Johnny Unitas Rookie Card
There have been eight Baltimore Ravens Ring of Honor recipients who were Hall of Fame players for The Baltimore Colts. That list includes: Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, Jim Parker, Art Donovan, Raymond Berry, Gino Marchetti, Ted Hendricks and John Mackey. Maybe the most famous and most collectible player on that list is Johnny Unitas. Here is a look at his rookie card.
There is no surprise that Johnny Unitas is the most famous Baltimore Colt player of all-time. The inventor of the two-minute drill, a NFL Champion, a Super Bowl Winner and a seven-time All-Pro Quaterback is definetly the place to start.
RELATED: 1971 Topps Johnny Unitas: The Rarest Unitas PSA 10 In The Market
1957 Topps Johnny Unitas is a premier rookie card for any sport. There are very few high condition versions of this card. According to PSA.com there are zero PSA 10 Unitas rookie cards and only nine PSA 9s ever graded. A PSA 9 has sold for over $90,000 previously showing the demand for this card.
The card itself has two very different pictures on it. Horizontally positioned there is John Unitas at the bottom of the left picture. This picture is a classic Unitas head shot with his smile and flat top haircut. The picture on the right has "BACK-COLTS" on the bottom. The picture itself has a full body shot of Unitas about to throw a pass, ball still in hand.
If you are looking for a more reasonably priced version of the Johnny Unitas rookie card there are a few options. Recently on eBay version of the card graded PSA 3 have a current selling price around $400. These grades are far more common than a PSA 7 or higher. Also, the price point is significantly lower due to increase in supply. Currently there are over 400 Unitas rookie cards graded PSA 3. In fact, there are almost 1,500 rookies graded PSA 4 or PSA 5.
Danny Black serves as the Editor of Collectibles on SI. Founder of Hobby News Daily, Danny also serves as a consultant to companies in The Hobby. A former employee of the Braves and Orioles, Danny is a Maryland resident with his wife and 3 children.
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