There was a time when rookie football cards were an afterthought for most collectors — heck, even during the hobby boom of the 1980s, you could pick up Walter Payton rookie cards all day long for just a few bucks a pop.
Those days are long gone, though, for better or worse.
Sweetness himself was responsible for a large part of that gridiron awakening, as his run past Jim Brown as the all-time leading rusher in 1984 really captured the hobby’s imagination. And then, when Payton’s Chicago Bears dominated the NFL in 1985 on their way to a Super Bowl Shuffle, the temperature of football cards started to heat up.
Through the 1990s and into the very early 2000s, football cards — along with basketball cards — made steady inroads into the collector market.
And then, when when Tom Brady burst onto the scene and led the New England Patriots to a Super Bowl victory after the 2001 season, he joined Indianapolis Colts superstar Peyton Manning in a sort of hobby tit-for-tat that was football’s version of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.
The decades since have only solidified Brady’s place in the game, and the status of football cards (rookie cards in particular) as high-scoring, hobby-pleasing collectibles that can stand cleat-to-cleat with any other sport in the land … even if it remains a bit seasonal compared to baseball (especially vintage baseball).
And, if you ever need proof of that gridiron fire, just check out the list below of the 25 most-watched rookie football cards on eBay RIGHT NOW. Check back often, too, as this list is continually updated.
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