This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 1/22/2010
Graded SGC 88 NM/MT. Presented is one of the hobby's highest-graded examples of "Slingin' Sammy" Baugh's immensely popular 1948 Leaf issue. Although Sammy was the 6th overall pick of the 1937 NFL draft, the 1948 Leaf and 1948 Bowman issues are widely accepted as his rookie cards, since no major gridiron issues preceded the 1948 Leaf set, at least not since the 1935 National Chicle issue. At that time, in the mid 30s, baseball was Sammy's preferred sport. Although he was a two-time All American on the gridiron, Sammy also manned third base for the Texas Christian baseball club, and it was in that role that a Texas sportswriter tagged him with his immortal moniker. After a few attempts at minor league ball in 1936, Sammy turned back to the gridiron, where, as a rookie in 1937, he would play quarterback, defensive back, and punter, leading the Redskins to a 28-21 victory over the rival Bears in the NFL Championship game. Over the next 15 seasons, he would set 13 NFL records at three different positions, several of which still stand today, including most seasons leading the league in passing (6, shared with Steve Young) and most seasons leading the league with the lowest interception percentage (5). From his childhood days throwing the pigskin through a rubber tire swinging from a tree limb, he is widely credited as being the player to popularize the forward pass, advancing it from the act of desperation that it was in the early days of football to the #1 offensive weapon that is today. In this regard, he is to football what Babe Ruth was, and remains, to baseball, a player that almost single-handedly carried his sport into the modern era. Far more appealing than his 1948 Bowman rookie issue, the offered 1948 Leaf Sammy Baugh rookie showcases unusually precise centering for the issue, with nearly equidistant borders on all sides but the bottom. Microscopically touched NM/MT corners, arguably the only NM/MT features throughout, join NM/MT+ to even MINT edges around a very accurately registered image for the issue against a thoroughly saturated blue-violet backdrop, perfect but for a microscopic frog's eye in the extreme lower left field, as well as two faint touches of print in the middle of both the right and left borders. The striking contrast between Sammy's maroon Redskins jersey and the colorful backdrop produce one of the most eye-popping and memorable images of the early gridiron. Proudly offered, one of the finest 20 examples in the hobby!