Football Cards -- More Than Just A Hobby

Football Cards: More Than Just A Hobby

http://profootball.scout.com/2/786535.html

Before fantasy football even existed, the ultimate football craze was
collecting cards. The industry has changed over the years and it has
become a marketable experience for rookies and veterans in the NFL.
Scout.com's Chris Steuber takes an inside look into the football card
industry and reveals its enjoyable and profitable nature.

Sep 3, 2008
Chris Steuber
ScoutNFLNetwork.com

It’s a warm, sun blazed May day in Los Angeles; a day so perfect it
should be featured on a post card for tourists to purchase. Cameramen
are focused, and reporters surround the area on this calm, brightly
lit day to catch a glimpse of the image that will circulate to the
masses for years to come.

On this day, the object of desire is to capture 30 of the top NFL
rookies as they pose in a three-point stance, drop back in the pocket,
run routes, catch passes, leap in the air with the help of a
trampoline and many more poses trading card giants Donruss, Topps and
Upper Deck have in store for the future millionaires of the National
Football League.

The NFL Rookie Premiere is one of the biggest days of the year for the
aforementioned trading card companies, as they try to illustrate the
best image of these future stars wearing their new professional
uniforms. The event takes place prior to most of the players signing a
professional contract, and with signing bonuses and guaranteed money
being vital for football players, the NFL Rookie Premiere provides the
players with the opportunity to make some money.

“I don’t have any specifics for this class, but the top rookies can
get as much as $50-$60 per signature [card],” says David Lee, Editor
of Beckett Football. “Lower-tiered rookies may get five dollars or
less per signature. But it does vary from rookie to rookie and year to
year.”

The top rookies in this year's class, in terms of football card sales,
a Darren McFadden, Matt Ryan, Felix Jones, Rashard Mendenhall,
Chris Johnson, Matt Forte, Kevin Smith and surprisingly, at least to
Lee, is Washington Redskins sixth-round rookie Colt Brennan. Brennan’s
card sales have been so strong on eBay that it has forced Beckett to
reflect his popularity in its magazine as a top-priced rookie.

“I’m very surprised by the market for Brennan,” Lee said. “It could be
that there’s a secret band of Hawaii collectors out there that we
don’t know about, but I think collectors are likely still in awe of
his huge college numbers. Another thing that’s helped him is that
Jason Campbell is not a rock-solid starter in Washington, so Brennan
could get a shot [to start] in the future. Having said all that, I
fully expect the action on his cards to fade significantly once the
regular season begins and collectors concentrate on other rookies who
are playing.”

Over the years, the football trading card business has changed
dramatically, and for the most part for the better, as it generates an
estimated $100 million annually. No longer will you find a stick of
bubble gum embedded into a pack of cards that leaves an unwanted
stain, because the product is too pricey today to worry about damaging
a significant card before the owner claims it.

The infusion of memorabilia and signed cards has changed the hobby,
and unlike the NFL and fantasy football where the impact players are
the more established veterans, rookies are the most wanted and high
priced entities in the trading card world.

“It sometimes seems like the card companies have squeezed out every
idea for making a card product,” Lee said. “But then a product comes
along and raises the bar or offers some never-before-seen innovation.
We saw this when Upper Deck released its Exquisite Collection in 2004.
Donruss’ National Treasures product was named product of the year last
year by Beckett Football, and it has an absolutely amazing list of
memorabilia and autographed cards of the best players to ever play the
game.”

There are very few players in the NFL today that collect football
cards. The players are aware of the hobby, and during training camp
they see their own cards on a daily basis when fans ask them for their
signature. But most of the time, the only interest players have in the
hobby is to learn how much their own cards generate on the open
market.

An interesting fact about football cards is that the cards of the
past, which feature some of the legends of the game, are not worth as
much as the cards produced this decade. A 1976 Topps Walter Payton
rookie card - according to Beckett Football - is worth $250.00, while
a 2006 Upper Deck Exquisite Reggie Bush rookie card is listed at
$1,800.00.

The Bush rookie card features an autograph, a large (jersey) patch
swatch and comes from a very expensive product, which limited the Bush
rookie to just 99 copies. The Payton rookie card was mass produced on
cheap cardboard and is much easier to obtain than the Bush rookie. But
even though the Bush rookie card is limited, the Payton rookie card is
hard to find in pristine condition.

“On the surface, it doesn’t seem right that a historical card like the
’76 Topps Payton rookie, of arguably the game’s greatest all-time
player, sells for so much less than cards for guys who haven’t even
been in the league for three years,” Lee said. “But card value is not
the only thing this hobby is about.”

For Washington Redskins tight end Chris Cooley, who is one of the few
players in the league who actually collects cards, the passion for
football cards started at a young age. Cooley was a huge collector as
a kid and used to mow lawns and shovel driveways to get money to
support his addiction for the hobby. His love for football cards was
lost in high school when he started driving, because he had to pay for
more important things at the time. But when he entered the NFL, the
intrigue of pulling his own rookie card out of a pack got him back
into the game.

“I haven’t gotten any of my good cards at all.” Cooley said with
disappointment. “I haven’t gotten a jersey card, a signature card,
nothing. I’ve really wanted to pull one of those. A fun card this year
is Playoff Prestige. I probably bought 25 boxes of Playoff, so I got a
lot of just my regular card. So the feeling of getting your own
regular card sort of wears off, but I’d love to get a jersey card or
an autograph card out of a pack; I think that would be fun.”

The ability of the card companies to continually produce products that
capture the imagination of the fans and the athletes is truly amazing.
The innovation of memorabilia, signed cards, limited prints and other
never-seen-before cardboard classics have been a viable marketing and
money making industry that makes a sunny day in California worth while
for all who enjoy the hobby.

--
A member of the Pro Football Writers of America and the Football
Writers Association of America, Chris Steuber has provided his
analysis of the NFL and NFL Draft prospects on the web and on the
radio since 1999. Steuber’s features are published across the
Scout.com network and on FoxSports.com