SOLD 1970 O-Pee-Chee Peter Francis #63 Rookie Card Winnipeg Blue Bombers CFL EX 5

Description

1970 O-Pee-Chee Peter Francis #63 Rookie Card Winnipeg Blue Bombers CFL EX 5 Canadian content was the heartbeat of the CFL, and this 1970 O-Pee-Chee Peter Francis #63 rookie card celebrates a homegrown two way talent chosen by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the 1968 college draft, shown here in the number 29 jersey crouched and ready beneath the goalposts of old Winnipeg Stadium. The 1970 O-Pee-Chee CFL set, just 115 cards strong, borrowed its design from the 1969 Topps NFL issue and was printed in Canada, and the reverse is the classic Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, written in both English and French with white and green ink on black stock, and it is not a puzzle back. Francis's bilingual biography stamps him as a NON-IMPORT, the era's term for a Canadian player, a designation that mattered enormously under CFL roster rules designed to protect and promote domestic talent, and it lists him at 6 feet and 180 pounds out of the University of Saskatchewan while noting his dual role as flanker and defensive halfback. The green cartoon panel delivers the headline in both languages, Peter choisie au repêchage de 1968, Peter was selected in the 1968 draft, and the accompanying text confirms the Bombers used a college draft choice on the Saskatchewan product. Because he was not part of the small and scarce 1968 O-Pee-Chee test issue and no CFL sets were printed at all in 1969, set builders treat this 1970 O-Pee-Chee Peter Francis #63 rookie card as the true starting point of his cardboard record, which gives it extra weight in Bombers team sets and Canadian football collections alike. He arrived as part of a wave of young Canadians, joining compatriots like Chuck Harrison and Doug Strong on a roster trying to restore the respectability the franchise enjoyed during its Grey Cup dynasty of 1958, 1959, 1961 and 1962, and his ability to contribute on both sides of the ball, catching passes as a flanker while also patrolling the defensive backfield, made him exactly the kind of flexible national player CFL coaches of the era treasured. this copy shows gently touched corner tips with only minimal whitening, clean edges with no meaningful chipping, a glossy and unmarked photo surface with strong color, and centering that sits well within normal tolerances for the issue, while the black bilingual reverse remains deep, bold and clean with sharp white lettering. There are no creases, wrinkles or stains visible on either side under close inspection, which is genuinely uncommon for this fragile early 1970s stock. Anyone hunting the 1970 O-Pee-Chee Peter Francis #63 rookie card for a Bombers set build or a Canadian content collection will find this example a clean, honest representative of a scarce regional issue. Grade Estimate: EX 5