1972 O-Pee-Chee Ken Sugarman #51 BC Lions Offensive Tackle

Description

1972 O-Pee-Chee Ken Sugarman #51 BC Lions Offensive Tackle Power and longevity define the 1972 O-Pee-Chee Ken Sugarman #51 BC Lions Offensive Tackle, a classic blue-border portrait from the final O-Pee-Chee CFL set that celebrates one of the most durable big men to anchor the Lions offensive line during the late sixties and early seventies. This card is number 51 in the 132-card 1972 O-Pee-Chee CFL checklist, organized by team, and it represents the BC Lions section that also includes teammates Jim Evenson, Monroe Eley, Dave Golinsky, and Trev Ekdahl found elsewhere in this same sheet, allowing collectors to assemble a mini Lions team set in one swoop. The front is instantly recognizable with its sky-blue LIONS header, the player’s name and position Ken Sugarman OT in bold black at the bottom, and a posed studio shot of Sugarman in the Lions vibrant orange home jersey number 68 with white pants, the team’s fierce late-60s branding that still resonates with BC Place faithful. Sugarman was far more than a jersey number, he was a Whitworth College product listed at six foot three and 250 pounds as an import tackle, entering his ninth season with B. C. at the time this card was printed, originally drafted in the seventh round by the Baltimore Colts of the NFL and later honored with a selection to the 1970 CFL All-Star Game, facts proudly detailed on the card’s biography. His career overlapped with the Lions teams that leaned on a punishing ground attack behind Evenson and line play from Sugarman himself, a reminder of an era when offensive linemen were celebrated for grit over glamour and when O-Pee-Chee card backs taught young fans the human stories behind the facemasks with both English and French text. The 1972 O-Pee-Chee Ken Sugarman #51 BC Lions Offensive Tackle benefits from the cultural cachet of being a true Canadian O-Pee-Chee issue, not a Topps reprint, with bilingual backs and the off-white tan stock printed in Canada that advanced collectors prize. For BC Lions historians and vintage CFL completists, this card links directly to the 1971 and 1972 seasons when BC battled Calgary and Saskatchewan for West supremacy and when Sugarman’s veteran presence steadied a line that helped Jim Evenson rush for over twelve hundred yards. This is a Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back and is not a puzzle back, distinguished by its blue sidebar with white LIONS lettering, dual-language biography with Bloqueur offensif on the green panel, green and navy inks, and PRINTED IN CANADA. Under magnification through the protective sleeve the card presents respectably with corners that are lightly softened but not crushed, the most noticeable touch at the upper right, blue borders show minimal chipping with only faint edge whitening along the left, the surface is free of creases, wrinkles, or indentations with strong color saturation and only light factory print granularity, and centering is approximately 55/45 left to right on the front and well centered on the back biography block. The overall eye appeal supports a conservative grade estimate of EX 5, a classic collector-grade vintage card that displays sharper than many surviving 1972 O-Pee-Chee commons yet is priced appropriately for its modest corner wear and the notorious OPC rough cut. If you have been hunting the 1972 O-Pee-Chee Ken Sugarman #51 BC Lions Offensive Tackle to round out your Lions offensive line, this example delivers authentic period charm with solid presentation. Grade Estimate: EX 5