1972 O-Pee-Chee CFL Joe Critchlow #116 Base Set Winnipeg Blue Bombers CFL

Description

1972 O-Pee-Chee CFL Joe Critchlow #116 Base Set Winnipeg Blue Bombers CFL Interior linemen rarely receive the spotlight, yet the back of this 1972 O-Pee-Chee CFL Joe Critchlow #116 Base Set Winnipeg Blue Bombers CFL card insists he was rated one of the best defensive tackles in the entire Canadian Football League, and that is precisely the kind of claim that makes vintage CFL collecting so much fun. The front shows Critchlow in the purple Winnipeg jersey with gold and white shoulder striping, arms folded and number 53 centred in the frame, surrounded by the vivid yellow border and the black BLUE BOMBERS band that defines the Winnipeg block of this set. The reverse is the classic Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, printed in blue and green ink on grey cardboard stock with the biography in both French and English, marking it clearly as a Canadian bilingual back rather than a puzzle back. That text lists him at six foot one and 245 pounds, notes that he came to Canada as an import from Southeast Missouri State, praises his unusual speed and aggression for a man of his size, and records that he was an All Star in his senior year while earning All Conference honours in each of his three seasons with the Indians, a nickname the university retired when it adopted the Redhawks name in 2005. Critchlow belonged to the wave of American linemen who crossed the border in the early seventies and discovered that the Canadian game rewarded quickness and endurance in ways the American game did not, because the wider field and the unlimited motion of the CFL placed a premium on tackles who could chase plays from sideline to sideline. Winnipeg in 1972 was a team with genuine momentum, having watched Don Jonas claim the 1971 CFL Most Outstanding Player award after passing for 4,036 yards and 27 touchdowns, and the Bombers needed interior defenders who could hold up against Western Division running games that featured some of the most physical backs in the country. The 1972 O-Pee-Chee set of 132 cards, with 13 players per team, 14 Pro Action cards and a checklist at 132, was the last CFL football issue the London, Ontario company ever produced, which gives every survivor of that run a special place in Canadian collecting history. centering is nudged slightly left of centre with a marginally wider right border, the purple jersey carries light surface marks and a small print fleck above the number 5, and the bottom left corner is lightly soft while the top two corners remain crisp. There are no creases, no wrinkles and no colour touch ups anywhere on the front, and the reverse is clean and evenly centred with light cream toning in the stock that is normal for the year. A conservative grade assessment places this card at the EX 5 level. The slightly off centre image and the softened bottom left corner, combined with the light surface marks on the jersey, place it below the EX-MT tier, while the absence of creasing, the glossy original surface and the clean reverse keep it comfortably clear of VG-EX territory. Grade Estimate: EX 5