The trick to a good collection, is making personal to oneself. Part of the enjoyment of collecting is seeing how others collect, and then searching through that store’s box (or online shop) that they’re looking to sell. There is plenty out there in the modern football market to collect, and if you’re a player collector- there’s more to collect than ever! If you’re a rookie/auto collector you can checkout Contenders or National Treasures – for base? There’s optic and prizm. If you like rainbows, there’s Spectra, Optic, Prizm and more. Aside from Topps, other options – like Panini- offer some nice on-card auto vet sets. The drawback (compared to vintage) is the challenge of buying a box of cards and seeing the miserable return, or trying your best to trade what you’ve just pulled. There are less “super collectors” of teams/players, so unloading cards of those “less collectable” teams is near impossible and box prices have really become expensive post-COVID. But as we all know, stick to buying single (as an investment), and rip “wax” for fun – because the collectability is there just as much as it has always been.
When it comes to the most valuable football rookie cards, National Treasures is at or near the top of the list for modern players. Combining autographs and high-end memorabilia pieces (and a big per-box price tag), the cards have few rivals. 2012 Panini National Treasures Football Rookie Signature Materials are no exception. With one of the strong rookie classes ever, the set was met with a lot of anticipation. It was an early sellout at the factory level. And while the likes of Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson lead the way on the secondary market, even the lesser players are going for high amounts. The rookie signature materials set checklist featured only 35 players, all of which were numbered to 99 or less.
RG3 played eight seasons with the Washington Redskins. He played college football for the Baylor Bears, winning the Heisman Trophy as a senior, and was selected second overall by the Redskins in the 2012 NFL draft. Griffin set league records for the highest rookie passer rating and touchdown–interception ratio, while leading the Redskins to their first division title since 1999, earning him Offensive Rookie of the Year and Pro Bowl honors.
The 2013 National Treasures set included 100 base cards capped by 66 rookie patch autos and 34 notable rookie autographs. Also, among the inked offerings will be Springfield Bound Signatures for future Hall of Famers in today’s game, Notable Nicknames with added inscriptions and Timeline Signatures, which combine autographs and mem with windows over the swatches.
Manti Te’o was a linebacker in the NFL. He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, earning unanimous All-American honors and receiving multiple national awards. He would be selected by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2013 NFL draft and would continue playing in the NFL until 2021.
Showcasing the league's stars with Optichrome technology, 2020 Panini Prizm Football continued the long-running NFL product. Covering current veterans and former greats from each NFL franchise, the 300-card base is joined by 100 rookie cards, which fall two per pack. This red white and blue refractor is a retail parallel, but not particularly a “short prin.” Hurts began his college football career with the Alabama Crimson Tide, leading the team to consecutive College Football Playoff National Championship appearances in 2016 and 2017. After being benched for Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts spent one season as a backup in 2018. He played his final season with the Oklahoma Sooners, leading them to an appearance in the 2019-20 College Football Playoff.
Selected by the Eagles in the second round of the 2020 NFL draft, he became their starter near the end of his rookie season. He had a breakout season in 2022 when he led the Eagles to their conference’s top seed and an appearance in Super Bowl LVII, earning him Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro honors. In total, he has led Philadelphia to the playoffs in all four of his seasons as the primary starter, and received two Pro Bowl selections.
Besides the product’s Base Autographs, cards take on several more specialized themes. These include eras and different combinations of multi-signature cards with two, three and four autographs. The “Heroes 3” autographs checklist includes only 10 cards, and the purple version is numbered to 3 or less. Griese earned All-American honors playing college football with the Purdue Boilermakers, before being drafted in 1967 by the Dolphins of the AFL. Widely-regarded as one of the greatest quarterbacks of the 1970s, Griese led the Dolphins to a then record three consecutive Super Bowl appearances, including two victories Vii and VIII, the first of which capped off Miami’s undefeated and untied 1972 season, the only such season in NFL history. Griese was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1984.
Mercury Morris played for eight years in the AFL, as a rookie in 1969 following the 1970 merger with the NFL. Morris played in three Super Bowls, winning twice, and was selected to three Pro Bowls. He was signed with the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent in ’67, but was traded after two years to the Dolphins – establishing himself as one of the best guards in the NFL. Larry Little was a five-time Pro Bowl selection, and a seven-time All-Pro selection. He was instrumental in the Dolphins winning Super Bowl VII during their perfect season. He was elected to the NFL 1970’s All-Decade Team, a member of the Miami Dolphins Honor Roll, and was elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1993.
Big names from the 2001 Topps Football checklist included Joey Porters, Drew Brees, LaDainian Tomlinson, Michael Vick, Reggie Wayne, Steve Smith Sr and Chad Johnson.
Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson emerged from the football breeding ground of Miami, taking a winding road to the professional level. Once there, he became one of the generation’s best pass-catchers and a master of precise route running. Known for his larger-than-life personality, Johnson brought a level of entertainment to the field that was unrivaled—he would tell defenders how he planned to beat them, then execute with precision. His touchdown celebrations were as legendary as his trash talk, cementing his status as a football icon.
2024 Leaf Sports Heroes is an all-autograph product covering a mix of eras and games. The checklist brings with it some familiar names as well as some who rarely sign for cards or play sports that don’t get a lot of representation in the hobby. Among the legends with autographs in Sports Heroes are Sandy Koufax, Joe Montana, John Elway, Nolan Ryan and Floyd Mayweather among others. Sports Heroes was last seen in 2018, and in addition to chromium, there are acetate cards in Signature Decade and Heroes 2. The “Heroes 2” autographs checklist is a short 11 cards. The crystal parallel includes silver, black, red, pink, platinum blue, orange, purple and white (starting at 39 and finally numbered out of 2). The gold is numbered 1-of-1. The short checklist includes:
H2-1 Bob Lilly / Carl Eller
H2-2 Bobby Bonilla / Doug Drabek
H2-3 Dick Vermeil / Vince Papale
H2-4 Fred Biletnikoff / Davante Adams
H2-5 Giannis Antetokounmpo / Damian Lillard
H2-6 Mike Schmidt / Scott Rolen
H2-7 Paul Krause / Roger Wehrli
H2-8 Ronnie Lott / Troy Polamalu
H2-9 Shaquille O’Neal / Dwight Howard
H2-10 Ted Simmons / Yadier Molina
H2-11 Tyreek Hill / Davante Adams
2024 Leaf Metal Sports Heroes will feature on-card inscriptions from MVP Ronald Acuna, Rickey Henderson, Floyd Mayweather, Brock Purdy, and many more. This highly anticipated product will showcase an amazing spectrum of multi-sport stars, including Shohei Ohtani, Lionel Messi, Conor McGregor, Mookie Betts, Aryna Sabalenka, Carlos Alcaraz, Paul Skenes, Sandy Koufax, Ichiro, and Dan Marino.
Joe Montana has cemented himself as a Bay Area and NFL legend from his Hall of Fame career. The quarterback was originally drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the third round of the 1979 NFL Draft, and went on to win four Super Bowls, was named to eight Pro Bowls and garnered All-Pro honors three times. Throughout his 16 years in the league, Montana threw for 40,551 yards and 273 touchdowns for a 92.3 career passer rating, and remains in the conversation as one of the greatest quarterbacks in league history.
#1-190 serial numbered to 50 and #191-220 serial numbered to 25. #209 and #214 do not exist. The MEM note in this set refers to a piece of event-worn jersey from the 2003 NFL Rookie Premiere Photo Shoot.
Carson Palmer played for the USC Trojans, winning the Heisman Trophy as a senior in 2002. He was selected by the Bengals first overall in the 2003 NFL draft, and played eight seasons with the team. During his tenure in Cincinnati, he helped lead the team to its first winning season and playoff appearance in 15 years and was named to two Pro Bowls.
2023 Panini Flawless Football staked a claim at being the season’s crown jewel of cards. Besides autographs and premium memorabilia cards, the luxury-level checklist continued to offer cards with diamonds and other gems embedded in them. Flawless Football’s staggeringly good autograph checklist helped the product live up to its name in 2023. From the hottest rookies to the biggest current stars to the most decorated champions to the bona fide icons, Flawless delivered on a historic level.
Esiason played 14 seasons, primarily with the Cincinnati Bengals as he was selected in the second round of the 1984 NFL draft. Although he spent 10 non-consecutive seasons with the Bengals, he was most successful in 1988 when he won the NFL’s MVP award. The same year he led the Bengals to an appearance in Super Bowl XXIII, which would end in a close defeat. He was also named to four Pro Bowls and one first-team All-Pro.
2021 Panini Encased Football is a high-end product where the vast majority of cards had autographs or memorabilia. It had the added distinction of one card in each hobby box coming already graded by BGS. The product started with a small but star-heavy 100-card main base set. Each has additional Sapphire (/25), Gold (/10), Emerald (/5) and Diamond (1/1) parallels. Some also have autograph versions that top out at 25 copies each. Rookie Cap Patch Autographs (/50 or less) returned for another year. With the lower print runs for the base version, parallels follow suit: Sapphire (/25 or less), Gold (/10 or less), Emerald (/5 or less) and Diamond (1/1).
Playing college football for the Tennessee Volunteers, Palmer was selected by the Los Angeles Chargers in the third round of the 2021 NFL draft. Though ranked as the #1 Canadian prospect, he was not selected in the subsequent 2021 CFL Draft. He would sign his four-year rookie contract with the Chargers in July of 2021. In that same rookie season, Palmer would have 33 catches for 353 yards, and would score 4 touchdowns in 17 games in 2021.