1971 O-Pee-Chee Bob Howes #33 BC Lions CFL Football Card

Description

1971 O-Pee-Chee Bob Howes #33 BC Lions CFL Football Card The centre is the quiet engine of an offensive line, and Bob Howes was the anchor of the BC Lions line for a good stretch of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Wearing number 44 in this 1971 O-Pee-Chee CFL portrait, he is photographed in a crouched, ready stance on the practice field, a composition that gives the card an almost action photo quality. For collectors of the position player cards that so often get overlooked, a Lions centre from this era is a rewarding find. This card comes from O-Pee-Chee's 132 card CFL set for the 1971 season, in which each of the nine league teams received its own numbered block of fourteen or fifteen cards. The Lions' block sits in the 30s, and the design pairs a bold red border with a white framed colour photograph. The reverse is the classic Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, with the English and French versions of Howes' biography printed side by side beneath the O-Pee-Chee trademark and the printed in Canada line. As with the rest of the issue, there is no puzzle back; the bilingual layout is the Canadian O-Pee-Chee signature that sets this set apart from its American contemporaries. The card back places Howes in his fourth full season with the Lions and notes that Calgary originally drafted him in 1966. Listed at 6 foot 4 and 230 pounds, he came up through Queens University in Kingston, a program with a long tradition of producing Canadian linemen for the league. The cartoon panel on the back carries a small boast that Howes finished as runner up to Ted Urness in the centring battle, a friendly rivalry that speaks to how competitive the league was at the position at the time. Centres of Howes' size and experience were the foundation of the run heavy CFL offence of the era, and his steady play for the Lions made him a dependable fixture at the heart of the line. the photos show gentle rounding across all four corners, most noticeable at the lower left, light scuffing along the right edge of the red border, and minor edge wear along the bottom, without chipping, repair, or writing on either side. The full length photograph sits with a slightly elevated composition, but the card's overall centering remains within acceptable limits, roughly 50/50 with the bottom margin a touch wider. The colours of the uniform and the grass backdrop are well preserved. Considering the corner rounding and the light edge scuffs, I estimate a conservative VG-EX 4 raw grade, with the card sitting near the top of that band. Buyers searching for the 1971 O-Pee-Chee Bob Howes #33 BC Lions CFL Football Card get a genuine example of the position player cards that complete Lions blocks of this set. Grade Estimate: VG-EX 4