Mount Rushmore of Football Cards

[jefferyepayne]

So, if you had to choose four cards to be on the Mount Rushmore of Football Cards, what would they be and why?

I'm gonna have to think a bit about this myself but wanted to open it up to everybody for their thoughts.

Post away!

jeff

[Tyranusberg]

'35 Nagurski
'58 Brown
'65 Namath
'81 Montana

[Bigshot69]

Punt Montana and add 33' Goudey Sport Kings Red Grange. Just my $.02.

[Bigshot69]

Next question. Whats the Rushmore of defensive players?

57' Lane, 82' Taylor, 86' White have to be considered, right?

[jim]

Move white out and put in Butkus and nietchke in. Have jack lambert as an alternate.

[revmoran]

You can't exclude all the players from the pre-war era when guys went both ways from a defensive Rushmore. Mel Hein was the first NFL MVP and a charter member of the HOF, and he's remembered as a offensive center but it was his defensive play that was cited in his MVP award. But are we talking about players or about cards?

[rats60]

35 Nagurski
57 Unitas
58 Brown
65 Namath

Defensive players
63 Deacon Jones
66 Dick Butkus
71 Joe Greene
82 Lawrence Taylor

[Bigshot69]

Jones was a stud but Nightrain Lane's INT record, which he set his rookie year in a 12 game season, has stood for 65 years. He was also 7X first team all-pro, and his violent play served as a contributor to the origin of the facemask penalty.

He might not only be on the Defensive Rushmore, he could be the Abe Lincoln.

[samosa4u]

I agree that the Namath deserves to be on the list because it is a very popular card. Here is the thing I don't understand though: if you look online at any list that ranks the greatest QBs to ever play the game, he didn't even make the top 20! So how come his rookie card is so popular among collectors? What makes it so special?

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by samosa4u

I agree that the Namath deserves to be on the list because it is a very popular card. Here is the thing I don't understand though: if you look online at any list that ranks the greatest QBs to ever play the game, he didn't even make the top 20! So how come his rookie card is so popular among collectors? What makes it so special?

New York. The Super Bowl prediction and win. The swinging image. The relative scarcity of the set.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by Bigshot69

Jones was a stud but Nightrain Lane's INT record, which he set his rookie year in a 12 game season, has stood for 65 years. He was also 7X first team all-pro, and his violent play served as a contributor to the origin of the facemask penalty.

He might not only be on the Defensive Rushmore, he could be the Abe Lincoln.

The best nickname in FB history IMO.

[Chris Counts]

I'm surprised to never hear much about 1959 Bazookas when people talk about great football cards. The set includes Jim Brown and Johnny Unitas, as well as other stars, and the cards are both attractive and rare. I'd take a '59 Bazooka Brown over a '58 Brown any day, and the '58 brown is one of the most desired of all football cards.