1955 Bowman Football Cards

Bowman's largest football set was also the final set the company printed before being bought out by Topps. There were 160 cards in all, which provided a fairly nice mix of stars and lesser-known players on each of the twelve teams then in the NFL. They also provided what may have been the widest divergence from the company's baseball set from earlier in the year.

Fronts are given a stark appearance, with a player shown in front of a solid-colored background. A white aura runs around his figure. The background color is dependent on the team (all the Steelers have blue backgrounds, all the Bears have orange backgrounds, and so on). The team name usually appears at the top of the card unless the player's picture forces it to be relocated. A black box includes the player's name and position, and a team logo appears somewhere on the card. Most cards are vertical, but a select few are given a horizontal format. For the first time since 1951, the backs are also oriented vertically. The player's name, team and position are inside a red area at the top, with the card number inside a football-shaped icon. Vital statistics and a short write-up appear below that, and the bottom has statics from 1954 and sometimes a diagram of a play, if it fit.

The set appears to have been divided into five 32-card printing sheets, with cards 65-160 being slightly scarcer than the rest. Rookies featured in the set include future broadcaster Pat Summerall, as well as John Henry Johnson, Jim Ringo, Mike McCormack, Alan Ameche, Bob St. Clair and Len Ford.

Key 1955 Bowman Football Cards:

• Tom Landry #152
• Frank Gifford #7
• Bobby Layne #71
• George Blanda #62
• Pat Summerall RC #52

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