1965 Topps Football Set Guide: Key Cards, Rookies, and Checklist

Set Description

The 1965 Topps football set is one of the most unique and classic sets of all time. It is certainly the crown jewel of 1960s Topps sets. The inclusion of the legendary Joe Namath rookie cards helps elevates this set in terms of popularity. The jumbo size of the cards also stands out; they are commonly referred to as "Tall Boys". Each card measures over 4.5 inches tall. The design of the front features a brightly colored background with a large image of the player. The team name is placed along the top border and the player's name and position are listed near the bottom border. The backs are divided in two sections. One part consists of the player's biography, while the other features a cartoon and interesting fact about the player. The Joe Namath rookie card is definitely the most valuable and sought after card in the set, but many other Hall of Famers were included, such as Willie Brown (rookie), Fred Biletnikoff (rookie), George Blanda, Don Maynard, Len Dawson, and Lance Alworth. Players on each team were grouped together numerically, with the order being determined alphabetically (example : card #'s 1-22 are all Boston Patriots, while #'s 154-175 are all San Diego Chargers). The majority of the set (132) are short prints and carry premiums vs other commons. Finding these cards in high grade is difficult, as the large size made them tough to store and damaged corners and edges are common. Centering issues also plague the set.

Set Information

Manufacturer: Topps

Year: 1965

Cards in Set: 176

Card Size: 2-1/2" by 4-11/16"

Series

Series 1: 1-176

Notes

132 cards in the set are short-printed, while 44 were double printed. It is unknown why this is and how the cards were laid out on the printing sheet
Players on each team were grouped together numerically, with the order being determined alphabetically

Key Rookie Cards

Willie Brown (#46)
Joe Namath (#122)
Fred Biletnikoff (#133)

Errors and Variations

No significant errors/variations

Key Cards/Hall of Famers

Jack Kemp (#35)
George Blanda (#69)
Checklist 1 (#87)
Len Dawson (#99)
Don Maynard (#121)
Lance Alworth (#155)
Checklist 2 (#176)

Subsets

None

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1965 Topps Football Checklist

1 Tommy Addison SP
2 Houston Antwine SP
3 Nick Buoniconti SP
4 Ron Burton SP
5 Gino Cappelletti SP
6 Jim Colclough
7 Bob Dee SP
8 Larry Eisenhauer
9 J.D. Garrett
10 Larry Garron
11 Art Graham SP
12 Ron Hall
13 Charles Long
14 Jon Morris RC
15 Bill Neighbors SP
16 Ross O'Hanley
17 Babe Parilli SP
18 Tony Romeo SP
19 Jack Rudolph SP
20 Bob Schmidt
21 Don Webb SP
22 Jim Whalen SP
23 Stew Barber
24 Glenn Bass SP
25 Al Bemiller SP
26 Wray Carlton SP
27 Tom Day
28 Elbert Dubenion SP
29 Jim Dunaway
30 Pete Gogolak RC SP
31 Dick Hudson SP
32 Harry Jacobs SP
33 Billy Joe SP
34 Tom Keating RC SP
35 Jack Kemp SP
36 Daryle Lamonica SP
37 Paul Maguire SP
38 Ron McDole RC SP
39 George Saimes SP
40 Tom Sestak SP
41 Billy Shaw SP
42 Mike Stratton SP
43 John Tracey SP
44 Ernie Warlick
45 Odell Barry
46 Willie Brown RC SP
47 Gerry Bussell SP
48 Eldon Danenhauer SP
49 Al Denson SP
50 Hewritt Dixon RC SP
51 Cookie Gilchrist SP
52 Goose Gonsoulin SP
53 Abner Haynes SP
54 Jerry Hopkins
55 Ray Jacobs SP
56 Jack Lee SP
57 John McCormick
58 Bob McCullough SP
59 John McGeever
60 Charlie Mitchell SP
61 Jim Perkins SP
62 Bob Scarpitto SP
63 Mickey Slaughter SP
64 Jerry Sturm SP
65 Lionel Taylor SP
66 Scott Appleton SP
67 Johnny Baker SP
68 Sonny Bishop SP
69 George Blanda SP
70 Sid Blanks SP
71 Ode Burrell SP
72 Doug Cline SP
73 Willard Dewveall
74 Larry Elkins RC
75 Don Floyd SP
76 Freddy Glick
77 Tom Goode SP
78 Charlie Hennigan SP
79 Ed Husmann
80 Bobby Jancik SP
81 Bud McFadin SP
82 Bob McLeod SP
83 Jim Norton SP
84 Walt Suggs
85 Bob Talamini
86 Charley Tolar SP
87 Checklist 1-88 SP
88 Don Trull SP

89 Fred Arbanas SP
90 Pete Beathard RC SP
91 Bobby Bell SP
92 Mel Branch SP
93 Tommy Brooker SP
94 Buck Buchanan SP
95 Ed Budde SP
96 Chris Burford SP
97 Walt Corey
98 Jerry Cornelison
99 Len Dawson SP
100 Jon Gilliam SP
101 Sherrill Headrick SP UER
102 Dave Hill SP
103 E.J. Holub SP
104 Bobby Hunt SP
105 Frank Jackson SP
106 Jerry Mays
107 Curtis McClinton SP
108 Bobby Ply SP
109 Johnny Robinson SP
110 Jim Tyrer SP
111 Bill Baird SP
112 Ralph Baker RC SP
113 Sam DeLuca SP
114 Larry Grantham SP
115 Gene Heeter SP
116 Winston Hill RC SP
117 John Huarte RC SP
118 Cosmo Iacavazzi SP
119 Curley Johnson SP
120 Dee Mackey UER
121 Don Maynard
122 Joe Namath RC SP
123 Dainard Paulson
124 Gerry Philbin SP
125 Sherman Plunkett RC SP
126 Mark Smolinski
127 Matt Snell SP
128 Mike Taliaferro SP
129 Bake Turner SP
130 Clyde Washington SP
131 Verlon Biggs RC SP
132 Dalva Allen
133 Fred Biletnikoff RC SP
134 Billy Cannon SP
135 Dave Costa SP
136 Clem Daniels SP
137 Ben Davidson RC SP
138 Cotton Davidson SP
139 Tom Flores SP
140 Claude Gibson
141 Wayne Hawkins
142 Archie Matsos SP
143 Mike Mercer SP
144 Bob Mischak SP
145 Jim Otto
146 Art Powell UER
147 Warren Powers SP
148 Ken Rice SP
149 Bo Roberson SP
150 Harry Schuh RC
151 Larry Todd SP
152 Fred Williamson SP
153 J.R. Williamson
154 Chuck Allen
155 Lance Alworth
156 Frank Buncom
157 Steve DeLong RC SP
158 Earl Faison SP
159 Kenny Graham SP
160 George Gross SP
161 John Hadl SP
162 Emil Karas SP
163 Dave Kocourek SP
164 Ernie Ladd SP
165 Keith Lincoln SP
166 Paul Lowe SP
167 Jacque MacKinnon
168 Ron Mix
169 Don Norton SP
170 Bob Petrich
171 Rick Redman SP
172 Pat Shea
173 Walt Sweeney RC SP
174 Dick Westmoreland RC
175 Ernie Wright SP
176 Checklist 89-176 SP