Today’s card of the day is a 1979 Ohio State Greats card of Chris Ward. Ward was one of the 2024 College Football Hall of Fame inductees announced on January 8. He played tackle for the Buckeyes from 1974 to 1977, and he was a first-team All-American in 1976 and 1977. Ward went on to play seven years in the NFL: six for the New York Jets and one for the New Orleans Saints. The Ohio State Athletics web site has a nice summary of Ward’s career.
There are two decks of 1979 “Ohio State Greats” playing cards, one containing players from 1916 to 1965, and the other containing players from 1966 to 1978. The cards could be considered a single set, but Beckett has them listed as separate sets, so that is how I organized them in the Gallery. The words “Ohio State Greats” do not appear anywhere on the cards, so I’m guessing that’s a name that Beckett bestowed on them.
Chris Ward appears on two cards in the second deck, one for each of his All-American seasons, 1976 and 1977. The cards are the same except for the year and the card number.
For more details on these cards, see the 1979 Ohio State Greats 1916-1965 and 1979 Ohio State Greats 1966-1978 pages of the Gallery.
Congratulations, Mr. Ward!
