Today’s card of the day is a 1973 Topps card of Bob Kuechenberg. This is Kuechenberg’s rookie card, one of over 200 rookie cards in the 1973 Topps set. Kuechenberg was an offensive lineman (primarily a guard) from 1970 to 1983 with the Miami Dolphins. He made the Pro Bowl six times and was named a First-Team All-Pro in 1978. He was inducted into the Dolphins Honor Roll in 1995.
Kuechenberg has been a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame eight times–every year from 2002 to 2009–but he has not yet been inducted. He is one of about twenty players and coaches on the Gallery’s “Almost Hall of Famers” page. No other player or coach has been nominated that many times without being inducted.
Kuechenberg’s older brother, Rudy Kuechenberg, also played in the NFL: five years at linebacker for four different teams. Rudy appeared on a 1969 Topps football card with the Chicago Bears.
For a lineman, Bob Kuechenberg appeared on a lot of cards. You can see many of them in the Gallery.