Best Green Bay Packers Rookie Cards of All-Time

A list of the best Green Bay Packers rookie cards of all time is long one thanks to the team’s decades-long history as one of the NFL’s first franchises.  Any list is subjective, of course, but you’ll find some of the team’s all-time greats represented.  Many are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame while others are members of the Packers Hall of Fame.

The list is heavy on vintage Packers football cards because they’re obviously harder to find, especially in top condition. It’s also heavy on the 1960s for obvious reasons!

Some of the cards will set you back a few hundred dollars if you’re looking for high quality examples.  Others are still surprisingly inexpensive.  You should be able to find many of those issued in the 1950s and later on eBay.

  • 1935 National Chicle Clark Hinkle:  The National Chicle set was the first attempt at bubble gum cards of pro football players on a large scale.  Hinkle, one of the first great Packers, is one of a few Packers represented in this set.
  • 1948 Bowman Buford Ray:  Buford “Baby” Ray was a husking lineman who played alongside the great Don Hutson. Football cards were few and far between during the 1940s and this card is representative of some of those bygone Packer teams.
  • 1948 Leaf Ted Fritsch:  Fritsch was also a big man—and a local boy too, having played his college ball in the Badger state.  He had a long association with the team as well and also had a football card in 1948.
  • 1948 Bowman Bob Mann:   Mann was the first African-American to play for the Pack, suiting up from 1950-54 after earning the same designation with the Detroit Lions in the late 40s, when his first card was issued.  He was a receiver for the Packers and went on to become a lawyer.
  • 1957 Topps Bart Starr:  The Packers were still in the doldrums when Bart got his first football card.  The ‘57s are prone to scuffing so finding high grade examples is a challenge.
  • 1957 Topps Paul Hornung:  His career was relatively brief, but he got a lot done in that time frame.  Hornung, Starr and Johnny Unitas all have their rookie cards in this set.
  • 1959 Topps Jerry Kramer:  One of the building blocks of the Lombardi dynasty, Jerry is still hoping for a call from the Hall, but he’s firmly planted as one of the team’s all-time greats either way.
  • 1959 Topps Max McGee:  Without Super Bowl I, Max is probably regarded as a pretty fair player and a much respected analyst on radio in his later years.  The Super Bowl catches turned him into a Packer legend.
  • 1959 Topps Jim Taylor:  No, that’s actually Jim Taylor of the Cardinals but someone at the Topps factory missed the fact that he was wearing a red shirt or just put the wrong stats on the back.  Too bad, but it became a great story as Taylor rose to fame as the Packers’ tough-as-nails running back.
  • 1960 Topps Forrest Gregg:  The 1960 Topps set doesn’t get a lot of respect but it is home to the rookie card of one of the Pack’s best linemen of all-time, a Lombardi favorite and the man who would coach the team for several years in the 1980s.
  • 1961 Topps Henry Jordan:  The ’61 Topps set is also home to the Boyd Dowler rookie card.  The Pack’s now-iconic green and gold uniforms are on display in this set for the first time and they look awesome.  Jordan was simply one of the best defensive linemen who ever played the game.
  • 1962 Topps Fuzzy Thurston:   Those black borders made ’62 Topps a difficult set to collect in high grade but they’re really nice when you find them.  The Fuzz is just a young buck in this set, making his way into prominence as the guy helping Taylor and Hornung gain big yards on the power sweep.
  • 1963 Topps Willie Wood.  Ditto on the ’63 set.  Topps loved their colored borders then and the ’63 set is quite nice.  Hall of Famer Willie Wood shines for the first time in this set.
  • 1963 Topps Ray Nitschke: Some great football cards of Ray Nitschke were issued over the years but this one shows him fresh out of Illinois and ready to lead the Packers defense to three straight NFL championships from ’65-67.
  • 1964 Philadelphia Gum Herb Adderley:  Philadelphia made NFL trading cards from 1964-67 and this is where you’ll find all of the great players on those Lombardi teams.
  • 1965 Philadelphia Gum Vince Lombardi:  OK, this is just a special “Packers Play” card with a tiny photo of the coach who drew it up on the front, but since there are no coach cards on any of those old sets, this is considered by some to be Lombardi’s ‘rookie card’.
  • 1967 Philadelphia Dave Robinson: Now a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the Pack’s outstanding linebacker was just out of Penn State, an instant contributor to the Super Bowl teams.
  • 1984 Topps USFL Reggie White:  The Minister of Defense began his career in the upstart USFL and wouldn’t appear on an NFL card until ’86, making this one really unique.  Ten years later, of course, he would be in Green Bay, pushing the Pack toward their first Super Bowl since II.
  • 1991 Topps Stadium Club Brett Favre:  By now, players had multiple rookie cards but this is the one generally considered to be Favre’s best first-year card.  He’s still a member of the Atlanta Falcons.
  • 1995 Aaron Rodgers:  There are more Rodgers rookie cards than you can shake a stick at.  The autographed versions are usually printed in small quantities (anywhere from 1 to 1,000).  The lower the print run, the more you’ll pay.