Ten Football Cards That Defined the 1950s

Football cards from the 1950s are an explosion of color, vivid imagery, and intensity. The vintage sets offer the same iconic artwork that vintage baseball cards are often known for. The 1950s, in particular, was an important time for professional football.

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Nov 15, 1964; St. Louis, MO, USA; FILE PHOTO; New York Giants quarterback Y.A. Tittle (14) during the mud bowl of 1964 against the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium. The teams played to a 10-10 tie. Mandatory Credit: Herb Weitman-Imagn Images | Herb Weitman-Imagn Images

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The 1950 season saw the All-America Football Conference (AAFC) merge with the National Football League, with the Baltimore Colts (1947-50), Cleveland Browns, and San Francisco 49ers joining the NFL. Also, for the first time, games were televised.

The 1948 Bowman football set is considered the first modern football card set. The ensuing card sets of the 1950s did not disappoint in highlighting the game's greatest stars and delivering beautiful cards. The 1950 Bowman issue is a landmark set with iconic illustrations and a bevvy of Hall of Fame rookie cards and stars. Here are ten cards that defined the 1950s, though there certainly are more.

1. 1950 Bowman Otto Graham Rookie Card

The 1950 Bowman Otto Graham rookie card is one of the key cards in all football collecting. Graham was a four-time AAFC champion and a three-time NFL champion, winning the 1950 title in the Browns' first year in the league. Graham was widely regarded as the greatest quarterback of his generation. With Graham at the helm, the Browns were the dominant franchise of the 1950s before giving way to the Green Bay Packers dynasty. Graham was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1965.

2. 1950 Bowman Y.A. Tittle

By the time this card came out, Tittle had played two seasons with the Baltimore Colts through two treacherous seasons. The Colts would go 1-11 in the third season and folded when Tittle went to the 49ers, where he became a star. Tittle was the first professional football player on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Tittle is widely remembered for playing with the New York Giants, and despite only playing four seasons with the Giants, he led them to three NFL title games before retiring after 1964. Tittle was the all-time passing yards leader at his retirement. He was passed by Johnny Unitas in 1967. His number was retired by the Giants, and he was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971.

3. 1950 Bowman Joe Perry

Perry played for three decades and was one of the league’s first black stars. He played for 13 seasons for the 49ers and was the NFL's all-time rushing leader at the time of his retirement in 1957. He held the record until the 1963 season when Jim Brown surpassed it.

Perry was the first running back in NFL history to rush for 1,000 yards in consecutive seasons. He was the 49ers’ all-time leading rusher until 2011, when Frank Gore passed him. Perry was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1969.

4. 1951 Bowman Norm Van Brocklin

Van Brocklin is a two-time NFL champion, winning a title with the Los Angeles Rams in 1951 and another with the Philadelphia Eagles in 1960. Van Brocklin was a prodigious passer, teaming up with Hall of Famer Tom Fears and Elroy “Crazy Legs” Hirsch to form one of the greatest passing attacks of the 1950s.

Van Brocklin’s 1960 Eagles team is the only team to defeat Vince Lombardi’s Packers in the playoffs. Van Brocklin retired with nine Pro Bowls, and he still holds the record for most passing yards in a game with 554, set in 1951.

5. 1952 Bowman Paul Brown

Few coaches have the resume that Paul Brown does. Brown was a highly successful high school coach before joining the college ranks for three seasons with Ohio State. He won the national championship in 1942.

In 1946, he co-founded and became the inaugural coach of a professional football team in the AAFC, which he named after himself. The Browns would win every championship in the AAFC from 1946-49 and won the NFL championship in 1950 after merging leagues. Brown would lead Cleveland to two more NFL titles in 1954 and 1955.

He’d later become the minority owner, president, and head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968. He’d lead the Bengals to several successful seasons, though his teams never advanced past the first round of the playoffs. He retired after a first-round loss in the 1975 playoffs. Brown was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1967.

6. 1952 Bowman Frank Gifford

Gifford was a two-way star for the New York Giants as a halfback, flanker, and safety. Gifford was an eight-time Pro Bowler and six-time first-team All-Pro. He was selected to the Pro Bowl for each position he played. In 1956, he was voted the NFL MVP, the same year he helped lead the Giants to the league championship.

Gifford missed the 1961 season after being concussed by a hit from Eagles linebacker Chuck Bednarik. Gifford would go on to a sterling career as a broadcaster and play-by-play announcer, which included calling various Super Bowls. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977.

7. 1955 Topps All-American Jim Thorpe

Thorpe played professional football from 1915-28, including three separate stints with the famed Canton Bulldogs. So, while Thorpe was more than 25 years removed from his playing days when this card came out, it is still one of the iconic football cards of the 1950s.

While the Topps All-American card is not as sought-after as his card from the 1933 Goudey Sport Kings set, it is still a defining card that honors one of the greatest athletes in American history.

8. 1957 Topps Bart Starr and Johnny Unitas

1957 Topps is a special set. It includes rookie cards of two of the greatest quarterbacks in the game's history: Bart Starr and Johnny Unitas. Starr was the foundational piece of Lombardi's Packers, winning five NFL titles and two Super Bowls (I and II). Starr was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1977.

1957 Topps Johnny Unitas — Image Courtesy of Card Ladder

Unitas was a three-time NFL champion and won Super Bowl V. He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1955 but was cut before the beginning of the regular season. He was out of football the entire year until 1956 when he was invited to the Colts camp at the last minute. The rest is history, as Unitas would win three MVPs. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979 as one of the Top 2 greatest quarterbacks of all time, keeping company with Starr.

9. 1958 Topps Jim Brown

Still considered by many to be the greatest running back of all time, Brown was a combination of power and speed that had not been seen up to that point. Brown played nine years in the NFL, earning eight first-team All-Pro selections. Brown retired in 1965 as the career rushing yard leader with 12,312 yards. He held the record until 1984 when Walter Payton passed him.