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Iconic 1965 Topps Joe Namath rookie card tops collector’s Christmas wish list
From the time I was a tiny tee-ball All-Star for the Norry Dodgers and a star running back for the Second Street Elementary flag football team, I was drawn to sports cards.
The great hobby of card collecting brought me a step closer to my heroes and childhood idols. Even from my earliest collecting moments and memories, I was almost exclusively drawn to rookie cards.
There is something incredibly special about a debut and a new beginning, whether it is sports specific or life in general. A fresh-faced youngster with their whole life (and career) ahead of them immortalized on cardboard for the first time is special. Every rookie card is a sports origin story, and some of these youngsters could be legends in the making.
I've been strict with my rookie card PC over the years. After I sold every card I owned following a divorce in my mid-20s and getting out of the hobby cold turkey for nearly eight years, I jumped back into the hobby a few years later and tried to reassemble my collection as best I could and as much as my wallet would allow.
I've been fortunate and honored to have owned many of the best rookie cards of all time, from Ruths and Gehrigs to a 2000 Playoff Contenders Tom Brady rookie auto to multiple Michael Jordan rookies and many great cards in between. My collection includes anything from the tobacco era to modern day. If the player was a superstar, a star or even a semi-star, I tried to snag a solid rookie card.
One card that I have yet to catch and one that would be the centerpiece of any serious football card collection is the iconic 1965 Topps Joe Namath rookie card.
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As a youngster, this card seemed unattainable and untouchable. Even in my 20s, this beauty is one that I thought I would never be fortunate enough to add to my collection. It was so spectacular and so big that I thought that maybe I didn't deserve one … or maybe I just wasn't cool enough to own one.
Regarded by many in the industry as the most significant football card of all time, this card is literally larger than life, much like the football legend and cultural icon depicted on it. Measuring 2 ½-by-4 11/16 inches, the Namath “Tall Boy” RC towers over all other football rookie cards. This piece is bordering on movie poster size for the star power and movie star good looks of Broadway Joe.
By far the most famous football player of the decade, there is only one Joe Willie Namath, on and off the gridiron. Namath transcended football and sports. He was swag before swag existed with his natural, all-knowing smile, the fresh mink coat, the dark shades, and the supreme confidence in his abilities. Even sun tanning by the pool in colorful short shorts, whatever Namath did, he made it look cool. He transcended sports and so did his iconic RC.
The 1965 Topps Namath rookie card is to football what the 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle is to the baseball card market.
I've never owned this card but I've handled a few over the years. You can feel its power, it's significance and its value. You don't need an auction house, price guide or social media platform to instantly know this one is special.
In value, it ranks right up there with any football card. The oversized nature of the card brings obvious condition issues coupled with centering problems and the fact that it is truly a short print, but it has the track record and all the markings of a six-figure card in a high grade. There are no PSA 10 examples in existence and the last PSA 9 sold for $264,000 at Heritage Auctions in February of 2018. Only five PSA 9s exist. If one came up for auction today, it would be a half- million-dollar card or more.
The original Type 1 photo used for the card sold for over $66,000 in 2017 and is now up for bid at Goldin Co.
I would be over the moon to add a PSA 1 to my collection. Those will lighten your bank account by $1,200-$2,000.
As far as optics, the obvious “Tall Boy” size sets the card apart from others. With the words “New York” scrolled across the top, the fresh-faced Namath is pictured with a football cocked beside his head, ready to launch a rocket downfield. With a bright yellow backdrop and a thin white border, the black nameplate at the bottom lists Joe's name and his position. So simple, yet so powerful. The card looks like it could be a movie poster with a huge image of a steely- eyed Namath ready to carry the Jets to the promised land.
The basic design becomes far more complex when you dig into the backstory.
Some might assume that the 1965 Topps football set equated to NFL football cards, but the big “Tall Boys” were not an NFL football set at all. It was strictly an AFL football set, which is why Namath was included in the first place. Topps had lost its license to produce NFL cards that year. The Topps football sets featured only AFL players from 1964-67.
Furthermore, this beautiful, oversized set was the only year Topps produced “Tall Boys” on the gridiron. The “Tall Boys” made the most sense on the hardwood a few years later.
In an interview on the Late Show with David Letterman in 2011, Namath shares the amazing story behind the photo shoot from which the rookie card photo originated. The young QB had just had his first knee operation, had lost 27 pounds and was in bed for eight full days. The Jets media director came into his hospital room carrying shoulder pads, a jersey and a football. He told Namath that the show must go on, so they took the future Hall of Famer out of his bed. Standing only with the help of crutches, he went into the hallway, leaned against the wall, and posed for the picture you see on his iconic rookie card.
To add more legendary status to an already legendary story, photographer Bob Olen, who took the famous Namath photo, was also the official photographer for the New York Yankees and it's believed he was the photographer that captured the image featured on Mickey Mantle's iconic 1951 Bowman rookie card.
Just like Namath hitting a wide receiver deep in the end zone, it's all about timing. This issue, and Namath's arrival, was a perfect storm.
The Alabama signal caller led the Crimson Tide to a national championship in 1964 and was the first overall pick in the 1965 AFL Draft. After a strong start to his professional career, he famously led the Jets to an improbable victory at Super Bowl III in 1969 over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts. He showed that the AFL wasn't a second-tier league, and just one year later the game-changing AFL/NFL merger took place.
Admittedly, Joe Willie’s career stats wouldn't impress many today. He threw for just over 27,000 yards and 173 touchdowns. The all-time great was the first quarterback to throw for 4,000 yards in a season. He was the 1965 AFL Rookie of the Year, the 1974 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, and he was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.
There have clearly been better football players, and there are more valuable cards, but you would be hard pressed to find a more historically significant card in football annals. For my money, as a collector who deeply appreciates the history of the game and the greats that came before us, this card is football.
For that reason and a million more, this gem sits atop my Christmas wish list. Hopefully, Santa (or my wife) is reading this article.
— Tony Reid has written about sports collectibles for such publications as Beckett and Sports Collectors Daily. He collects RCs of star players in baseball, basketball and football. You can reach him at @reidrattlecage on all social media platforms.
