Growing up, I was a big Denver Broncos fan so of course John Elway was my guy. I tried to emulate my pick up football game around Randall Cunningham and John Elway. I remember crying myself to sleep when the Broncos lost the Super Bowl at Jack Murphy Stadium back in 1988. They got absolutely smashed as the Redskins dropped 35 in the 2nd quarter which is about as rough as you can get. I wore my Elway jersey to watch the game and was totally devastated by the loss.

Now we’re well past that and while back then I didn’t have the collateral to trade for an Elway rookie, I’m on the hunt to pick up a good looking rookie of his. I’m also looking for some other vintage football cards from the 80’s and 90’s so I thought I’d show you some of the cards I’m chasing. Let’s kick it off with that beautiful John Elway rookie card. That pic is worth a thousand words. He’s actually asking for the rock here right?

I always liked the flashy guys in the league although my dad hated it. Irvin came from the University of Miami where he was a beast and proceeded to turn into a monster with Dallas. He was one of the first WR’s considered a diva. I didn’t mind one bit because if you had the stats to show it, I thought the showboating was justified. The Dallas Cowboys were loaded and they were fun to watch. That Aikman, Emmitt, Irvin trio is pretty hard to beat. With Jimmy Johnson coaching them too? Get outta here….. Nasty!

Sure the 1989 Score Barry Sanders rookie card gets all of the love but I treasure the 1989 Topps Traded rookie card way more. Seeing the name on the back while Barry’s taking a breather on the bench with his helmet off is legendary. I look at this and always wonder how many yards he had in this game. I’m thinking he at least broke a 60 yarder to the house while juking 7 defenders and evading tackles to slip out and straight bust it down a slim crease. Barry was the best. The field vision he had was amazing.

1989 Topps Traded Barry Sanders Rookie Card

The old Tampa Bay Bucs jerseys were so dope. While Steve Young spent time with the Buccaneers and the L.A. Express from the USFL League, it’s his time with the 49ers that we all remember him for. He took the reigns from Joe Montana and kept the Niners firing on all cylinders in the 90’s. Young and his San Francisco 49ers won 3 titles with the left handed slinger running and passing all over the NFL. His style of QB play wasn’t the norm at the time but now we see almost every QB playing that Steve Young type of football. It was Randall Cunningham and Steve Young that gave birth to the QB who gave defensive coordinators nightmares. The 1986 Topps set as a whole is great. Always loved the border and seeing Steve Young in his Bucs get-up is fresh. I’ve never owned this card…. So now it’s time to go get it,

I have a few Deion Sanders rookie cards for baseball and football. I luckily own a couple of his 1989 Score rookie cards where he has that jheri curl straight drippin. But I’ve never owned the 1989 Topps Traded Deion rookie card and I’ve always treasured it. Deion played both sides of the ball and special teams. Primetime did it all! On this picture right here, he’s getting ready to catch that punt and make defenders look silly trying to tackle him. Or maybe it’s a kickoff return? It doesn’t matter…. The ball is in the air and Deion is about to do what he does best. Be straight electric! Gotta get this card in my personal collection.

1989 Topps Traded Deion Sanders Rookie Card

Not every football card I’m chasing holds a lot of value. Some to me are just cool cards that I can look at and they instantly bring a smile to my face. I’ve never actually chased the card of a coach and I probably have 6 of these in my parents’ attic but it’s too much of a chore to get my dad to pull them down and for me to look through 100K cards. We’re talking about the 1991 Pro Line Portraits rookie card of Bill Belichick right here. What a classy pic of the legend. One of the best coaches of all-time and the mastermind of the New England Patriots dynasty. He learned under Bill Parcells with the NY Giants until he got his chance to shine with the Cleveland Browns. But let’s be real, who really shines with the Browns? Nobody. It’s Belichick’s tenure with the Pats that we’ll always remember and this card to me is legendary. I’ll probably be able to spend $5 and get a few of this one and his 1991 Pro Set rookie where he’s rockin the fly starter. Can’t go wrong with either one!

Going deep on this next one… You want to talk about beasts on defense? Well, Lawrence Taylor was a mothaf*ckin savage out there. He’s not even top 10 all-time on the NFL Sacks leader list but if you watched him play back in the day you knew what was up. From 1984 - 1990, LT put up double-digit sack totals every single year. Dude was a straight menace at outside LB and coaches didn’t know how to scheme against him. Taylor was a key member of the 80’s NY Giants defense otherwise known as The Big Blue Wrecking Crew to 2 Super Bowl titles in the 80’s. If you’re too young to remember watching Taylor play, go check out some highlights of his career. Dude had games where he was all coked out and had the adrenaline on 10 while he scared QB’s who couldn’t help but try to evade him instead of focusing on their receivers.

When was the last time you looked at the all-time NFL rushing yards leaders? You should Google it right now… Emmitt bro…. He’s straight smashing the competition at 18,000+ yards over his career. Frank Gore played like 23 years in the NFL and is still 2,000+ yards behind Emmitt. Even Walter Payton is way behind him at #2. Emmitt Smith is #2 all-time with scoring TD’s with only Jerry Rice ahead of him. Look at his eyes in this rookie card though. Straight determination for the greatest to ever run with the ball. Champion. Leader. One of the GOATs.

I already own a Jerry Rice rookie and am waiting for a bit on the Dan Marino. Should I snag a Troy Aikman? Reggie White? Bruce Smith? Drop me a line in the comments!