1970 O-Pee-Chee CFL Jay Roberts #43 Bilingual Back Ottawa Rough Riders VG 3

Description

1970 O-Pee-Chee CFL Jay Roberts #43 Bilingual Back Ottawa Rough Riders VG 3 The Hawk earned his nickname with hands that never seemed to drop anything, and this second copy of his 1970 card gives budget minded collectors a shot at the same image and the same history for a fraction of the price of a clean example. The 1970 O-Pee-Chee CFL Jay Roberts #43 Bilingual Back Ottawa Rough Riders VG 3 shown in the photographs is a crease free but clearly handled single from the 115 card Canadian set that has become the standard reference issue for late sixties CFL football. Roberts joined Ottawa in 1964 out of the University of Kansas, where he was one of the last three sport lettermen in school history, and he grew into the prototype of the modern Canadian tight end, a big target at six foot five who could block on the edge and still stretch a defence down the seam. He caught 32 passes for 566 yards during the 1968 championship season, scored three touchdowns in 1969 as Ottawa won a second straight Grey Cup, and was on pace for a career year in 1970 with 16 receptions in only five games before injury ended his run. He later worked in Ottawa for the federal government, and his story, including his post career health struggles and his standing as a First Nations trailblazer in Canadian football, has been told and retold by capital region writers since his passing in 2010. The reverse of this card is a Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, printed in English and French with white type on black stock, the green cartoon panel referencing the Hawk nickname, and the Printed in Canada credit. It is not a puzzle back. the front has no creases or wrinkles but does show soft rounding at the lower left corner and light fuzz at the remaining three, several small chips and feathered spots along the left border, faint surface abrasion in the dark jersey area and a couple of white specks near the bottom border, with centering close to 45/55 top to bottom, while the black reverse displays noticeable corner chipping at the upper right and lower left, diagonal scuff lines through the biography text and whitening along the right edge, with no writing, tape or staining anywhere. The conservative grade estimate of VG 3 is driven by the combination of corner rounding and reverse chipping rather than by any single major flaw, which makes this an appealing option for a collector who wants the card to look right in a binder page without paying the premium that crisp copies now command. Grade Estimate: VG 3