Pete Duranko - DE

A member of Notre Dame's 1966 national championship team, Pete Duranko was the Broncos' 2nd-round pick in the 1966 AFL Redshirt draft, and played every game for the Broncos from 1967 to 1974 (except for missing the 1971 season).

Duranko was a backup linebacker during his rookie season, then moved to the D-line and started all but 8 games from 1968-70 and 1972-74. (In '72 and '74 he played defensive tackle.) 

 

After sitting out the 1975 season due to injuries, he signed with the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976, but was cut during training camp. 

 

 

Teams: Broncos (1967-70, 72-74)

    

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)

   

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)

   

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) 

   

Matt Hazeltine - LB

 

Matt Hazeltine was the 49ers' 4th-round pick way back in 1955. He was a starting outside linebacker for 14 seasons with the Niners, and made the Pro Bowl in '62 and '64. 

 

Except for missing 6 games in 1965 due to injury, he only missed 2 other games during his career, and started all but 6 games. 

 

Hazeltine retired after the 1968 season, but came back in 1970 to start every game for the Giants. 

 

 

Teams: 49ers (1955-68), Giants (1970) 

 

Pete Perreault - G

Pete Perreault, an undrafted free-agent, played for the Jets from 1963 to 1967. 

 

He was a backup defensive end in his rookie season, then started 6 games at right guard in 1964. 

 

Perreault played sparingly over the next 3 seasons, making no starts and only playing a combined 18 games over those years. 

 

He went to the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968, but only started 3 games for the expansion team. 

 

Pete returned to the Jets for 1969-70, and while playing in almost every game, he only made 4 starts. 

 

His final season was 1971, as a backup guard for the Vikings. 

 

 

Teams: Jets (1963-67, 69-70), Bengals (1968), Vikings (1971)

 

Bob Cappadona - RB

Bob Cappadona was the Patriots' 3rd-round pick in 1965.  He didn't play that year, and although he played in 27 games for Boston from 1966-67, he only made 4 starts, all in '67.

 

He played his 3rd and final AFL season for the Bills, starting 7 games but rushing for only 272 yards while sharing the 2 backfield spots with such luminaries as Max Anderson and Ben Gregory.  A year later, all three would be out of a job as O.J. Simpson and Wayne Patrick would take over.

Teams: Patriots (1966-67), Bills (1968)

 

Jim Colclough - WR

The list of great AFL receivers usually starts with Lionel Taylor, Don Maynard, Art Powell, and later on Lance Alworth, Fred Biletnikoff and Otis Taylor. But Jim Colclough was right up there with them for the first few seasons in the league's history. 

 

I had never heard of him until a few months ago, but Colclough was one of the leagues top receivers from 1960-62. 

 

Colclough was drafted by the Redskins in 1959 but never played for them. He spent his entire career (1960-68) with the Patriots. 

 

He was the their starting flanker from 1960-63, and parts of the next 2 seasons. Although never in the top 5 for receptions, he finished in the top 5 for receiving TDs from 1960-62. 

 

After 1963 he lost playing time to Art Graham, although he did start 9 games in 1965, and 7 games at tight end in 1967. 

 

Colclough retired after the 1968 season. 

 

 

Teams: Patriots (1960-68)