1972 O-Pee-Chee CFL Dave Braggins #67 Base Set Ottawa Rough Riders CFL

Description

1972 O-Pee-Chee CFL Dave Braggins #67 Base Set Ottawa Rough Riders CFL There is a wonderful slice of seventies football life hidden on the back of this 1972 O-Pee-Chee CFL Dave Braggins #67 Base Set Ottawa Rough Riders CFL card, because it does not simply tell us that he was a proven and versatile professional lineman, it also reveals that he was half owner of a restaurant bordering the Florida State campus. The front shows Braggins in the dark Ottawa jersey with the orange and white striped sleeves that identify the Rough Riders, number 55 filling the frame, all set inside the rich red ROUGH RIDERS border of the Ottawa block. The reverse is the classic Canadian O-Pee-Chee bilingual back, printed in blue and green ink on grey cardboard stock with the text repeated in French and English, so there can be no doubt that this is a Canadian bilingual back and not a puzzle back. The back lists him at six foot two and 245 pounds, describes him as an import out of Florida State, reports that he will do a job on offence or defence and that he is strong and agile, and closes with the Hickory House Restaurant detail that turns a common card into a small piece of social history. Off season businesses were a practical reality for professional football players of that generation, since CFL salaries were modest enough that most players needed winter work or a second income, and the idea of a lineman spending his springs running a restaurant near a college campus says everything about the era. The piece also reflects a fascinating moment for the parent set, because the 1972 O-Pee-Chee CFL release, 132 cards with 13 players per team, 14 Pro Action cards and a checklist numbered 132, followed the look of the 1972 Topps NFL design while keeping bilingual backs that were unique to Canada, and it was the final CFL football set the London, Ontario company ever printed. For a collector chasing Ottawa team sets, cards like this one are the connective tissue of a great roster, the unglamorous offensive line names who made the exciting plays possible and who now carry the most charming stories on their cardboard. the top right corner is slightly soft, there is a tiny nick on the top edge above the letter L in ROUGH, and light speckling appears in the black background of the photograph. Centering is roughly 52/48 left to right with an even top and bottom split, the red border is full and vivid with no fading, and the reverse is clean and centred with a faint rub along the lower right edge and one small dark mark near the bottom line of text. A conservative grade assessment places this card at the EX-MT 6 level. The slightly soft top right corner, the tiny top edge nick and the light background speckling are the only faults worth noting, and with no creases, no writing and a strong reverse, the card sits comfortably at EX-MT 6 and would look excellent in a page. Grade Estimate: EX-MT 6