Gary Huff had a decidedly mediocre career in the NFL as a quarterback with the Bears, Buccaneers and 49ers before playing and coaching with the Memphis Showboats of the USFL five years after initially leaving football. But when you are a full-time CPA in the off-season, doing tax work can interfere with beating out Bob Avellini.
But, he did QB the Buccaneers to their first ever franchise win, almost two years after their founding, which when you think about it is pretty impressive. Did Unitas win the first ever Colts game, or Starr win the first Packers game? Gary can watch Baker Mayfield, smile and simply say, “Well, you might have won today, but…”
But back to the cards. Gary spent two years with the Buccaneers. Okay, the first card caught them in a lurch–trades will do that. But they had MORE than enough time to find a in-action or sideline shot for his second card. But instead, they took old pictures of him in his road Bears jersey, pulled out the Tempera paint we used in elementary school and went all Creamsickle on them. TWO years in a row.
A good story would be on just WHO Topps hired to do the paint-by-number jobs on cards. A photographer? An elementary school art teacher? Sy Berger’s nephew in junior high school?
(and the ’77 card survived a basement flood–barely)
Editor’s Note: You can watch Gary Huff and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers first ever win right here!
