This is the 1958 Topps card of Gary Knafelc, modeling God for the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
Well, he should have been.
Knafelc was such a good-looking guy, he also acted—but used a different name in Hollywood: “Gary Kincaid”. He was one of those “Leslie Nielsen before he got funny” types that would fit in well in the background of “Ben Hur” bathhouse scenes. (If he became an actor, perhaps he’s doing, “Alas, poor Yorick…” right there in old City Stadium.)
He was far better as Lombardi’s first tight end, though. He was, however, a Chicago Cardinal first. After a strong career at Colorado, Knafelc was injured in the College All-Star Game. He played one game for Chicago, who weren’t patient with his injury and released him after one game. It was logic and reasoning like this that proved why there is no Chicago Cardinals franchise today.
Meanwhile, the Packers, who at this time were signing sandlot players, were more than happy to sign Knafelc, who starred at receiver for a team sorely lacking in stars. And in 1955, he had his greatest moment when he caught a touchdown pass to defeat the three-time division champ Detroit Lions, 20-17. With twenty seconds left on the clock, Packer fans swarmed the field, surrounded Knafelc in the endzone and carried him back to the Green Bay bench. Tom Fears himself said, “He makes the big catch like the easy one.”
But in 1959, Knafelc was moved to tight end full time, as he was to be the key blocker in Lombardi’s Sweep. “I learned to block by fear,” Knafelc said. “I feared (Lombardi) more than anybody I faced.” The result was three trips to the NFL championship game and two NFL titles, and mythic cards poses that made his HOF teammates jealous. Then, he was the public address announcer at Lambeau Field for forty years, never having to risk mis-pronouncing his own name.
OH—for the record, his last name was pronounced “Kuh-naffel”. You are welcome.
