All Rookies - NFL

Over the past few years I've been building a collection of graded and ungraded rookie cards featuring legendary players from my childhood/adolescence/young adulthood. Basically, the top players in baseball, football, and hockey from 1980-1999. I've got a couple basketball cards, too, but that collection will never be complete for several rea$ons. 

Since the NFL season starts tonight for some reason I thought I'd take inventory of my football list first. I didn't go position-by-position and make an all-decade team, because if I had I'd run into all kinds of issues. The first problem? Offensive linemen. 

My starting five would be:
 

• Anthony Munoz - 1982 Topps (don't have it)
  
  
• Randall McDaniel - 1989 Pro Set & Topps Traded (have both)
  
  
• Dermontti Dawson - 1989 Pro Set & Score Supplemental (have Pro Set)
  
  
• Bruce Matthews - see below
  
  
• Willie Roaf - several RCs in 1993 sets (have four, including SP)

Without really trying I have four of the five official RCs needed. However... Bruce Matthews' first card was definitely not in 1989. It was released in 1986. And it's a non-standard sized oddball:

This won't do. I can't include offensive linemen in this project. I don't even want to include kickers, although I did just trade for a Morten Andersen RC. 

My '80s/'90s punter would either be Sean Landeta or Reggie Roby. Roby would be easier; both cards were released in 1984 but Landeta's was in the USFL set. 

Which leads me to problem #2. USFL cards are far more expensive than their NFL counterparts. They're not true RCs (by the traditional definition), but they are the first cards of these players:

I can build a solid collection without Steve Young; there are enough QBs ahead of him in the era.

I cannot have an all 1980s-1990s team without Reggie White. Even if I discarded positions and just made a top ten players list, I'd need Reggie. But.. do I need this Reggie? Or can I count his 1986 Topps RC?

For the record, my all-defense team would look like this:

• Reggie White - see above
  
  
• John Randle - 1991 Pro Set Update (don't have it)
  
  
• Bruce Smith - 1986 Topps (have it)

Smith also has one of those oversized McDonald's things in the 1986 set, but Topps was on the ball here. Randle is another issue. I wouldn't call it a problem per se; it's a true RC in an NFL-licensed set. However it's from the 'final update' portion of the 1991 set and costs about $10. I'd be better off going with Warren Sapp as my interior lineman. 

There's another issue with the linebacking crew:

• Lawrence Taylor - 1982 Topps (have it)
  
  
• Ray Lewis - see below
  
  
• Mike Singletary - 1983 Topps (don't have it)
  
  
• Derrick Brooks - several RCs in 1995 sets (have Bowman, would prefer SP)

I don't like any Ray Lewis RC. There aren't many to choose from; he wasn't included in 1996 Topps, Topps Chrome, Upper Deck, or SP. The Bowman's Best, Stadium Club, and maybe Skybox are basically the only options. While it's nice to have a clear-cut best RC of a 1990s-era star, this particular card isn't something I'd want to spend $50 on:

I call this the Zdeno Chara problem. A non-numbered 1990s RC of a defensive specialist should not cost this much. But the lack of options inflate the value of the best/only RC out there. 

Finally we have the secondary, and a problem I stumbled across while searching for something else.
 

• Rod Woodson - see below
  
  
• Deion Sanders - 1989 Score/Pro Set/Topps Traded (have Score & Pro Set)
  
  
• Ronnie Lott - 1982 Topps (have it)
  
  
• Steve Atwater - 1989 Score/Pro Set/Topps Traded (have Pro Set & Topps Traded)

Charles Woodson and Champ Bailey would be all-2000s cornerbacks for sure, even though their rookie cards were released in the 1990s (hold that thought.)

I was certain that I had Rod Woodson's rookie card. Like Sanders and Atwater, his RCs are in 1989 sets. Unlike those guys, Woodson played in the NFL in 1988 so he's in the base Topps set rather than Traded. 

However... I never noticed that his rookie year was actually 1987. In fact he is the only Hall of Fame player drafted in 1987. So he should have been in the 1988 Topps set. A blog called The Writer's Journey made a mock-up of a 1988 Topps Woodson RC - but they used the baseball design. 

Topps was the only official NFL card set in '88, and Woodson wasn't in it. What's the problem?

Well... as I just discovered, he does have a 1988-issued trading card. And it is not cheap:

You can probably guess how I came across this Starting Lineup card. It's not quite as sharp looking as his 1989 SLU issue but it is a first year Rod Woodson card, standard sized and officially licensed. 

This counts, right? I'd count it -- if I were building an all-era team by position. But I'm not (I still want this card though!) Too many roadblocks, as you can see.

Getting back to the Charles Woodson / Champ Bailey problem - I'd prefer to build a collection of rookie cards by release date. So that means more "skill position" players than defenders, and more late 1990s issues. (This way I don't feel like I need a Tom Brady RC. He missed the cutoff by a year 😛 )

So here's my list:

• 1980 - none. Unless Lester Hayes gets in one day, there are no Hall of Famers here. 
• 1981 - Joe Montana 🗸, Art Monk 🗸. I'll skip over Kellen Winslow Sr. 
• 1982 - Lawrence Taylor  🗸, Ronnie Lott  🗸. Still need Anthony Munoz. 
• 1983 - Mike Singletary. Don't have Marcus Allen, either, but I might skip him.
• 1984 - Dan Marino  🗸, John Elway  🗸, Eric Dickerson  🗸, Darrell Green  🗸 Might want Howie Long. I was interested in Roger Craig, but the price tripled now that he's (rightfully) in the HOF.
• 1985 - Warren Moon  🗸 I'll skip Richard Dent. 
• 1986 - Jerry Rice 🗸, Bruce Smith 🗸 Also have NFL RCs of Steve Young and Reggie White.
• 1987 - Jim Kelly 🗸 Kelly also has an XRC in 1984 Topps USFL. 
• 1988 - Bo Jackson 🗸 Obviously not a HOFer but the most popular RC in the set by far.
• 1989 (deep breath) Michael Irvin, Cris Carter, Tim Brown, Rod Woodson* 🗸, Thurman Thomas, Barry Sanders 🗸, Deion Sanders 🗸, Derrick Thomas 🗸, Troy Aikman, Sterling Sharpe 🗸. I have the 1989 Pro Set set, but I'm only counting Score here. Still need half of this list. 
  
• 1990 - Emmitt Smith 🗸 Shannon Sharpe 🗸 Cortez Kennedy and Junior Seau have dime-a-dozen RCs in highly overproduced sets. Sharpe was only in Action Packed Rookie Update. 
• 1991 - Brett Favre 🗸 I had all of his RCs at one point. Might get that John Randle Pro Set one day. 
• 1992 - none, but I do want a Darren Woodson RC even though he's not in the Hall (yet)
• 1993 - Jerome Bettis 🗸, Michael Strahan 🗸, John Lynch 🗸 I bought the whole set of Fleer Ultra mostly for the Strahan RC; he's not in Upper Deck or SP. 
• 1994 - Marshall Faulk 🗸 Need to find an Isaac Bruce RC and maybe a Larry Allen. 
• 1995 - Terrell Davis 🗸, Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks 🗸, Curtis Martin. Need a better Brooks, and I don't really have a Sapp RC (mine is a parallel). I might skip Curtis Martin. 
• 1996 - none. If I'm being a true completist I'd need Terrell Owens and Marvin Harrison - along with the Ray Lewis mentioned above. But I just can't bring myself to buy any of their RCs. 
• 1997 - Tony Gonzalez 🗸. Jason Taylor and Ronde Barber also fall under the "Chara problem" category. Even more so than Lewis, as their best/only RC is in SP Authentic. 
• 1998 - Peyton Manning 🗸, Randy Moss 🗸, Charles Woodson 🗸. Upper Deck flagship for Manning and Moss, Bowman's Best for Woodson. I can't afford SP Authentic so that will have to do. 
• 1999 - Champ Bailey 🗸, Edgerrin James 🗸, Torry Holt 🗸. I used to have the 1999 Topps Chrome set but the surface of those cards got scratched up from sitting in 9-pocket pages. I do have the '99 Finest set though. Also, Holt isn't a Hall of Famer -- but he should be. 

Excluding all the "problem" players noted, I really just need a few 1989 Score RCs, Mike Singletary, John Randle, Isaac Bruce, Warren Sapp, a Derrick Brooks SP RC, and maybe Munoz and/or Martin. 

I left out one Hall of Famer who has a rookie card in this era. He's arguably the greatest ever at his position, his RC is not serial numbered or autographed, and he is not a "skill position" player. And yet, an ungraded copy of his only rookie card would cost more than almost any player on this list. 

$100 for a kicker card?!!??

Thanks for reading!




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