1971 O-Pee-Chee Gene Gaines #111 Montreal Alouettes

Description

1971 O-Pee-Chee Gene Gaines #111 Montreal Alouettes A Hall of Fame defensive backfield general whose career bridged offense and defense, this 1971 O-Pee-Chee Gene Gaines #111 Montreal Alouettes card captures a CFL legend who later became a respected coach. Gene Gaines came to the Alouettes in 1962 as a running back and was traded to Ottawa where he was converted to defensive back and became an instant all star, winning the Jeff Russell Trophy and earning All Canadian honors, an incredible transformation story detailed on the back which also notes in French Echange a Ottawa il y devint un arriere defensif etoile and that cartoon headline Gene Is A Player Coach For The Als and Gene Est Joueur Instructeur Pour Montreal. Listed as Non Import 5 feet 11 and 180 pounds Defensive Back and Canadien 5 feet 11 and 180 pounds Arriere and also as player coach, Gaines brought veteran savvy and leadership to Montreal's secondary during the early 1970s while mentoring younger players. The image shows Gaines in his green Montreal jersey number 20 with intense focus, a portrait that resonates with fans who remember his ball hawking style and open field tackling. The 1971 O-Pee-Chee set remains the flagship CFL set for collectors, with its bright red borders similar to 1971 Topps but with truly Canadian content, bilingual backs that present English and French biographies side by side, and the beloved pink cartoon panels with translations. Gene Gaines is a CFL Hall of Fame inductee and a key piece for any defensive back or Montreal Alouettes Hall of Fame collection. this copy presents with good overall eye appeal, corners are slightly soft with the top left showing a faint white touch and bottom right lightly rounded, red border retains excellent saturation with only minor edge wear at the very bottom, centering is about 60 to 40 left to right and 55 to 45 top to bottom, surface shows no creases or wrinkles under the sleeve, back is the typical OPC tan stock with crisp black text and expected light aging without foxing. This is a Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back with full dual language story and caricature bubble and O-Pee-Chee Printed In Canada line, not a puzzle back. Conservative raw grade reflects corner softness and slight off centering but remains attractive for a Hall of Famer. Grade Estimate: EX 5