fun facts

[JWL]

At the old forum back in 2010, I created a thread about fun facts found on Topps football cards.

Some notable tidbits-

1970 Jim Turner- "Besides his kicking, Jim is a fine quarterback."
1974 Mercury Morris- "Mercury likes to chew bubble gum."
1974 Frank Pitts- "Frank drives a 1936 Pontiac."
1974 Elmo Wright- "Elmo plays the saxophone."
1981 Matt Robinson- "Matt plans to breed and raise appaloosa horses."
1981 Ken Stabler- "Ken was a lefthanded pitcher in college baseball."
1983 Mark Gastineau- "Collects ancient Indian artifacts. Enjoys rodeos both as spectator and as participant."
1983 Rick Parros- "His hobbies include dogs, especially Afghans, and water skiing."
1983 Billy Sims- "Drives a truck with which he enjoys tinkering."
1984 Tommy Kramer- "Tommy lists ice skating among his favorite pastimes."
1984 Freeman McNeil- "Freeman enjoys building things with his hands."
1984 Wesley Walker- "Wesley has done work for an aircraft company."

[BD Sullivan]

I may have mentioned it in the other thread, but the one I recall is Lions lineman Rockne Freitas, who was named after Knute Rockne.

[JohnTurney]

1983 Mark Gastineau- "Collects ancient Indian artifacts. Enjoys rodeos both as spectator and as participant."

I remember there was a photo of Gastineau collecting some artifacts in Sports Illustrated and it was noted that collecting such artifacts on public land was illegal to which Gastineau said he only collects from private land.

[Bryan]

Off topic since its baseball...but the blurb on Dave Bennett is my favorite Topps card factoid.

[Citizen]

Another baseball fave:

[Gary Najman]

I don't know if I read in a card, but former DL Dave Stalls (who won Super Bowls with the Cowboys and Raiders) was studying marine biology and zoology while he was still playing. Other I remember was KR Carl Roaches driving an ice cream truck before he was signed by the Houston Oilers.

[JWL]

1969 Roman Gabriel- "Roman works for a vitamin company during the off-season."
1981 Joe Ferguson- "Joe has a private pilot's license."
1981 Bert Jones- "Bert lists scuba diving among his hobbies."
1984 Fred Dean- "Fred enjoys writing poetry in his leisure time."

[JWL]

1971 Dick Post- "Dick operates a mod clothing store."
1972 Dave Wilcox- "Dave did some rodeoing in his younger days."
1972 Emmitt Thomas- "Emmitt enjoys playing the clarinet."
1972 Gerry Philbin- "Gerry is a fine after-dinner speaker."
1974 Benny Johnson- "Benny likes to listen to phonograph records."
1974 Charlie Johnson- "Charlie runs a boys camp off-season."
1974 Bivian Lee- "Bivian works for a hand lotion company."
1974 Earlie Thomas- "Earlie majored in entomology, the science of insects."
1981 Chuck Foreman- "Chuck operates a chain of nautilus centers."
1981 Alan Page- "Alan's hobbies include cooking."
1981 Kellen Winslow- "Kellen relaxes by playing chess."
1981 Tony Dorsett- "Tony is in the fire alarm business."
1981 Charlie Smith- "Charlie works as a substitute teacher."
2001 Richie Anderson- "Anderson is a drag-racing enthusiast."


Note: The Richie Anderson card is from Upper Deck. All other fun facts are from Topps cards.

[Mark L. Ford]

Cards that never made it--
2007: "Michael trains dogs for sport."
2009: "Plaxico has become a believer in gun safety."
2015: "Tom misplaced his cellphone."

[rhickok1109]

Cards that never made it--
2007: "Michael trains dogs for sport."
2009: "Plaxico has become a believer in gun safety."
2015: "Tom misplaced his cellphone."

I like those, Mark