Today’s card of the day is a 1959 Bell Brand Rams card of Buddy Humphrey. Humphrey was a backup quarterback from 1959 to 1966 in the NFL and AFL. He saw playing time with the Los Angeles Rams, Dallas Cowboys, St. Louis Cardinals, and Houston Oilers. He got most of his action in 1965, when he started three games for the Cardinals.
Humphrey’s legal name was Loyie Nawlin Humphrey. He and Larry Hickman, who played for the Chicago Cardinals, Green Bay Packers, and three CFL teams, were teammates at Kilgore High School, in Kilgore, Texas. (See the Gallery’s High School Teammates page.) Humphrey went on to star at Baylor University, and he was inducted into the Baylor Sports Hall of Fame in 2006.
Humphrey’s card is one of 40 in the 1959 Bell Brand Rams set. The 1959 and 1960 Bell Brand sets are among my favorites: They have a simple, clean design, and a highly glossy finish. Unfortunately, the glossy finish scratches easily, and the cards are often off-center, so assembling a high grade set is challenging.
