They may never measure up to their direct predecessor in terms of a singular, hobby-defining rookie cards but 1977 Topps football cards have plenty to offer in their own right.
Start with the second-year card of that decade-buster — Walter Payton, that is — and then click through the big-name rookies.
Among them, you’ll find Hall of Famers at tight end, wide receiver, the defensive line …
And then you have the requisite franchise quarterbacks …
And the underpinnings of a football dynasty …
And then a surprise or two …
It all adds up to a stellar list of the 12 most valuable 1977 Topps football cards, as culled from the PSA Sports Market Report Price Guide.
Hut! Hut!
1977 Topps Walter Payton (#360)
This second-year Payton card has a lot going on, but then so did the man it features.
After a 1975 rookie campaign that saw him run for 679 yards and score seven touchdowns, Payton turned in his first 1000-yard season while crossing the goal line 13 times in 1976.
He also picked up his first Pro Bowl and All-Pro honors.
No wonder this card is cluttered! And no wonder Sweetness is smiling.
The whole thing will set you back around $80 for a copy in PSA 8 condition.
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1977 Topps Dave Casper Rookie Card (#380)
After a total of nine receptions in 1974 and 1975 combined, Notre Dame product and future Hall of Famer Dave Casper emerged as a rough-and-tumble big-bodied target for quarterback Ken Stabler in 1976.
Ghost’s 691 yards and ten touchdowns on 53 catches helped John Madden’s Oakland Raiders make it all the way to the Super Bowl.
There, the breakout tight end added another four catches and a touchdown as Oakland thumped the Minnesota Vikings.
Casper’s 1977 rookie card captures the glory of that season with all sorts of banners and swirls, and today sells for around $40 in PSA 8.
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1977 Topps Steve Largent Rookie Card (#177)
Largent had a clearer path to playing time than Casper did, even though the Houston Oilers picked him down in the fourth round of the 1976 NFL Draft.
Almost cut in training camp, Largent was instead traded to the expansion Seattle Seahawks.
There, the wide receiver found an immediate home and an aerial partner in QB Jim Zorn.
Largent caught 54 balls for 705 yards that first season, and he never loooked back from there.
When he retired in 1989, Largent held just about ever receiving record there was to have, and he waltzed into Canton in 1995.
This Largent rookie card was one of the first to really catch fire in the 1980s and today still sits around $35 in PSA 8 condition.
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1977 Topps Roger Staubach (#45)
Staubach was far from a rookie in 1977, but he was already a Dallas Cowboys legend.
Having led the team to a title in his first season (1971), the great quarterback would take them back to the promised land in 1977.
This action-packed card that sat right alongside collectors as they watched that championship run is a $25 buy in slabbed NM-MT condition.
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1977 Topps Harry Carson Rookie Card (#146)
Carson came into the national spotlight as his New York Giants started going deep into the playoffs in the 1980s.
By the time the G-Men won the Super Bowl after the 1986 season, Carson was right there alongside Lawrence Taylor, Phil Simms, Ottis Anderson, Joe Morris, Mark Bavaro, and others as media darlings.
Before all that, though, Carson had already crafted a Pro-Bowl-laden career as a linebacker, a path that would eventually lead him to Canton.
Carson’s 1977 Topps rookie card is a $25 item in PSA 8 these days.
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1977 Topps Franco Harris (#300)
Poor Franco Harris and his Pittsburgh Steelers were in the midst of a two-year Super Bowl drought when this 1977 Topps card made its way to collectors.
They’d return to glory in 1978, but Harris had to fill the breach by continuing his streak of 1000 yard seasons, which would ultimately stretch from 1974 through 1979.
No surprise that Franco ended up with a bust in Canton or that this mid-career issue is a $25 card in PSA 8 condition today.
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