1971 O-Pee-Chee Sonny Wade #117 Grey Cup Montreal Alouettes

Description

1971 O-Pee-Chee Sonny Wade #117 Grey Cup Montreal Alouettes This 1971 O-Pee-Chee Sonny Wade #117 Montreal Alouettes card captures the quarterback who ended a twenty one year championship drought in Montreal, and it carries a bonus collector quirk on the front: the name is misspelled SONY, an uncorrected printing error that makes this card a known variation in the set. Wade came out of Emory and Henry College in Virginia as a signing the Alouettes considered a great steal, landing him ahead of the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL, and he showed tremendous potential as a rookie when he finished behind only Russ Jackson in overall passing statistics. In 1970 he led the Alouettes to the Grey Cup, their first title since 1949, and the card back celebrates exactly that with the headline Led the Als to the 1970 Grey Cup, making this issue a direct link to one of the most celebrated championship runs in franchise history. Wade would go on to spend his entire professional career in Montreal, becoming one of the most beloved quarterbacks the club has ever had, and he later returned as a coach to guide the Alouettes to another Grey Cup, cementing his place in both playing and coaching lore of the league. His number 14 is remembered fondly by a generation of Alouettes fans, and he remains one of the most collected quarterbacks from this 132 card O-Pee-Chee set. Wade's rookie campaign saw him finish second only to the great Russ Jackson in overall passing statistics, a remarkable debut that signalled exactly what Montreal had found, and his unbroken commitment to the franchise made him a fan favourite for more than a decade. The SONY misspelling on the front is a known uncorrected error that error collectors actively seek out, adding another layer of demand to an already popular card. the surfaces are clean and free of creases, wrinkles, and surface marks at scan resolution, the red border remains vivid and evenly applied, and the corners and edges show no chipping visible in the scan, with centering that appears well within the normal tolerances for this frequently off centre issue. The reverse is the classic Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back with the biography printed in both English and French and the PRINTED IN CANADA line at the base, and this is not the puzzle back variation. For the Grey Cup collector, the Alouettes faithful, or anyone chasing the SONY misspelling, this 1971 O-Pee-Chee Sonny Wade #117 card is a clean original with a story on both sides. Grade Estimate: EX 5