1970 O-Pee-Chee Jerry Keeling #86 Calgary Stampeders CFL Football Card EX 5

Description

1970 O-Pee-Chee Jerry Keeling #86 Calgary Stampeders CFL Football Card EX 5 Canadian born quarterbacks rarely owned the spotlight in the CFL of the sixties and seventies, which makes the 1970 O-Pee-Chee Jerry Keeling #86 one of the true marquee cards of the entire 176 card set, showing the Stampeders star in the iconic red number 10 jersey with a football tucked in his hands and the stadium lights behind him. The bilingual reverse explains the momentous circumstances of the 1970 season, noting that Keeling took over after Peter Liske's departure and was far more than a capable defensive back besides, a genuine two way weapon listed at quarterback, defensive halfback, six foot one and 190 pounds out of Tulsa. The green cartoon panel preserves one of the most amazing records in Canadian football history, celebrating the pass Jerry lobbed for a 109 yard touchdown against Winnipeg in 1966, a jaw dropping gain that remains one of the longest scoring strikes ever recorded in the league and a story Calgary fans passed down through generations. Keeling would go on to quarterback the Stampeders to the 1971 Grey Cup championship the very next season, defeating Toronto in a defensive classic, which means this card captures him at the absolute threshold of his greatest triumph, and today he is remembered among the finest Canadian quarterbacks ever to play the game. The back is the classic Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, black bordered with the English and French biography side by side and the PRINTED IN CANADA imprint, and it is a bilingual text back, not a puzzle back, a distinction that matters to anyone cataloguing the 1970 O-Pee-Chee CFL issue. Star player cards anchor every vintage set, and the Keeling is the key Calgary card for this issue, chased by Grey Cup historians, Canadian quarterback enthusiasts and Stampeders team set builders alike. the front presents lightly touched top corners with sharper bottom corners, clean edges, centering of approximately 55/45, a bright glossy photograph with deep red color saturation and no creases, wrinkles or surface blemishes, and a black bilingual back showing only minimal handling with crisp, fully legible English and French text and the green cartoon panel intact. Graded conservatively at EX 5 because while this copy's clean surfaces and strong eye appeal flirt with a higher grade, the light top corner touches and the era's typical print qualities argue for restraint, making this an honestly graded 1970 O-Pee-Chee Jerry Keeling #86 from a pivotal season in Stampeder history. Grade Estimate: EX 5