Early Modern Football Cards: 1948 -1955 Bowman & Leaf Cards

These are the card sets that kicked off modern football cards, 1948 & '49 Leaf and 1948 - 1955 Bowman. Topps was not a part of the pro football market during this time, so this was it for these years, but considering the designs...we didn't really need Topps.

[@alexmathewmendoza]

Amazingly informative! Thank you!

[@mackymintle7806]

Whatever Topps puked out….lol. Some of those airbrushed Topps sets are an abomination 😅

[@oarancards4443]

Terrific wow

[@Runnygraph20]

Loved hearing this lesson.

[@alanzimmerman3289]

Great lesson! I think there’s a certain charm to Topps’ early 50s efforts. The felt backs might have even been a 1949 issue. The 1951 Topps Magic are fun. The 1955 Topps All-American cards are meh but certainly more traditional than the earlier efforts.

[@sportscardprofessor]

I agree. I love that 1949 felt back, and the 1955 cards came out great.

[@GoldenSlumber474]

Wow, that was a fascinating lesson Professor 😉. I just subscribed based on this video & I’m looking forward to more videos like this & in your catalogue 👍

[@sportscardprofessor]

Thanks. Tallboys might be a good follow up video if you're not sure where to turn next. It's under General Topics. Enjoy the catalog.

[@texshockeycards6155]

1948 Topps Magic had football the cards size was about a thumbnail

[@sportscardprofessor]

I don't really consider those as cards, but the Topps Felt certainly do...but them that's for the Early Topps video.

[@dog-so1vj]

Great video. Great information. I'm 61 and have been a stamp and coin collector for years. I've just started collecting football cards in the last few months. My collecting focus is always about the historical aspects of the subject matter and the enjoyment of the discoveries along the way. Since I started this journey, I've learned so much more about the sport that I loved growing up and have followed all my life. Again, thanks.

[@sportscardprofessor]

Glad that you like it. There are a few more recent sets that did a pretty good job adding some historical touches, but going back to the source just cannot be beat.

[@ghometown9239]

Very knowledgeable and interesting video- best wishes!

[@drew8703]

is there an inventor of football like Naismith did with basketball?

[@sportscardprofessor]

Yes, the creator's name is GOD, and he saw that it was good. Football came as the third general iteration of soccer...soccer begat rugby, which begat football. No special inventor is known. That said there is a strong and likely belief that it actually dates back to the Druids. The story goes that they had a Fall Harvest ritual where villagers would run around in a field with a piglet under there arm, and attempt to cross through the uprights of Stonehenge without being tackled by the priests. It certainly does explain why modern referees have a bunch of vertical stripes encircling their shirts.

[@rotmusic8505]

To my knowledge, I believe Walter Camp really organized the sport and made up a lot of the rules. I think football had been around in some form but really tied it all together.

[@sportscardprofessor]

@@rotmusic8505 Good point. My head was wrapped up in peach basket creativity, but Camp did cement the sport.

[@drew8703]

@@sportscardprofessor I've heard of Walter Camp. What did Pop Warner do?

[@sportscardprofessor]

@@drew8703 He was a major innovator as a coach in the early 20th Century.