Happy 85th birthday to Bob Scarpitto! Scarpitto was a wide receiver for eight seasons in the American Football League: one with the San Diego Chargers, six with the Denver Broncos, and one with the Boston Patriots. In his last four years, he was also his team’s punter. Remarkably, in each of those four years, he had the league’s longest punt. He also led the AFL in punting average in 1966 and 1967.
Today’s card of the day is Scarpitto’s rookie card, a 1963 Fleer. Curiously, he is not wearing the number he wore for the Broncos, which was 82. I suspect he is wearing 46, his number with the Chargers, and that Fleer recolored his Chargers jersey Broncos orange.
One thing I like about Scarpitto’s card is the old Broncos logo. According to logohistory.net, the nonchalant bronco rider was the team’s logo in 1960 and 1961, but Fleer still used it on Broncos cards in 1962 and 1963. To my knowledge, the bronco rider didn’t have a nickname, like Cowboy Joe or Pat Patriot or Brownie the Elf. It’s certainly possible the fans or media gave him a nickname I haven’t heard, though. Does anyone know?
Scarpitto also appeared on cards each of the next five years. You can see all of his cards in the Gallery.
