The Football Card Blog

So, last week was the Pro Football (read: NFL) Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and Hall of Fame game.  Inducted this year were Redskins Art Monk and Darrell Green, coach and player Emmitt Thomas, Patriot Andre Tippett, Viking/Bronco Gary Zimmerman, and probably the original pass rush specialist Fred Dean.

But, as it seems like every year, there were players who many felt should have gotten in, but didn't.  Topping this years list for most people was wide receiver Cris Carter--who many felt was only made to wait so Monk could get in before him (despite Carter being better than Monk or Michael Irvin, who was somehow inducted last year in his first year of eligibility).

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On my way out the door for an extended weekend, but I wanted to get a post up before I left, since I haven't had much going on lately.

Getting back to the Football/Screen Stars themed Cards of the Week, this week featuring Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith.  The first overall pick in the 1967 draft, Smith was considered a huge athlete in his day, playing defensive end at 6 foot 6 inches, and 260 pounds (today, that would be a little taller than average, but about average for weight).

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All right, this week's football player-turned-actor was on the front of last week's cello pack of 1979 Topps, and correctly guessed (immediately) by Mitch in what turned out to be way too easy of a contest.  Sometime in the not too distant future, Mitch will find some Ohio State alumnus cards on his doorstep.

Matuszak, aka Tooz, was a giant compared to many contemporary players when he was drafted first overall by the Houston Oilers in 1973, standing 6 foot 8 and weighing 280 pounds.  He was the star of the football program at the University of Tampa, which cut it's football program after 1974.

In addition to the Oilers, Matuszak also attempted to play for the World Football League's Houston Texans--until a restraining order was filed, preventing him from playing in two leagues.  Displeased with his efforts to play for a rival league, the Oilers shipped Matuszak to Kansas City, where he played two seasons with the Chiefs.

He moved on to the Oakland Raiders for the 1976 season, helping them win Super Bowls XI and XV, before retiring after the 1981 season. 

Matuszak's playing career often seemed overshadowed by his partying and drug use, chronicled in his autobiography Cruisin' with the Tooz, which included many painkillers, narcotics, and possibly anobolic steroids. 

Matuszak's first major acting role came before his retirement, in 1979's North Dallas Forty.  He became a fairly succesful actor in the 80's, with appearences on shows like Perfect Strangers, M*A*S*H, The Dukes of Hazzard, Hunter (with Fred Dryer), The A-Team, First and Ten and Miami Vice.

Perhaps his most famous role, though, was that of Lotney Fratelli, aka "Sloth" in 1985's The Goonies.

Sadly, Matuszak passed away of heart failure in 1989, at the age of 38.  His death is often blamed on his hard partying lifestyle and drug use, but Matuszak's sister also passed away at an early age due to heart failure, so it is possible that a genetic disorder may have also caused the death.

As for the card, you pretty much know all about it already--it's his 1979 Topps card, which I pullled out of a cello pack recently purchased on eBay just last week.  It's one of only 11 cards Matuszak had during his career, and it books for $0.50.

All right, should be some more posts this week, as a package arrived this afternoon.  More on that tomorrow, hopefully.

This week's Card of the Week honoring a football player who forged a career in acting is the man who started the trend of retiring early to do so--Jim Brown.

Widely considered the best running back ever to play the game, Brown was actually a two sport star at Syracuse in college, and was considered by many to be the greatest Lacrosse player ever as well. (Factoid I learned in writing this--he was born on St. Simons Island, Georgia, where my grandparents used to vacation in the winter.  I wonder if I saw signs when I visited them).

Alas, they didn't have pro lacrosse back in the day--at least, not big leagues--so Brown was drafted by the Cleveland...Browns, in the frist round in 1957. 

Brown played for just 9 seasons in the NFL, but managed to set several records before he retired--including single season rushing record (1,863), career rushing yardage (12.312), career rushing touchdowns (106), career touchdowns (126), all-purpose yardage (15,549).  He was the first player to surpass the 100 career touchdown mark, and was still the fastest to reach it until LaDanian Tomlinson came along.

He did all that, in just nine season.  Four of which only had a 12 game schedule, the other five having 14 games.  He also played in nine pro bowls.

Brown firs started acting in the film Rio Conchos in 1964, and was filming a role in the World War II movie The Dirty Dozen in 1966, when Browns owner Art Modell insisted he report to training camp.  On July 14,1966, at the age of 30, Brown announced his retirement.

He went on to star in several more movies and TV shows, including several with another actor who may just make it into the Card of the Week files, if eBay will cooperate.  Sadly, the role I know him best for is his role in Mars Attacks!

The card shown above is a 2007 Donruss Threads Gridiron King Green Framed Parallel Insert, serial #'d 14/25.  I pulled the card last summer, when I finally found a local card shop that carried decent hobby boxes, and I sunk further into into the hobby, much to my wife's dismay.  If I remember right, the card books for about $15.  I'm pretty sure I have some more Brown cards laying around somewhere, but none of his vintage cards, unfortunately. 

Continuing the theme from last week's Gary Hogeboom card, this week's football star turned actor is Fred Dryer.

Dryer was a star at San Diego State University (a teammate of Rocky's Carl Weathers) before being drafted in the first round by the New York Giants in 1969.  He had (unofficially) 29 sacks in three years in New York, before being traded to New England in February 1972, and on to the Los Angeles Rams a short time later during the same year's draft.

Dryer split time at the left defensive end spot with Jack Youngblood in 1972, before starting all 14 games on the right side in 1973, a season in which he became the only player in NFL history to record two safties in a single game. 

Dryer was a two time Pro Bowler (1970 and 1975), played against the Steelers in Super Bowl XIV, and finished his career with 104 unofficial sacks (sacks becomeing an official statistic in 1982, the year after Dryer retired).

Dryer's acting career actually started in 1976, with an uncredited role in the classic Gus (you know, the one with Barney Fife and the kicking mule?).  He had a few one episode appearences on shows like Laverne & Shirley, Lou Grant and CHiPs, and in the movie Cannonball Run 2, before appearing as Detective Sergant Rick Hunter in the series aptly named Hunter, for which he would become most known.

Hunter was on the air for seven seasons, and has had a couple of come back movies as well.  Dryer also had some short runs on shows like Cheers, and Diagnosis Murder, and has his own production company.

The card featured is Dryer's 1977 Topps issue, #513 in the set, which books for $1.00.  Or would, if it wasn't fairly beat up.  Dryer has a total of 22 cards, the most valuable of which is the Mexican version of the same card, which books for $200.  I have no idea how the card ended up in my collection, but it's actually the card that inspired me to post this series of cards. 

I've been reading a lot lately about football players wanting to become actors--Jason Taylor was on Dancing with the Stars, hoping to kick start a career in show business.  And Terrell Owens recently appeared on an episode of some ridiculous show starring Flava Flav, which I won't bother looking up the name of--and apparently thinks 1) he's too good for Dancing with the Stars, and 2) he's going to go beyond acting in just comedies.

Football players crossing over into acting isn't really new--several former players have gone on to careers on the small and big screen, some with some fairly decent success.  Of course, to my knowledge, they were already retired when they made the move.  So, over the next few weeks, we'll look at a few of those players who made the crossover.

These won't be guys who rode the pine for a season or two in the NFL, and moved on to acting when no team wanted them any more--obviously, they had to be known enough to actually have cards.  Nor will it be guys who tried to gain some attention on a reality show (looking at you, Jesse Palmer and Ryan Hoag), nor big name stars who tried to expand their horizons on Dancing With the Stars.

Of course, if you're reading this, you most likely read the title, which means that you already know that the first player we're going to look at is Gary Hogeboom--who was a reality TV star.  So why him, and not the others? 

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