1972 O-Pee-Chee Jim Evenson #50 BC Lions Running Back

Description

1972 O-Pee-Chee Jim Evenson #50 BC Lions Running Back The undisputed star of this sheet is the 1972 O-Pee-Chee Jim Evenson #50 BC Lions Running Back, a perennial All-Star portrait that every serious CFL vintage collector recognizes as the key Lions skill player from the iconic final O-Pee-Chee Canadian football set. As card number 50 of 132 in the landmark 1972 O-Pee-Chee CFL release, this blue-border beauty delivers the classic team-ordered design that grouped BC Lions together and pitted them visually against Argonauts, Stampeders, and Alouettes across the checklist. The front features the bold blue LIONS header, Jim Evenson RB designation, and a stoic posed shot of Big Jim in the Lions dazzling orange home jersey number 28, football cradled in both hands, set against the empty concrete bowl of Empire Stadium that hosted so many of his bruising runs, a photograph that has become synonymous with early seventies BC football. Evenson’s story is pure CFL legend, a six foot three, 225-pound import from the University of Oregon and a former fourth-round draft choice of the Pittsburgh Steelers who chose Canada and became a household name, and his accomplishments leap off the bilingual back. The card notes he is a perennial All-Star and the Lions most consistent running back who has rushed for over 1,000 yards twice in his CFL career, a modest line that undersells his dominance, Evenson actually topped 1,220 yards as a rookie in 1968 finishing just two yards behind the immortal George Reed for the rushing title, followed with 1,287 yards in 1969, earned CFL All-Star honors in 1970 with 1,003 yards and eight touchdowns, and then authored his career high 1,237 yards in 1971 before contributing 961 yards in the very season this card was issued, forming a devastating tandem with Monroe Eley and later Johnny Musso and defining an era when the Lions ground game was feared across the West. After his BC tenure he carried his talents to the Ottawa Rough Riders and even a world-league stint, but his Lions years remain the emotional core for Vancouver collectors, and this card links directly to the stat lines referenced on the Pro Action #122 quiz card in this same lot. Add the broader context that the 1972 O-Pee-Chee CFL set was the last Canadian-exclusive football issue, printed in Canada with rough-cut edges and bilingual English and French backs that Topps never offered, and you understand why the 1972 O-Pee-Chee Jim Evenson #50 BC Lions Running Back commands lasting demand among BC Lions completists, Roughriders crossover fans, and vintage running back collectors. This is a Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back and is not a puzzle back, exhibiting the green Demi-offensif French panel, the BIG JIM cartoon vignette, full English biography, and PRINTED IN CANADA along the border on the classic tan stock. Inspection through the sleeve reveals a better-than-average example with no creases, wrinkles, or surface indentations, corners are lightly softened with only pinpoint whitening most noticeable at the upper left, blue borders remain clean with faint edge roughness from the factory cut but minimal chipping, surface gloss is intact with strong orange jersey saturation and legible text, centering is approximately 55/45 side to side and 60/40 top to bottom on the front with the back centered nicely. A conservative grade estimate of EX 5 is assigned, rewarding the crease-free presentation and attractive centering while accounting for the minor corner touches that keep this star card honestly graded and fairly priced for a raw vintage centerpiece. Grade Estimate: EX 5