Happy 80th birthday to Ken Avery! Avery played linebacker for nine seasons in the NFL and AFL: 1967 and 1968 with the New York Giants, 1969 to 1974 with the Cincinnati Bengals, and 1975 with the Kansas City Chiefs. He was a starter on Cincinnati’s playoff teams of 1970 and 1973.
Today’s card of the day is Avery’s 1971 Topps Game card. The card pictures Avery in his New York Giants jersey, though he had not played for the Giants since 1968.
1971 Topps Game cards were inserts in packs of 1971 Topps cards. There are 52 players and a field position marker in the full set of game cards, with each player card having a gain, loss, or turnover printed at the top. Each pack also contained a small poster, and on the back of the poster was a diagram of a field. Players would shuffle the player cards, then flip them over to determine how far to move the marker on the field.
In addition to his 1971 Topps Game card, Avery appeared on a couple of regular issue Topps cards and a 1972 Sunoco Stamp. You can see all of Avery’s cards in the Gallery.
