1970 O-Pee-Chee Jim Furlong #90 Calgary Stampeders CFL Football Card

Description

1970 O-Pee-Chee Jim Furlong #90 Calgary Stampeders CFL Football Card EX 5 Dual duty specialists defined the old Western Conference, and the 1970 O-Pee-Chee Jim Furlong #90 celebrates one of the best of them, a Lethbridge, Alberta native who rushed the passer on defence and handled the punting duties for the Calgary Stampeders, pictured here in the famous red number 70 jersey cradling a football with the floodlights of the stadium rising behind him. The bilingual reverse lays out the résumé plainly, describing the defensive end as a native of Lethbridge who does the punting for the Stamps and an all-star, one of those dependable two way contributors every championship calibre roster of the era required. College football fans will appreciate that Furlong's card lists Tulsa, making him a Golden Hurricane alumnus who carried his American college polish back home to Alberta professional football, where southern Alberta fans filled the stands to watch the Stampeders battle Edmonton, Saskatchewan and Winnipeg through the late sixties and early seventies. There is a wonderful bit of trivia on the green cartoon panel too, which notes in both languages that Jim executes the punting for his club, a nod to the uncommon sight of a defensive end pulling double duty in an era before specialization took over the game entirely. The back is the classic Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, black bordered with English and French text side by side and the PRINTED IN CANADA imprint, and it is a bilingual text back, not a puzzle back, the defining format of the 176 card 1970 O-Pee-Chee CFL set that collectors recognize instantly. Alberta collectors in particular chase the Calgary series of this issue, and the Furlong sits among the most distinctive cards of the run because no other card in the set captures the punting specialist role so directly, giving it lasting appeal for Stampeders team set builders, southern Alberta sports historians and vintage football collectors who love unusual player profiles. the front shows light but even corner touching on all four corners with the bottom right carrying a touch more rounding, a faint nick along the middle of the left border, centering of approximately 55/45, rich glossy color across the red jersey photograph with no creases, wrinkles or stains, and a black bilingual back with modest corner wear, a whisper of edge whitening at the bottom, and fully legible English and French text beside the green cartoon panel.