Football Hall of Fame Rumblings in The Investment Corner
Day 4 of Subscriber Preview Special
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Each month, we devote one week of our Baseball Card Market Report to stepping over into the Investment Corner, where we do a little spending using cold, hard — but fake — cash.
In case you’ve never read one of those pieces, here is the rundown on our procedure:
Pick a basic theme — Hall of Famers, All-Stars, MVPs, etc.
Peruse recent eBay “sold” listings looking for cards that fit the theme
“Buy” cards from among those sold listings we think are good deals
“Spend” about $1000 total
Come back later — like, a year later — to see how we did
That’s the whole enchilada, but it’s always been a hardball enchilada.
Today, we’re expanding our palate to include a brand new pigskin enchilada.
With the football Hall of Fame in Canton having just inducted two classes in August, it seems an appropriate time to take a stroll to the Investment Corner in search of bargains among gridiron all-timers.
In particular, we’re going to be looking for recent eBay sales of guys who have a good case for Canton induction but who have thus far missed out on election, and who therefore might have some room to grow, pricewise.
We even include an exception to accentuate the rule (or something).
So, here is our superstar lineup …
(Stats culled form pro-football-reference.com.)
1984 Topps Roger Craig (PSA 9) - $65.99
Craig is sort of the forgotten man when it comes to the great 49ers teams of the 1980s, but Joe Montana and Jerry Rice would have had a tougher road to Super Bowl greatness without Craig’s quiet greatness in the backfield.
A two-way threat, he amassed more than 13,000 yards from scrimmage and even led the NFL with 92 receptions in 1985 — the same year he accumulated more than 1000 yards both rushing and receiving.
If Craig ever gets the Canton call, his rookie card seems like a safe bet to see a jump in value.
See the original eBay listing (affiliate link)
1988 Topps Vinny Testaverde (PSA 10) - $54.99
Testaverde got a late start in the NFL (age 24) and played for some putrid teams early on, but he did manage to make it into the playoffs six times.
More importantly, he is a Heisman Trophy winner (1986) who spent 21 years in the NFL and racked up more than 46,000 yards to go along with 275 touchdown passes.
He’ll never stand toe-to-toe with Tom Brady or Peyton Manning when it comes to raw stats, but Testaverde was good for a very long time, and he occasionally was among the best in the game.
Hard to go wrong with a “perfect” rookie card of a quarterback who fits that profile.
See the original eBay listing (affiliate link)
1986 Topps Boomer Esiason (PSA 9) - $62
Esiason was sort of like the anti-Vinny, leading the Bengals to a Super Bowl (and a narrow defeat to Montana and the Niners) and enjoying a stronger peak (including the 1988 MVP award), though with a shorter overall NFL run.
Like Testaverde, though, Esiason suffered through plenty of terrible seasons (team-wise, at least), but still managed to pass for nearly 38,000 yards and 247 TDs (against 184 interceptions).
Esiason’s rookie hails from the condition-tough 1986 Topps set, so $62 for a PSA 9 seems to pose little risk — and some upside if Esiason ever gets Canton rumbling.
See the original eBay listing (affiliate link)
1975 Topps Joe Theismann (GMI 10) - $100
If you watched the NFL in the 1980s, it might be sort of surprising that Theismann is not in the Hall of Fame.
After all, before his gruesome leg injury in 1985, Theismann always seemed to have the Redskins in the Super Bowl hunt as the on-field implementor of Joe Gibbs’ master plans and was one of the marquee names in the game.
Indeed, Washington teams went 167-107 with Theismann under center from 1974 through 1985, and the QB was named NFL MVP in 1983.
Alas, Theismann’s stats look somewhat meager compared to his contemporaries and especially those who came later — 25,206 yards passing, 160 TDs, 138 interceptions.
Those counting stats have kept him out of the Hall so far, but a “10” copy of his RC seems worthy of a $100 spend (though the off-brand grading company admittedly pulls down the potential resale value).
See the original eBay listing (affiliate link)
1975 Topps Dan Fouts (PSA 8) - $239
If this were Sesame Street, Fouts on this list would be the “one of these things is not like the others” guy because, yes, he’s already in the Hall of Fame.
When Fouts retired in 1987, he was second on the all-time career yardage list behind Fran Tarkenton, top five in touchdown passes, and near the top of just about every QB stat you could think of outside of rushing yardage.
The game has changed and many have passed Fouts statistically, but it was the on-field engineer of Air Coryell that helped rev up the game and set the stage for Dan Marino and all the hotshot passers of today.
As the current generation retires and gets fitted for their own Gold Jackets, Fouts — and his rookie card — just may get a renewed wave of attention.
See the original eBay listing (affiliate link)
1980 Topps Lester Hayes (PSA 9) - $212.50
Hayes turned in a relatively short (for this list, at least) 10-year career, but he made the most of his time on the field.
In 149 regular season games, Hayes tortured opposing receivers and quarterbacks with his bump-and-run pass coverage and his, um, sticky hands that eventually forced a rule change (see Stickum or “Lester Hayes Rule”).
He also picked off 39 passes, returning them for 572 yards and four touchdowns.
Hayes also helped turn the Raiders into a dominant force during his career, reaching the playoffs six times and winning two Super Bowls. Postseason play produced another eight INTs for two scores and even two touchdowns for The Judge.
Hayes was one of the best in the business, and it will just get tougher and tougher to find his RC in top grades and at somewhat affordable prices.
See the original eBay listing (affiliate link)
1999 Bowman's Best Torry Holt (PSA 9) - $199.99
Holt retired in 2009 as the eighth most prolific receiver in NFL history in terms of receptions, and he stood ninth on the all-time yardage list.
Like others here, many have passed him in those categories, but Holt was a key to those great Rams offenses of the 2000s and could yet get some Hall of Fame consideration down the road.
When he does, you can bet there will be renewed interest in all his RCs in top condition.
See the original eBay listing (affiliate link)
1975 Topps Cliff Branch (PSA 8) - $83.99
Like others on this list, Branch suffered by comparison to contemporaries, later generations, and even big names on his own team.
But there is no doubt that Cliff Branch was an invaluable member of three Raiders championship teams (1976, 1980, 1983) and one of the very best receivers in the NFL during his peak.
Even though the numbers would look modest today, Branch led the league with 1092 yards receiving in 1974, and with 13 receiving touchdowns that same season and 12 in 1976.
Branch, who died at age 71 in 2019, has had a few shots at the Hall of Fame, and he’s set to appear as a finalist again on the 2022 ballot.
If he makes the cut this time, this buy will look really good a year from now. Even just having his name bandied about is bound to boost his cards pretty much across the board.
See the original eBay listing (affiliate link)
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So there you have it — graded rookie cards of eight arguably underappreciated NFL superstars.
Sure, we blew our budget by nearly $20 by fake-spending $1018.46, but we can pay that back when we pretend-cash in a year from now.
Speaking of which — how do you like these picks? Do you think they’ll pan out, or will we end up losing our electronic/cardboard shirts?
I’d love to hear your take!
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Tomorrow, it’s back to our regularly-scheduled program, namely the weekly Baseball Card Market Report.
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Thanks for reading, and see you tomorrow!