In 1984, Chris was the Bengals leading receiver by a wide margin. He had 64 receptions and 989 receiving yards. Those number finished in the top 20 in receiving in the NFL. Ordinarily, a player with those statistics would have warrented a card in the 396 card Topps set at that time. However, Chris did not receive a football card in the 1985 Topps set.
In 1984, Chris signed with the USFL for the 1985 (spring) season. However, Chris failed his physical and his contract was terminated with the Tampa Bay Bandits, before the season. He never played a game with them. The 1985 Topps football set was not release until early August of 1985, about 5-6 months after Chris's contract was terminated. Chris then went back to the Bengals. However, Topps was not as flexible in producing cards at this time. Topps must not have included him when they formulated their checklist for players for the 1985 set and when he went back to the Bengals, Topps probably did not have the flexibility to add him to the 1985 set. Ironically, Chris did not appear in the 1985 Topps USFL set. Thus, one of the best receivers in football did not get a card in 1985.
*As a side note, Chris did receive a card in the 1989 Pro Set update set even though he did not play any football after 1988.
Not the same, but I always found it odd when a player would appear on the Team Leaders card, but not get a card of his own. Such was the case in 1978 with Ron Rydalch of the Bears.
ReplyDeleteFor players such as Rydalch, it was the only time they appeared on a Topps card. You gave me a great idea for another post.
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