This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 11/11/2016
Presented is an absolutely stunning specimen of the first-ever American football card, the 1888 N162 Goodwin Champions issue of Harry Beecher, Captain of Yale's football team. Twenty years after the introduction of rugby in Europe, the sport spread to America and became very popular at many northeastern colleges. The formation of the Intercollegiate Football Association (IFA) in 1876 and the adoption of a newly shaped oval ball started a series of major rule changes that, over the course of the next quarter-century, would see the sport of rugby evolve into American football. Yale's significance as the birthplace of the popular new sport prompted New York's Goodwin & Company, the makers of Old Judge and Gypsy Queen cigarettes, to include a single football player in its groundbreaking "Champions" set. It would take nearly 50 more years for the sport of football to receive recognition with its own sports card set, the 1935 National Chicle series. Holding what can barely pass for what we would call a football, Harry Beecher is presented in incredible detail and wonderful color on this extremely old pasteboard, so vibrant and well-preserved that the almost unheard of grade of PSA 7 still seems conservative given the sharpness of the perimeter and overall appeal of the artwork. The reverse shows only slight traces of its amazing age and lives up to expectation for the lofty grade and then some. If you're serious about advancing your football card collection, here's a chance to acquire a world-class example of the first-ever football card on record!