One of the true legends of college football left the game, likely for the last time, on Tuesday. Steve Spurrier won the 1966 Heisman Trophy and was the third overall selection (by the San Francisco 49ers) in the 1967 draft. As a head coach, he compiled 228 wins and won the most games at both Florida and South Carolina.
Just because I can, I want to post this “tribute” to the Head Ball Coach. If you have any sense of humor, you really should watch.
Spurrier played ten seasons in the NFL, but didn’t have a very memorable career. During his career, he only had five mainstream (Topps) cards produced, along with 12 additional regional, etc. cards. With the card boom starting in the late 1980s, his successful college playing days and also his success as a head coach, he now has 155 cards listed in the Beckett database and 157 listed in the Sports Card Forum database.
These are the top five Steve Spurrier cards, according to me.
1.) 1972 Topps #291 (Rookie)
These days, the number three pick in the NFL draft will end up with hundreds of rookies cards during their first season. This wasn’t the case when Spurrier played. His rookie card wasn’t produced until his SIXTH season. The card is from the third series, which wasn’t a big seller for Topps. According two the two articles below, Larry Fritsch ended up with a lot of these and as more and more of the cards from the tough third series made it to market, prices have dropped. Book value on this card is $100. Raw copies sell on eBay for anywhere from $50 to full book value.
LINK: A Closer Look at the 1972 Topps Football High Numbers
LINK: T is for Topps, Part 4: the 1970s
2.) 1972 Topps #338 (In Action)
This one is from the same 1972 third series. Can you see why I selected this as the number two card? Yes, it’s because he’s punting. That is awesome and I don’t need to justify my decision any more. Book value on this one is $60 and you can find raw copies on eBay from $15-50.
3.) 2005 Topps All American Autographs #AAS
If you read our blog consistently, you know that the 1955 Topps All-American set is one that I’m working on and one of my favorite sets of all time. Combining the HBC and one of my favorite sets ever makes this a winner. Book value on this is $80 and when you can find them on eBay, you can get them for about half of that. This one is certainly on my want list.
4.) 1987 Duke Police #13
This is Spurrier’s only card from his time at Duke. I’m sure that there were a bunch of kids in North Carolina that had these and traded them as kids. At that time, there was a WVU Hospitals set and in Morgantown, Major Harris was the card to get. If you had one, you were one of the coolest kids at First Ward Elementary. Back to Spurrier, this card books at $15, but an eBay search shows no recently sold copies.
5.) 2004 Upper Deck Legends Legendary Signatures #LSSS SP
This card wasn’t Spurrier’s first certified autograph. It isn’t his rarest or most valuable, either. What makes it different that most is that he is shown with the 49ers. Other autographs show him during his playing days at Florida or during one of his head coaching tenures. This one is just a little different. Book value is $40 on it, but there are no recently ended copies on eBay.
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