1970 O-Pee-Chee Jerry Griffin #51 Bilingual Back Edmonton Eskimos CFL EX 5

Description

1970 O-Pee-Chee Jerry Griffin #51 Bilingual Back Edmonton Eskimos CFL EX 5 Linebackers rarely get the glamour panels in vintage football sets, yet this 1970 O-Pee-Chee Jerry Griffin card earns its place in any serious collection thanks to one of the most meaningful trophy callouts in the entire Canadian football catalogue. Photographed in a coiled three-point stance on the practice field of the Edmonton Eskimos, Griffin represents the defensive leadership core of a club that was quietly assembling the pieces of its future greatness, and the 115-card 1970 O-Pee-Chee CFL set preserves that moment with stadium backdrops and the brand's unmistakable bilingual reverse. Griffin arrived in Edmonton with serious credentials: an American import out of Southern Methodist University, he was the recipient of the Jackie Parker Trophy, the award honouring the outstanding rookie in the West and named for the very quarterback whose legacy defined the Eskimos franchise. The reverse cartoon adds a delicious what-if for gridiron historians, noting that Jerry was the eighth draft choice of the Chicago Bears, an NFL crossover footnote that gives this card appeal far beyond CFL specialists. On the field he called the defensive signals and exemplified team leadership at all times, the on-card bio reading like a coach's endorsement. Collectors prize the 1970 O-Pee-Chee issue for its true Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back rather than a puzzle back, pairing English and French text with the green cartoon panel and the PRINTED IN CANADA border imprint, and the Eskimos cards in particular have become increasingly sought after as interest in the team's storied history keeps climbing. this single shows gently blunted corners with only faint touch wear, a hint of edge chipping along the top border, clean glossy surfaces free of creases or wrinkles, and centering that sits close to 55/45 horizontally with balanced margins top to bottom, while the black reverse retains strong contrast with light corner wear only. In a market where aggressively overgraded raw vintage is common, we grade this copy conservatively at EX 5, a sharp and eye-appealing example of a Jackie Parker Trophy winner that would anchor the Eskimos page of a 1970 O-Pee-Chee CFL set build. The Jackie Parker Trophy connection also makes this card a natural crossover pick for trophy-name collectors, while SMU alumni collectors and Chicago Bears draft historians both surface in the bidding whenever clean examples reach the market. That broad appeal, paired with the Eskimos' enduring fan base, has kept demand for the Griffin single remarkably steady across every recent vintage CFL market cycle. Grade Estimate: EX 5