A Football Card Project - Game 16 - The Finale!

In an attempt to increase the size of my very small football card collection, I'm picking up and featuring one new football card for each of the Patriots' 16 regular season games this year.

Today's post marks the final regular season game for New England, and thus the finale of this particular football card project.  The Dolphins are in town for a 1pm kick-off, and for the second time this year I'll be catching the game in person as I managed to score some tickets for my wife and I.  This will be my first and only trip to Gillette Stadium this season, as the earlier game we caught in person was on the road against the Redskins in Landover, MD.  Looking forward to having some drinks and good food while I take in a game on this relatively mild New England winter day!

Let's take a look at the football card for the project this week...

I thought this 1971 AFC Passing Leaders card from 1972 Topps was a nice way to wind down this project, since it so prominently features quarterback Bob Griese of the Dolphins.  Miami went 10-3-1 in 1971 en route to an AFC Championship, but ultimately lost to Dallas in the Super Bowl.

Here's a look at the top 10 passers in the AFC in '71.  I have to be honest and say the only names I recognize are Griese, Jim Plunkett of the Pats, Terry Bradshaw and Johnny Unitas.

This concludes my 2019 Football Card Project.  As a quick recap, here are the 16 new football cards I ended up with as a result of this initiative...

I had a lot of fun learning more about the game and at least adding a few football cards to my collection, which now stands at just 41 total cards (one of which features guitarist Tom Morello, another of which features an airplane, but they're both technically from football card sets).

I like having some football represented in my collection, but I also like that it's a very elite club and I plan to keep it that way.  I don't see myself doing this series again next year, though it did turn me onto a couple of vintage sets that I enjoy and will keep an eye out for singles from going forward.

To everyone who tuned in to these posts over the course of the NFL season, thank you!  With my Sundays now freed up as far as this blog goes, I'll be returning to Signature Sundays autograph posts for 2020.  I've got some whoppers to show off in the coming year too, so check back on Sundays if you're a fan of autographed cardboard!