Gene Howard - CB

Gene Howard was a starting right cornerback for the Saints and Rams from 1968 to 1972.

The Saints' 7th-round pick in 1968, he played every game during his first 2 seasons, starting all but 5 games. In 1970, he started 6 of his 8 games. 

 

Howard played for the Rams from 1971-72, starting 27 of the Rams' 28 games over that time. 

 

He was traded to the Lions just before the 1973 season, but did not play for them. 

 

In 1974 he played for the WFL's Southern California Sun. 

 

 

Teams: Saints (1968-70), Rams (1971-72), Sun (1974). 

   

Jim Simon - G

Jim Simon was the Lions' 15th-round pick in 1963. He played defensive end in his rookie season.

Simon played every game for the Lions from 1964-65, starting 10 games at right offensive tackle. 

 

He was selected by the Falcons in the 1966 expansion draft, and played in all but 1 game for the next 3 seasons. After playing as a backup tackle in 1966, he was a starting guard in his final 2 seasons. 

 

Teams: Lions (1963-65), Falcons (1966-68) 

 

Ben Davis - CB

Ben Davis was the Browns' 17th-round pick in 1967.

He played for Cleveland from 1967-1973, and was their starting right cornerback n 1968 and again from 1971-73. 

 

In 1968 he had 8 interceptions, for a league-leading 162 yards. 

 

Davis played for the Lions from 1974-1976. 

 

 

Teams: Browns (1967-73), Lions (1974-76)

   

Goldie Sellers - CB

Goldie Sellers was a defensive back for the Broncos and Chiefs from 1966-1969.

He was the Broncos' 8th-round pick in 1966, and started 7 of his 14 games at strong safety. In 1967 he started 8 games at left cornerback. 

 

Sellers played every game for the Chiefs from 1968-1969, making 6 starts at left cornerback in '68, but no starts in '69. He was injured during training camp in 1970 and spent that season on the injured-reserve list. 

 

He was later with the Oilers and Patriots, but did not play in any games. 

 

 

Teams: Broncos (1966-67), Chiefs (1968-69).

  

Tom Vaughn - FS

Tom Vaughn was the Lions' 5th-round pick in 1965.

He was their starting free safety in 1965, and again from 1967-1971. He played 13 games in 1966, but only started once. 

 

He played 88 games in 7 seasons for the Lions, with 9 interceptions.

 

 

Teams: Lions (1965-71)

   

Ken Kortas - DT

Ken Kortas was the Cardinals' #1 pick in 1964, and started 5 games as a rookie.

He was traded to the Steelers after the season for QB Terry Nofsinger. Kortas played for the Steelers for four seasons, and was a starting defensive tackle in '65, '67, and '68. 

 

In 1967 he scored a touchdown on a recovered fumble. Although starting 38 games in his 4 seasons in the Steel City, Pittsburgh drafted DT Joe Greene in the first round of the 1969 draft, replacing Kortas. 

 

In early September he was traded to the Saints for running back Don McCall, but was released a week later without playing a game. 

 

The Bears picked him up, and he saw action in 3 games in his last season. 

 

 

Teams: Cardinals (1964), Steelers (1965-68), Bears (1969)

  

Rosey Taylor - FS

Roosevelt Taylor was a free safety for the Bears and others from 1961 to 1972.

Taylor played for the Bears for 8 1/2 seasons. After starting 5 games in his rookie season, he started all but 10 games over the next 11 seasons. 

 

In 1963, he led the NFL with 9 interceptions, and was named First-Team All-Pro. He played in the 1963 and 1968 Pro Bowls. 

 

Midway through the 1969 season, he was traded to the 49ers for guard Howard Mudd. He was their starting free safety through the end of the 1971 season. 

 

Taylor finished his career with the Redskins, starting every game. 

 

 

Teams: Bears (1961-69), 49ers (1969-71), Redskins (1972)

  

Ray Ogden - TE

Ray Ogden played tight end for 4 teams from 1965-1971.

Ogden was the Cardinals' 3rd-round pick in 1965. He played 17 games (no starts) in his 2 seasons with St. Louis. 

 

Taken by the Saints in the expansion draft, he played 2 games for them in 1967, then was traded to the Falcons for Ernie Wheelwright.  Ogden started 7 of his 11 games in 1967, and started every game in 1968. 

 

In 1969, Ray was replaced at tight end by rookie Jim Mitchell (who went on to start all but 3 games over the next 11 seasons). Ogden was traded to the Bears, where he played his final 3 seasons, making only 1 start during that time. 

 

Released by the Bears during training camp in 1972, he was picked up by the Dolphins, but cut before playing any games.

 

 

Teams: Cardinals (1965-66), Saints (1967), Falcons (1967-68), Bears (1969-71)

    

Billy Gambrell - SE

Billy Gambrell was a split end for the Cardinals and Lions from 1963-68.

Drafted by the Boston Patriots in 1963, he signed with the Cardinals as a free agent. 

 

He played split end for the Cardinals from 1963-67, with most of his starts coming in '64 and '67. For years he played behind Bobby Joe Conrad and Sonny Randle, finally breaking into the starting lineup in 1967, after Randle's trade to the 49ers.

 

In 1968, he was the Lions' starting flanker, starting 11 of his 14 games. That was his final season.

 

 

Teams: Cardinals (1963-67), Lions (1968)

    

Pete Jaquess - DB

Pete Jaquess was a defensive back for the Oilers, Dolphins, and Broncos from 1964-1970.

Although he wasn't drafted until the 20th round in 1964, Pete started every game at left cornerback for the Oilers that season, and made the Pro Bowl. He played in every game in 1965, but only made 4 starts. 

 

Jaquess started 10 games at free safety for the Dolphins in 1966. Midway through the 1967 season he was traded to the Broncos. 

 

He was the Broncos' starting strong safety in 1968, then served in a backup role for his final 2 seasons. 

 

 

Teams: Oilers (1964-65), Dolphins (1966-67), Broncos (1967-70)

   

Seeing Red

The "Red Team" (on the blog sidebar) seems very popular this week!

Jim Lindsey - HB

Jim Lindsey was the Vikings' 2nd-round pick in 1966. He played 7 seasons in the NFL (1966-72), all with the Vikings.

Lindsey played in 84 games over that span, with his only 4 starts coming during his rookie season. He was also a kick returner for most seasons. 

 

After football, Lindsey got into the real estate business. His company owned more than 30,000 apartment units and 40 golf courses.

 

 

Teams: Vikings (1966-72)

   

Jerry Hill - FB

Jerry Hill was the Colts' 3rd-round pick in 1961, and played 9 seasons - all with the Colts.

He only played 1 game in 1961, then missed the entire 1962 season. 

 

From 1963-70 he started a handful of games at fullback each season, except for starting every game in 1965. He led the Colts in rushing that season. 

 

 

Teams: Colts (1961, 63-70)

    

Rudy Kuechenberg - LB

Rudy Kuechenberg was signed as a free agent by the Bears in 1967.

He played every game with Chicago for 3 seasons, finally starting 10 games in his 3rd year. Those were his only career starts. 

 

In 1970 he split time between the Browns and the Packers. In his final season he appeared in 3 games for the Falcons. 

 

His brother Bob played 14 seasons for the Dolphins. 

 

 

Teams: Bears (1967-69), Browns (1970), Packers (1970), Falcons (1971) 

   

Charlie Harper - G

Two months ago we looked at the card for Giants' guard Darrell Dess. Here's their other guard.

Charlie Harper was the Giants' 8th-round pick in 1966. He played 7 seasons in the NFL - all for the Giants. 

 

A backup guard in his rookie season, he played right tackle for the next 2 years, starting 12 games in '67 and 4 games in '68. 

 

Harper switched back to guard for the '69 and '70 seasons, starting 11 games at right guard in 1970. 

 

In 1971 he started every game at right tackle. Harper had played in every game for his first 6 seasons. 

 

In his final season (1972), he only appeared in 1 game, and it was at defensive tackle. 

 

 

Teams: Giants (1966-72) 

   

Johnnie Robinson - DB

(not to be confused with the long-time Chiefs' safety) 

 

Johnnie Robinson was drafted by the Lions (7th round) and Bills (2nd round) in their leagues' respective 1966 drafts.

He played in 14 games for the Lions in 1966 (no starts), and scored 1 TD while returning 19 kicks and punts. 

 

That was his only season in the NFL. So why does he have a card in the 1969 set? 

 

No other information can be found on pro-football-reference.com or ProSportsTransactions.com. When I flipped his card over to see what it said about the '67 and '68 seasons, all I found was a puzzle piece on the back. 

 

 

Teams: Lions (1966) 

    

Jimmy Keyes - K/LB

In Miami, before there was Garo Yepremian there was Jimmy Keyes.

Keyes was the Dolphins' 2nd-round pick in 1968, and kicked for the first 12 games of his rookie season. Although he made all 30 XP attempts, he only made 7 of 20 field goals, and was replaced for the last 2 games by TE Doug Moreau (not by TE/P Larry Seiple). Keyes never kicked again for the Dolphins or anyone else. 

 

In 1969 he appeared in 5 games as a linebacker. 

 

 

Teams: Dolphins (1968-69) 

   

Dick Shiner - QB

Dick Shiner was a journeyman quarterback from the mid-60s to mid-70s.

Drafted by the Redskins in 1964, he rode the bench for three years in DC (Sonny Jurgensen's first 3 years there also). The record shows he played every game in '65 and '66, but with very few passing attempts. (He must have been holding for field goals.) Shiner started one game in 1965. 

 

During training camp in 1967 he was traded to the Browns for backup QB Jim Ninowski, but saw little playing time in his one season with Cleveland. 

 

In May 1968 he was part of the trade that sent QB Bill Nelsen from the Steelers to the Browns. He finally made 1st-string (it was the 1960s' Steelers, mind you), starting 20 games in his 2 seasons there. 

 

After 2 seasons, the Steelers had seen enough. In the Spring of 1970 they drafted Terry Bradshaw with their well-earned 1st-overall pick. Then they pawned Shiner off on the Giants for running back Frenchy Fuqua and MLB Henry Davis. (That's a lot for the Giants to give up, for someone who was never going to unseat Fran Tarkenton.)

 

Shiner returned to a backup role for the remainder of his career, with the Giants, Falcon, and Patriots. 

 

 

Teams: Redskins (1964-66), Browns (1967), Steelers (1968-69), Giants (1970), Falcons (1971-73), Patriots (1973-74) 

    

Darrell Dess - G

Darrell Dess played 12 seasons in the NFL (1958-69), all but two for the Giants.

Dess was drafted by the Redskins in 1958, but played for the Steelers that season. 

 

After riding the Giants' bench in 1959, he was their starting left guard from 1960-64, making 2 Pro Bowls during that time. 

 

During training camp in 1965 he was traded (along with LB Mike Lucci) to the Lions for QB Earl Morrall. Two weeks later he moved on to the Redskins for QB George Izo.

 

After one game in 1966, he was traded back to the Giants. Playing behind Pete Case and Bookie Bolin in 1966, he started at right guard in '67 and '68. 

 

The Giants released him in April 1970.

 

Dess' 1964 card was one of my first 4 football cards.

 

 

Teams: Steelers (1958), Giants (1959-64, 66-69), Redskins (1965-66)

Jerrel Wilson - P

Jerrel WIlson was drafted by the Chiefs in 1963. He played 16 seasons, the first 15 with Kansas City. He punted for the Patriots in his final season.

Wilson's 1967 card shows his position as "halfback". As a rookie in 1963, he had 9 rushing attempts for 41 yards. (It's unclear if this was done from the halfback position, or because of botched punt attempts.)

 

He made 3 consecutive Pro Bowls from 1970-72, and led his league in punting yards in 1964 and 1973. A 72-yard punt in his rookie seasons was the longest in the AFL that year.

 

 

Teams: Chiefs (1963-77), Patriots (1978) 

  

 

Willie Richardson - FL

Willie Richardson played 9 seasons (1963-71) in the NFL. He was drafted by both the Colts and Jets in 1963.

After 4 seasons as a Colts' backup, he was their starting flanker from 1967-69, making the Pro Bowl in '67 and '68, and was named first-team All-Pro in 1967. 

 

Richardson was traded to the Steelers for Roy Jefferson during training camp in 1970. A few weeks later he was flipped to the Dolphins, where he played behind Paul Warfield and Howard Twilley for 1 season. 

 

He returned to the Colts for the 1971 season, playing in 12 games but only starting three.

   

His younger brother Gloster Richardson played for the Chiefs, Cowboys, and Browns.

 

 

Teams: Colts (1963-69, 1971), Dolphins (1970)