Set Spotlight: 1971 Topps Football

The early 1970’s were an exciting time for the National Football League.

Growing in popularity every day, football was fully immersed in the mainstream of American culture. Popular teams like the Dallas Cowboys and Miami Dolphins were at the height of their success, while emerging teams like the Pittsburgh Steelers and San Fransisco 49ers were gaining traction. New stadiums like Soldier Field in Chicago and Candlestick Park in San Francisco were just opening up. Attendance at NFL games was at an all-time high and television viewing audiences were growing every Sunday.

And 15 years into their run of successful football cards, Topps put out the 1971 set that is one of the most popular sets to this day.

1971 Topps football – the design

The set contains 263 cards, including 54 Hall of Famers. All-time greats like Joe Namath, Bob Griese, Gale Sayers, Terry Bradshaw, Johnny Unitas, and Joe Greene are in the set, as well as popular players at the time like Dick Butkus and Larry Csonka.

The cards were designed with plenty of color in mind. Red and blue are the main background colors, with some cards having one solid color and others with a split of each color (a technique that would eventually be used in the 1975 Topps baseball set). The front of the card features the player’s name, team, position and either the conference they play in or an “All-Star” designation.

The background colors were not randomly assigned. All-star players received the split “blue-red” color background. NFC cards were blue and AFC cards were red. Collectors with a keen eye might also notice the NFL team logos are airbrushed out of the images of the players. In 1971, Topps had the rights to the player’s images, but not the team logos.

Perhaps the most eye-catching feature is the font style used for the team name. That tall, shadowed font seems like something you might have seen emblazoned on a marquee at a stadium. It certainly stands out more than the plain white or yellow player name listed on the top of the card.

A simple, somewhat childish cartoon depicting the player’s position is also on the front of the card. This added feature became of staple of 1970’s sports cards from Topps, but was removed altogether by the 1980’s. This is most likely an influence of the artistic minds of early Topps designers Woody Gelman and Art Spiegelman.

There were two series of 1971 Topps football released, each with roughly 130 cards in each. Cards could be purchased in wax packs for 25 cents, rack packs for 39 cents, or from vending boxes.

Not unlike 1971 Topps baseball, 1971 Topps football has condition issues that stem from its design. The colored background does a poor job concealing wear on the corners and edges, and the white bordered box around the player’s image does the same for centering. It can be extremely difficult to find this set in above mid-grade condition.

Terry Bradshaw is “tops” in 1971 Topps football

By far, the most valuable card in 1971 Topps football is Terry Bradshaw’s rookie card #156.

Bradshaw had a Hall of Fame career with the Pittsburgh Steelers, amassing four Super Bowl championships and 212 passing touchdowns over 15 seasons. The football card collecting and investing world favors quarterbacks, so it’s natural that Bradshaw would be one of the most valuable cards from the 1970’s.

The average price of a Bradshaw rookie in near mint condition (PSA 7) over the last 12 months is $891 according to Vintage Card Prices. The next closest is Joe Greene’s #245 at $335, followed by Joe Namath’s #250 at $199 and O.J. Simpson’s #260 at $125.

The all-time highest sale of a Terry Bradshaw rookie was a PSA 9 that sold in May 2016 for $50,190 at Heritage Auctions. Prices of a PSA 9 have averaged around $25,000 in the last six months.

The last PSA 10 sale of this card sold in 2007 for $14,000, over 15 years ago. It’s likely that a PSA 10 copy of Bradshaw would sell today for north of $100,000, given the current market.

Value finds in 1971 Topps football

There are a number of Hall of Famers in the 1971 set that are relatively easy to find for under $50 in graded near mint condition.

As already mentioned, Joe Greene, O.J. Simpson, and Joe Namath are also in this set. They are at a premium. For example, a raw near mint Joe Greene sold in the Greg Morris Cards store for $256 on October 11th.

But what about Deacon Jones (#209), Bob Hayes (#190) and rookie cards of Hall of Famers Ken Houston (#113) and Charlie Sanders (#210)? These can be bought for under $50 as a PSA 7, or for even less in raw condition.

Collectors of this set are likely to spend in the neighborhood of $5,000 to $10,000 for all 263 cards in near mint condition (PSA 7) according to Vintage Card Prices. Around $1,500 of that is due to the high price of the Bradshaw, Greene, Simpson, and Namath cards.

Sources: Vintage Card Prices, Pro-Football Reference