giants for 2 seasons, then acquired in a trade for guard Pete Case.

Mel Tom was the Eagles’ 6th-round pick in the 1966 draft. Drafted as a linebacker, he initially wore #58 until switching to #99 in 1970. After a year (I assume on the taxi-squad), he played every game from 1967 until he was traded to the Bears 4 games into the 1973 season. Mel started all but 1 game at right end from 1968 until his trade to Chicago.

Frank Molden was acquired from the Rams before the 1966 season for linebacker Maxie Baughan, but did not play in ’66 or ’67. He started 7 games at left DT in 1968, then moved on to the Giants in 1969.

Harold Wells played four years (1965-68), all with the Eagles. He played in every game, and started every game at right linebacker from 1966-68. He never had a Topps or Philly Gum card.

Except for missing all but 1 game in 1967 due to injury, Al Nelson was a starting cornerback for the Eagles from his rookie season of 1965 until midway through his final 1973 season, when he was replaced by John Outlaw. He played left corner every year but 1970.

Joe Scarpati was the Eagles’ free safety from 1964 to 1969, playing every game but two during his rookie year. He was traded to the Saints in 1970, where he started 10 games and was the holder for Tom Dempsey’s record 63-yard field goal. Joe returned to the Eagles in 1971 but was injured in training camp.

Philadelphia Eagles (bonus cards - part 1)

In the last post, we looked at the 1968 Eagles in the Topps regular issue set. Like with most teams, there were 8 cards.

A few years ago, I stumbled upon the website for RetroCards, a company that makes (mostly football) cards in the design of sets from the 1950s to 1970s. They seem to focus mainly on Cowboys sets, but there are many sets for the Packers and Bears, as well as for some other teams (and all teams in 1963 and 1966).

There are usually between 15 and 24 cards per team set (depending on photo availability I guess). The card fronts match the original sets almost exactly, while the backs are mostly the same except for a company logo.

In the past few years I bought the 1966 Eagles, 1967 Cowboys and Packers, 1968 Packers, 1971 Cowboys, some assorted 1966 cards, and the 5-card Vince Papale set. The only discrepancy I have found among those sets is that the blue border on the 1971 cards is lighter than the original Topps cards.

This month I bought the 1968 Eagles set, and it just arrived. I am going to show these cards in two posts, for the sole reason that Blogger limits the labels to a combined length of 200 characters. This post has 12 offensive players. The next post will have the 5 defensive players, and OT Lane Howell. (If I thought ahead, I could have included Randy Beisler with the defensive group instead, since he played DT in 1968.)

What I like about this set:
1. Eighteen more 1968 Eagles cards. Yeah!
2. The only cards made for Chuck Hughes, Harry Jones, Larry Conjar, Frank Molden, and Harold Wells.
3. The only Eagles card for Randy Beisler, and the only card of Mel Tom wearing #58 (he later switched to #99).

What I don't like: 
1. The card backs are gray with red printing, making them hard to read. (The original backs were bright white with green or blue printing.)
2. No Ben Hawkins card. He was a starting WR from 1966-72, and had just led the NFL with 1265 receiving yards in 1967. It's hard to believe a photo of him wearing the 1966-69 jersey was not available.
3. Other 1968 starters left out of the Topps and RetroCards combined set are center Gene Ceppetelli, guards Dick Hart and Mark Nordquist, DE Tim Rossovich, DT Gary Pettigrew, and cornerback Alvin Haymond.

I'm not sure why Timmy Brown was included, since he was traded to the Colts in January 1968. Also, it’s odd that little-used backups Jones, Conjar and Ron Goodwin were included while the above-mentioned starters were not. I guess it was photo availability.

The bottom line is, I like this set and I hope they plan on making Eagles sets for '67, and '69 to '72.

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King Hill is back for one more season as the Eagles' #2 quarterback.

As mentioned, Timmy Brown was traded to the Colts in January 1968 for cornerback Alvin Haymond. He was the Birds' starting halfback for a number of years, but was slowed by injuries in 1967.

Izzy Lang took over the starting halfback chores from Brown, and manned that spot in '68 and '69.

Tom Woodeshick was a backup for several seasons, then started at fullback from 1967-69.

Harry Jones was the Eagles' #1 pick in the 1967 draft, but was a complete bust, getting all of 8, 22, 1, and 13 carries in his 4 seasons with the team.

Larry Conjar was the Browns' #2 pick in 1967, and played for 3 teams in his 4 NFL seasons. He rushed for 21 yards in his only season (1968) with the Eagles.

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Chuck Hughes was a backup wide receiver from 1967-69, before playing for the Lions in ’70 and ’71. I commend RetroCards for (no doubt) resisting the urge to include a note on the back about his in-game death in 1971.

Ron Goodwin was the starting flanker from 1963-66, then lost his job to Ben Hawkins, but stuck around as a backup for 2 more seasons.

Fred Hill was the backup tight end from 1965-71, and started 8 games there in 1968 due to Mike Ditka’s absence. Hill also started 8 games at split end in 1966.

Randy Beisler was the team's 1st-round pick in 1966, and started half the games in each of his 3 seasons with the Eagles. In 1968, those games were at defensive tackle. After the 1968 season, he was traded to the 49ers for backup quarterback George Mira. (This makes NO sense! Trade your former #1 pick for a little-used backup QB? And not a very good one at that? Meanwhile, Beisler played in EVERY game for the Niners from 1969 to 1973, and started all but one game from 1970-72, while Mira was gone after one season.)

Jim Skaggs was the Eagles' starting right guard for much of 1965-70, but missed the entire 1968 season due to injury.

Bob Brown was the Eagles' starting right tackle from 1964-68, making 3 Pro Bowls during that time. He made three more with the Rams and Raiders, on his way to the Hall of Fame in 2004.

Part 2 is here

1968 (and 1969) Custom Cards

Early last year, I asked John over at the "Cards That Never Were" blog to make some custom cards in the style of the 1967, 1968, and 1971 football sets - the only football sets that I have completed (well, except for the '68 Johnny Unitas and Bob Griese cards). I gave him a list of starting quarterbacks that Topps or Philly Gum had omitted from their sets.

He soon replied with a beautiful set of QB cards: 5 for the 1971 set (which I posted to my 1971 blog last July), 6 for the 1967 NFL set (which I will post to my 1967 blog in the near future), and 2 each for 1968 and 1969, which are shown below.

(Another time, I asked him to add additional Green Bay Packers to the 1967 set, but he said that being a Chicago Bears fan, that would not be possible - LOL.)


The Steelers and Bengals were both missing QB cards in the 1968 set. Bill Nelsen had just been traded to the Browns, giving 2 QB cards for Cleveland, and none for Pittsburgh. The Bengals were an expansion team in 1968, and had no QB card - probably because they didn't select any quarterbacks in the expansion draft. Although ex-Dolphin John Stofa was the primary QB in their inaugural season, Sam Wyche also saw some playing time.

Dick Shiner was drafted by the Redskins in 1964, and spent 3 seasons backing up Sonny Jurgensen (i.e. - no playing time), before riding out the 1967 season on the Browns' bench. His only seasons as a starter came in 1968 and 1969 for the Steelers. Pittsburgh drafted Terry Bradshaw in 1970, (and Terry Hanratty in 1969), so Shiner's services were no longer required in the Steel City. He spent 1970-74 bouncing around with the Giants, Falcons, and Patriots.

An undrafted free agent, Sam Wyche began his career with the Bengals in 1968, and made 3 starts each season (1968-70). He was on the Redskins roster from 1971 to 1973, and although playing 8 games during that time, he never threw a pass. He also played for the Lions in 1974 and the Cardinals in 1976. Wyche coached the Bengals from 1984-91, and the Buccaneers from 1992-95.

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Although I don't have a 1969 blog, I have a handful of 1969 cards and asked John to fill in the missing QBs there as well. Jack Kemp missed the entire 1968 season with a knee injury, and was left out of the 1969 set. In fact, there was no Bills' QB in that set. For the 2nd-year Bengals, Topps included John Stofa (in a Dolphins' jersey and helmet), but Stofa had returned to the Dolphins in 1969. Their starting QB in '69 was rookie sensation Greg Cook.

Jack Kemp was drafted by the Lions in 1957, and was cut by the Steelers later that season. (The Steelers also cut Johnny Unitas and Len Dawson in the late 1950s!) When the AFL started in 1960, Kemp was the Chargers' starting QB in 1960 and 1961. Injured for part of 1962, he was traded to the Bills during that season.

Jack was the Bills' regular QB from 1963 to 1969, except for missing all of 1968 with an injury. (With Kemp gone, the Bills went 1-12-1 that season, capturing the #1 draft pick - O.J. Simpson.) After retiring following the 1969 season he went into politics, and was eventually a presidential candidate in 1988.

Greg Cook was the Bengals' #1 pick in 1969 (the 5th overall pick in the "O.J. Simpson draft"). He was a hometown favorite from the University of Cincinnati, and was an immediate success - leading the AFL in completion percentage and was the league's top-rated QB, despite missing 3 early-season games with what was later discovered to be a rotator cuff injury. Because he returned to play with the injury, it did further damage and essentially ended his career after 1 season. Cook passed away in 2012 at age 65.

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Upon the recent death of Doug Buffone, John also made Buffone cards that were missing from the Topps sets. Here are two of them:

Thanks John!
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