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"Devonta Cornellius Freeman (/dəˈvɒnteɪ/ de-VON-tay;[1] born March 15, 1992) is an American football running back who is a free agent. He played college football at Florida State and was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL Draft....
High school career
Freeman attended Miami Central High School in West Little River, Florida.[2] He helped lead the Rockets football team to the 2010 Class 6A state championship and was named the MVP after gaining 308 yards on 38 carries, falling just 20 yards shy of a state championship game record.[3] As a senior, he ran for a Miami-Dade County leading 2,208 yards and 26 touchdowns, and also recorded 663 rushing yards and six touchdowns in the final two games of the state playoffs.[4]
Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was rated the best running back in the nation. He committed to Florida State on June 24, 2010.[5]
College career
Freeman attended and played college football for Florida State from 2011–2013.[6]
2011 season
As a freshman at Florida State, Freeman immediately became a major contributor to the Seminoles' running game. In his collegiate debut against Louisiana-Monroe, he had 24 rushing yards and his first collegiate rushing touchdown.[7] On October 15, against Duke, he had 109 rushing yards and a touchdown.[8] In the next game against Maryland, he had 100 rushing yards and a touchdown.[9] In the next game, against North Carolina State, he was limited to only 17 rushing yards but had his third straight game with a rushing touchdown.[10] The next game, against Boston College, he had 62 rushing yards and two more rushing touchdowns.[11] In the in-state rivalry game against the Florida Gators, he had 44 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.[12] He recorded 120 carries for 579 rushing yards and eight touchdowns.[13]
2012 season
In the second game of his sophomore season, he had 69 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown against Savannah State.[14] On October 20, he had 70 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns against the Miami Hurricanes.[15] In the next game against Duke, he had 104 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.[16] After a forgettable performance against Virginia Tech in which he had −5 rushing yards on seven carries, he had 148 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns against Maryland.[17][18] Florida State finished with a 10–2 regular season record and qualified for the conference championship game.[19] In the ACC Championship against Georgia Tech, he had 59 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the 21–15 victory.[20] As a sophomore in 2012, he had 111 carries for 660 yards and eight touchdowns.[21]
2013 season
In the second game of the season, against Nevada, Freeman had 109 rushing yards and a touchdown.[22] In the next game against Bethune-Cookman, he had 112 rushing yards and a touchdown.[23] On October 5, against Maryland, he started a streak of ten straight games with a rushing touchdown.[24] On October 26, against North Carolina State, he had 92 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.[25] In the next game, against Miami, he had 78 rushing yards and two more rushing touchdowns to go along with 98 receiving yards and receiving touchdown.[26] On November 23, against Idaho, he had 129 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown.[27] As a junior, Freeman was a first-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) selection and helped the Florida State Seminoles win the 2014 BCS National Championship Game over Auburn by a score of 34–31.[28] He rushed for over 1,000 yards, the first Seminole to do so since Warrick Dunn in 1996.[29] Freeman finished the season with career highs in rushing yards (1,016), receiving yards (278), and touchdowns (15) despite splitting carries with James Wilder, Jr. and Karlos Williams in Florida State's backfield.[30] He led the Seminoles in rushing in each of his three seasons in Tallahassee.[31]
On January 11, 2014, Freeman announced he would forgo his senior season and enter the 2014 NFL Draft.[32]
College statistics
Devonta Freeman Rushing Receiving
Season Team Att Yds Avg Lng TD Rec Yds TD
2011 Florida State 120 579 4.8 41 8 15 111 0
2012 Florida State 111 660 5.9 47 8 10 86 0
2013 Florida State 173 1,016 5.9 60 14 22 278 1
Career 404 2,255 5.6 60 30 47 475 1
Professional career
Freeman was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the 4th round (103rd overall) of the 2014 NFL Draft.[33] He was the eighth running back selected in the draft.
Pre-draft measurables Height Weight Arm length Hand span 40-yard dash 10-yard split 20-yard shuttle Three-cone drill Vertical jump Broad jump
5 ft 8+1⁄4 in
(1.73 m) 206 lb
(93 kg) 29+3⁄8 in
(0.75 m) 9+5⁄8 in
(0.24 m) 4.58 s 1.59 s 4.26 s 7.11 s 31.5 in
(0.80 m) 9 ft 10 in
(3.00 m)
All values from NFL Combine.[34]
Atlanta Falcons
2014 season
In his rookie season in 2014, Freeman shared touches with fellow running backs Steven Jackson, Jacquizz Rodgers, and Antone Smith. In his NFL debut, against the New Orleans Saints in Week 1 at the Georgia Dome, Freeman had two rushes for 15 yards and two receptions for 18 yards in the 37–34 overtime victory.[35] Against the Detroit Lions in Week 8, he scored his first career touchdown, a seven-yard reception from Matt Ryan in the first quarter.[36] Against the New Orleans Saints in Week 16, he scored his first career rushing touchdown, a 31-yard rush in the third quarter.[37] He appeared in all 16 games during his rookie season but started none. In his rookie season, he accumulated 248 rushing yards on 65 carries, 225 receiving yards on 30 receptions, one rushing touchdown, and two receiving touchdowns.[38]
2015 season
After recording just 18 rushing yards against the Philadelphia Eagles in the season opener and 25 rushing yards against the New York Giants, Freeman received his first career start on September 27, 2015 against the Dallas Cowboys. Against the Cowboys, Freeman had a breakout performance by rushing for a then career-high 141 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries.[39] The next week, he rushed for three touchdowns again to go along with 68 rushing yards against the Houston Texans.[40] In the following game against the Washington Redskins, he rushed for a career-high 153 yards to start a three-game streak of 100 yard performances from Weeks 4–7.[41] In Week 11 against the Indianapolis Colts, Freeman recorded 43 yards off three carries before leaving in the first half with a concussion.[42] By the end of the season, Freeman totaled 1,634 yards-from-scrimmage (5th in the NFL), 14 all-purpose touchdowns (1st) with 1,056 rushing yards (7th)[43] and 11 rushing touchdowns (1st).[44] He also finished the 2015 season ranked third among NFL running backs in both receptions (73) and receiving yards (578) along with three receiving touchdowns.[45] Following the season, Freeman was selected to the Pro Bowl, the first of his career, and was named a Second-team All-Pro. Freeman was named one of the captains, along with Geno Atkins of the Cincinnati Bengals, for Team Irvin in the 2016 Pro Bowl.[46] He was ranked as the 50th best player in the NFL and the fifth best running back by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2016.[47]
2016 season
Devonta Freeman training camp 2016
Freeman entered the 2016 season looking to advance on his successful season the year before. Freeman and Tevin Coleman would provide the Falcons with a solid running back combination in 2016. In Week 3, against the New Orleans Saints, he had 14 carries for 155 yards and five receptions for 55 yards and a touchdown.[48] The next week, against the Carolina Panthers, he scored his first rushing touchdown of the season in the 48–33 win.[49] In Week 12, against the Arizona Cardinals, he churned out 60 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries in the 38–19 victory.[50] In the next game, a 29–28 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, he had another two-touchdown performance on 15 carries for 56 yards.[51] In Week 15, Freeman ran for 139 yards on 20 carries for three touchdowns in a 41–13 win over the San Francisco 49ers, and was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week.[52] Freeman was named to his second consecutive Pro Bowl as an original selection behind Ezekiel Elliott and David Johnson, and played a huge role in the Falcons finishing with an 11–5 record and earning the #2 seed in the NFC. In the Divisional Round 36–20 victory over the Seattle Seahawks, Freeman had 14 carries for 45 yards and scored his first career postseason touchdown and also recorded four catches for 80 yards. In the NFC Championship 44–21 victory over the Green Bay Packers, Freeman recorded 14 carries for 42 yards and four receptions for 42 yards and scored his first career postseason receiving touchdown.[53] In Super Bowl LI, where the Falcons lost 34–28 in overtime to the New England Patriots, Freeman would have 11 carries for 75 yards, two receptions for 46 yards, and scored the first points for either team on a rushing touchdown in the second quarter.[54][55] Freeman was ranked as the 41st best player in the NFL and the sixth best running back by his fellow players on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2017.[56]
2017 season
On August 9, 2017, Freeman signed a five-year, $41.25 million contract extension with the Falcons to become the highest paid running back in the NFL.[57] In Week 1, against the Chicago Bears, he was limited to 37 rushing yards on 12 carries but had a touchdown in the 23–17 victory.[58] In Week 2, in the 34–23 victory over the Green Bay Packers, he had 84 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the first game in the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium.[59] Freeman's first touchdown was the first ever touchdown in the history of the new stadium. In Week 3, against the Detroit Lions, he recorded 106 rushing yards and a touchdown.[60] Though splitting carries with Tevin Coleman, he scored five rushing touchdowns in the first four games to lead the NFL.[61] In Week 4, against the Buffalo Bills, he had 58 rushing yards and a touchdown for his fourth straight game with at least one in 2017.[62] Over the next six games, Freeman did not record a touchdown. That streak ended in Week 14 against the New Orleans Saints. In the 20–17 victory, he had 24 carries for 91 yards and a touchdown.[63] In the next game, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he had 22 carries for 126 yards and a touchdown in the 24–21 victory.[64] In the regular season finale against the Carolina Panthers, he had 23 rushing yards, 85 receiving yards, and a receiving touchdown in the 22–10 victory.[65] The Atlanta Falcons finished with a 10–6 record and made the playoffs.[66] Overall, Freeman finished with 865 rushing yards, seven rushing touchdowns, 36 receptions, 317 receiving yards, and one receiving touchdown in the 2017 season.[67] In the Wild Card Round, against the Los Angeles Rams, he had 66 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown in the 26–13 victory.[68] In the Divisional Round, he had a receiving touchdown in the 15–10 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.[69] The touchdown marked Freeman's fifth consecutive postseason game with a touchdown.[70] He was ranked 70th by his peers on the NFL Top 100 Players of 2018.[71]
2018 season
In Week 1, Freeman suffered a knee injury and missed the next three games.[72] He returned in Week 5 before injuring his foot and experienced soreness in his groin. He missed the following week and was later revealed that Freeman required groin surgery. He was placed on injured reserve on October 16, 2018.[73][74]
2019 season
In Week 6 against the Arizona Cardinals, Freeman rushed 19 times for 88 rushing yards and caught three passes for 30 receiving yards and two receiving touchdowns in the 33–34 loss.[75] During Week 7 against the Los Angeles Rams, Freeman threw a punch at Aaron Donald, and was ejected. Without Freeman, the Falcons lost 37–10.[76] In the 2019 season, Freeman finished with 656 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns to go along with 59 receptions for 410 receiving yards and four receiving touchdowns.[77] The Falcons released Freeman on March 16, 2020.[78][79]
New York Giants
Freeman in 2020
On September 23, 2020, Freeman signed a one-year, $3 million contract with the New York Giants.[80][81] In Week 5, against the Dallas Cowboys, he recorded his first rushing touchdown as a Giant in the 34–37 loss.[82] On November 13, 2020, he was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury.[83] He was placed on the reserve the team on December 5, 2020,[84] and moved back to injured reserve on December 17.[85] He was designated to return from injured reserve the next day, and began practicing with the team again.[86] He did not return before the end of the regular season, and the Giants waived Freeman on January 7, 2021.[87] He appeared in five games and totaled 54 carries for 172 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown to go along with seven receptions for 58 receiving yards.[88]
Buffalo Bills
On January 12, 2021, Freeman was signed to the Buffalo Bills' practice squad.[89] His practice squad contract with the team expired after the season on February 1, 2021.[90]
New Orleans Saints
Freeman signed with the New Orleans Saints on August 1, 2021.[91] He was released on August 31, 2021.[92]
Baltimore Ravens
On September 9, 2021, the Baltimore Ravens signed Freeman on their practice squad following injuries to J. K. Dobbins, Justice Hill, and Gus Edwards.[93][94] On September 16, 2021, the Ravens signed Freeman to their active roster following the release of Trenton Cannon.[95]
NFL career statistics
Legend
Regular season statistics Year Team Games Rushing Receiving Fumbles
GP GS Att Yds Avg Lng TD Rec Yds Avg Lng TD Fum Lost
2014 ATL 16 0 65 248 3.8 31T 1 30 225 7.5 36 1 1 1
2015 ATL 15 13 265 1,056 4.0 39 11 73 578 7.9 44 3 3 2
2016 ATL 16 16 227 1,079 4.8 75T 11 54 462 8.6 35 2 1 1
2017 ATL 14 14 196 865 4.4 44 7 36 317 8.8 29 1 4 1
2018 ATL 2 2 14 68 4.9 20 0 5 23 4.6 14 0 0 0
2019 ATL 14 14 184 656 3.6 28 2 59 410 6.9 28 4 3 2
2020 NYG 5 4 54 172 3.2 14 1 7 58 8.3 18 0 0 0
2021 BAL 16 8 133 576 4.3 32 5 34 190 5.6 15 1 0 0
Career 98 71 1,138 4,720 4.1 75T 38 298 2,263 7.6 44 12 12 7
Postseason statistics Year Team Games Rushing Receiving Fumbles
GP GS Att Yds Avg Lng TD Rec Yds Avg Lng TD Fum Lost
2016 ATL 3 3 39 162 4.2 37 2 10 168 16.8 53 1 0 0
2017 ATL 2 2 28 73 2.6 22 1 6 29 4.8 13 1 0 0
Career 5 5 67 235 3.5 37 3 16 197 12.3 53 2 0 0
Personal life
Freeman's jersey number with the Falcons was 24 in honor of an aunt who died at the age of 24 from a heart attack while Freeman was a teenager" (wikipedia.org)
"The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Falcons joined the NFL in 1965[5] as an expansion team, after the NFL offered then-owner Rankin Smith a franchise to keep him from joining the rival American Football League (AFL).
In their 55 years of existence, the Falcons have compiled a record of 379–487–6 (369–473–6 in the regular season and 10–14 in the playoffs), winning division championships in 1980, 1998, 2004, 2010, 2012, and 2016. The Falcons have appeared in two Super Bowls, the first during the 1998 season in Super Bowl XXXIII, where they lost to the Denver Broncos 34–19,[6] and the second 18 years later, a 34–28 overtime loss to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI.
The Falcons' current home field is Mercedes-Benz Stadium, which opened for the 2017 season; the team's headquarters and practice facilities are located at a 50-acre (20 ha) site in Flowery Branch,[7] northeast of Atlanta in Hall County. ...
Franchise history
Further information: History of the Atlanta Falcons
Professional football comes to Atlanta
Professional football first came to Atlanta in 1962, when the American Football League (AFL) staged two preseason contests, with one featuring the Denver Broncos vs. the Houston Oilers and the second pitting the Dallas Texans against the Oakland Raiders. Two years later, the AFL held another exhibition, this time with the New York Jets taking on the San Diego Chargers.
In 1965, after the Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium (then known simply as Atlanta Stadium) was built, the city of Atlanta felt the time was right to start pursuing professional football.[8] One independent group which had been active in NFL exhibition promotions in Atlanta applied for franchises in both the AFL and NFL, acting entirely on its own with no guarantee of stadium rights. Another group reported it had deposited earnest money for a team in the AFL.[9]
With everyone running in different directions, some local businessmen (Cox Broadcasting) worked out a deal and were awarded an AFL franchise on June 8, contingent upon acquiring exclusive stadium rights from city officials.[10][11] NFL Commissioner Pete Rozelle, who had been moving slowly in Atlanta matters, was spurred by the AFL interest and headed on the next plane down to Atlanta to block the rival league's claim on the city of Atlanta.[5][8][11] He forced the city to make a choice between the two leagues; by June 30, the city picked Rankin Smith and the NFL.[8][12]
The AFL's original expansion plans in June 1965 were for two new teams in 1966,[13][14] in Atlanta and Philadelphia.[15] It later evolved into the Miami Dolphins in 1966 and the Cincinnati Bengals in 1968. The NFL had planned to add two teams in 1967; the competition with the AFL for Atlanta forced the first to be added a year early in 1966. The odd number of teams (15) resulted in one idle team (bye) each week, with each team playing 14 games over 15 weeks (similar to 1960: 12 games over 13 weeks). The second expansion team, the New Orleans Saints, joined the NFL as planned in 1967 as its 16th franchise.
The Atlanta Falcons franchise began on June 30, 1965, when Rozelle granted ownership to 40-year-old Rankin Smith Sr., an Executive Vice President of Life Insurance Company of Georgia. He paid $8.5 million, the highest price in NFL history at the time for a franchise.[5] Rozelle and Smith made the deal in about five minutes and the Atlanta Falcons brought the largest and most popular sport to the city of Atlanta. The Atlanta expansion team became the 15th NFL franchise, and they were awarded the first overall pick in the 1966 NFL Draft as well as the final pick in each of the first five rounds.[16] They selected consensus All-American linebacker Tommy Nobis from the University of Texas, making him the first-ever Falcon. The league also held the expansion draft six weeks later in which Atlanta selected unprotected players from the 14 existing franchises. Although the Falcons selected many good players in those drafts, they still were not able to win right away.[5]
The Atlanta team received its nickname on August 29, 1965. Miss Julia Elliott, a school teacher from Griffin, was singled out from many people who suggested "Falcons" as the nickname for the new franchise. She wrote: "the Falcon is proud and dignified, with great courage and fight. It never drops its prey. It is deadly and has a great sporting tradition."[17][18]
1966–1977: Early struggles
The Falcons' inaugural season was in 1966, and their first preseason game was on August 1, a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Under head coach Norb Hecker, Atlanta lost their first nine regular-season games in 1966; their first victory came on the road against the struggling New York Giants on November 20 in Yankee Stadium. Two weeks later, Atlanta won at Minnesota, and beat St. Louis in Atlanta the next week for their first home win. The team finished the 1960s with 12 wins in four seasons.
The Falcons had their first Monday Night Football game in Atlanta during the 1970 season, a 20–7 loss to the Miami Dolphins. The only two winning seasons in their first 12 years were 1971 (7–6–1) and 1973 (9–5).
1978–1989
The Falcons' defense taking on Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway during a 1985 game.
In the 1978 season, the Falcons qualified for the playoffs for the first time and won the Wild Card game against the Eagles 14–13. The following week, they lost to the Dallas Cowboys 27–20 in the Divisional Playoffs.
In the 1980 season, after a nine-game winning streak, the Falcons posted a franchise then-best record of 12–4 and captured their first NFC West division title. The next week, their dream season ended at home with a loss to the Cowboys 30–27 in the divisional playoffs. In the strike-shortened 1982 season, the Falcons made the playoffs but lost to the Minnesota Vikings, 30–24. Falcons coach Leeman Bennett was fired after the loss. The team then had losing seasons for the next eight years.
1989–1996
In the 1989 NFL Draft, the Falcons selected cornerback Deion Sanders in the first round, who helped them for the next four years, setting many records for the franchise. "Neon Deion" (a.k.a. "Prime Time") had a flashy appeal and helped bring media attention to one of the league's most anonymous franchises. Sanders was also famous for playing on major league baseball teams (New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves) while simultaneously playing in the NFL.
The Falcons playing against the Los Angeles Rams during a 1991 away game.
After defeating the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Wild Card game, the Falcons' 1991 season ended in a divisional playoff loss to the Washington Redskins. In the 1991 NFL Draft, the Falcons selected quarterback Brett Favre as the 33rd overall pick. During his rookie season, he played in two games where he amassed a record of four passing attempts with no receptions and two interceptions. The following February, Favre was traded to the Green Bay Packers.
In 1992, the Atlanta Falcons opened a new chapter in their history moving into the newly constructed Georgia Dome, where the team has defeated all 31 other NFL teams at least once during its time there.
1997–2000: The Dan Reeves era
In 1998, under recently acquired head coach Dan Reeves, quarterback Chris Chandler and running back Jamal Anderson the "Dirty Bird" Falcons had their greatest season to date. On November 8, they beat the New England Patriots 41–10, ending a streak of 22 losses at cold-weather sites. The team finished with a franchise-best 14–2 regular-season record and the NFC West division championship. On January 17, 1999, the Falcons upset the top-seeded Vikings at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in the NFC Championship Game 30–27, in an exciting overtime victory. However, in their first-ever Super Bowl appearance, they lost 34–19 to the defending champion Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXIII.
In the second game of the Falcons 1999 season, running back Jamal Anderson, who had been a key player in the Falcons' 1998 success, suffered a season-ending knee injury. The Falcons finished the season with a very disappointing 5–11 regular-season record.[5] In 2000, the Falcons suffered through another horrendous season finishing 4–12 and once again missing the playoffs.
2001–2006
In the 2001 NFL draft, the Falcons orchestrated a trade with the San Diego Chargers, acquiring the first overall pick (which was used on quarterback Michael Vick) in exchange for wide receiver-return specialist Tim Dwight and the fifth overall pick (used on running back LaDainian Tomlinson).
The Falcons finished the 2001 season with a record of 7–9 and missed the playoffs. Jessie Tuggle retired following 14 seasons in Atlanta. On December 6, 2001, Arthur M. Blank reached a preliminary agreement with the Falcons' Taylor Smith to purchase the team. In a special meeting prior to Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans on February 2, 2002, NFL owners voted unanimously to approve the purchase.[19]
The 2002 season saw the Falcons return to the playoffs with a regular-season record of 9–6–1, tying the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was Vick's first year as the starter, and the team, with newly acquired running back Warrick Dunn, delivered the Green Bay Packers their first home playoff loss ever. A 20–6 loss to the Donovan McNabb-led Philadelphia Eagles the following week, however, ended the Falcons' season.
On March 19, 2003, the Falcons presented their new logo.[20][5] During the 2003 preseason Vick broke his leg and missed the first 12 games of the season. After losing 7 straight games, the decision was made to release head coach Dan Reeves. Wade Phillips acted as interim coach for the final 3 games. Although the Falcons won 3 of their last 4 games after the return of Vick, they ended up with a 5–11 record that year. In 2004, a new head coach, Jim L. Mora, was hired and Vick returned for the full season. The Falcons went 11–5, winning their third division title and earning a first-round bye into the playoffs. In the divisional playoffs, the Falcons defeated the St. Louis Rams, 47–17, in the Georgia Dome, advancing to the NFC Championship Game, which they lost to the Eagles, 27–10.
The Falcons again fell short of achieving back-to-back winning seasons in 2005, going 8–8. In 2006, Michael Vick became the first quarterback in league history to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season, with 1,039. After finishing the season 7–9, however, coach Jim Mora was dismissed and Bobby Petrino, the University of Louisville's football coach, replaced him. Before the 2007 season began, Vick was suspended indefinitely by the NFL after pleading guilty to charges involving dog fighting in the state of Virginia. On December 10, 2007, Vick received a 23-month prison sentence and was officially cut from the Atlanta roster.
2007
Main article: 2007 Atlanta Falcons season
For the 2007 season, the Falcons were forced to start Joey Harrington at quarterback. On December 11, 13 games into his first NFL season as head coach, Bobby Petrino resigned without notice to coach at the University of Arkansas, leaving the beleaguered players only a note in the locker room. Secondary Coach Emmitt Thomas was named interim coach for the final three games of the season on December 12. The Falcons ended the year with a dismal 4–12 record.
2008–2014: The Mike Smith era
Mike Smith
After the tumultuous and disappointing 2007 season, the Falcons made a number of moves, hiring a new General Manager and head coach, drafting a new starting quarterback, and signing a starting running back.
On January 13, 2008, the Falcons named former Patriots director of college football scouting Thomas Dimitroff General Manager.[21] On January 23, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coach and former linebackers coach for the 2000 Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens Mike Smith was named the Falcons' new head coach.[22] Chargers back-up running back Michael Turner agreed to a 6-year, $30 million deal on March 2.[23] On April 26, Matt Ryan (quarterback from Boston College) was drafted third overall in the 2008 NFL draft by the Falcons.[24]
2008
Main article: 2008 Atlanta Falcons season
The Falcons finished the 2008 regular season with a record of 11–5, and the #5 seed in the playoffs.[25] On December 21, 2008, Atlanta beat the Minnesota Vikings 24–17 to clinch a wild card spot, earning a trip to the playoffs for the first time since 2004. The Falcons would go on to lose in the wild-card round of the 2008 NFL playoffs to the eventual NFC champion Arizona Cardinals, 30–24.
Matt Ryan started all 16 games in his rookie season and was named the Associated Press Offensive Rookie of the Year.[26] First-year head coach Mike Smith was named 2008 NFL Coach of the Year.
2009
Main article: 2009 Atlanta Falcons season
Although they failed to make the playoffs in 2009 the team rallied to win their final three regular-season games to record back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in franchise history. The Falcons defeated the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20–10 in the final game of the season to improve their record to 9–7.[6]
2010
Main article: 2010 Atlanta Falcons season
In 2010, with a regular-season record of 13–3, the Falcons secured a third straight winning season, their fourth overall divisional title, and the top overall seed in the NFC playoffs; however, the Falcons were overpowered by the eventual Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay Packers in the NFC Divisional Playoffs 48–21. The Falcons scored 414 points – the fifth-most in franchise history.[6] The team sent an NFL-high and franchise-best nine players to the 2011 Pro Bowl.[27]
2011
Main article: 2011 Atlanta Falcons season
The Falcons made a surprise trade up with the Cleveland Browns in the 2011 NFL draft to select Alabama wide receiver Julio Jones sixth overall. In exchange, the Falcons gave up their first-, second- and fourth-round draft picks in 2011, and their first and fourth draft picks in 2012. Jones, along with teammates Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White, have since been dubbed Atlanta's "Big Three" (based on their total number of reception yards).[28] On August 30, 2011, Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King, who correctly predicted the 2011 Super Bowl, made his predictions for the 2011 season and picked the Falcons to defeat the San Diego Chargers in the 2012 Super Bowl.[29] The Falcons finished the season at 10–6, securing the fifth seed after a Week 17 beatdown of Tampa Bay in which the Falcons pulled their starters after leading 42–0 just 23 minutes into the game.
The Falcons then went on to play the New York Giants in a 2011 NFC Wild Card Game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The first half was a defensive struggle, with the first points coming off of a safety by the Falcons, giving Atlanta a 2–0 lead. In the second quarter, though, Eli Manning connected with Hakeem Nicks for a short touchdown pass to make it 7–2 Giants heading into the second half. Then the Giants took control, as Manning threw for two more touchdown passes to Mario Manningham and Nicks and the defense completed its shutout of the Falcons to give the New York Giants the win, 24–2, and the Falcons their third straight playoff loss with Matt Ryan and Mike Smith.[30] After the season, defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder accepted a coaching job at Auburn University, and the offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey took the head coaching job in Jacksonville.
2012
Main article: 2012 Atlanta Falcons season
Atlanta exploded out of the gate, going a franchise-best 8–0 and remaining the last unbeaten team in the NFL that year. Their hopes to get an undefeated season came to an end with a 27–31 loss to the division rival Saints. Julio Jones had a remarkable second year, grabbing 10 touchdowns and 1,198 yards. The Falcons finished the season 13–3, and clinched the number one seed in the NFC playoffs.
The Falcons played the Seattle Seahawks in their first playoff game. Although they went down 28–27 with only 31 seconds left on the clock, Matt Ryan led the team to their first playoff victory, 30–28. It was the only playoff victory in the Mike Smith era.
The Atlanta Falcons then advanced to face the San Francisco 49ers. The Falcons seized control of the game early with a Matt Bryant field goal, a trio of Matt Ryan touchdown passes caught by Julio Jones and Tony Gonzalez coupled with outstanding defensive play. By the end of the half, the score was 24–14. The tides of the game began to shift in the second half as the 49ers rallied back with a pair of Frank Gore touchdown runs. Atlanta's offense attempted to reply but were ultimately shut down by the 49er defense. A few series later, late in the 4th quarter with little time remaining, Atlanta found themselves in a 4th and 4 situation at the 10-yard line. The Falcons needed just 10 more yards to secure victory and advance to their first Super Bowl berth in 14 years. Matt Ryan fired a pass to Roddy White which was ultimately broken up by inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman, resulting in a 28–24 defeat.
2013
Main article: 2013 Atlanta Falcons season
Following the success of the previous season, the Falcons were an expected Super Bowl contender. However, injuries hampered the team's performance and the team finished the season 4–12. With that, the streak of consecutive winning seasons came to an end and Mike Smith had his first losing season as a head coach. Tony Gonzalez, in his final season in the NFL, was selected to the 2014 Pro Bowl as a starter representing Team Rice. Following the conclusion of the 2012 season, director of player personnel Les Snead departed the team to join the St. Louis Rams and Dave Caldwell, assistant to general manager Thomas Dimitroff, left the team to join the Jacksonville Jaguars. Scott Pioli, former GM of the Kansas City Chiefs, was announced as the Falcons' new assistant GM. Mike Smith was given a one-year extension on his contract as head coach. The Falcons had the 6th overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft with which they selected Jake Matthews, who played as offensive tackle for Texas A&M.
2014
Main article: 2014 Atlanta Falcons season
Despite having another rough season, the Falcons still had an opportunity to qualify for the playoffs at the end of the regular season. The Falcons hosted the Carolina Panthers in their regular season finale, with the winners clinching the NFC South division. Unfortunately, the Falcons lost in a 34–3 blowout as Matt Ryan threw two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns and got sacked six times. The Falcons finished the season 6–10, marking the second consecutive losing season for the team.[31] The following day, Mike Smith was fired after seven seasons as head coach.[32] The Falcons would soon hire Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn as the team's 16th head coach.[33] The Falcons had the 8th overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft with which they selected Vic Beasley, a defensive end from Clemson University.[34]
2015–2020: The Dan Quinn era
2015
Main article: 2015 Atlanta Falcons season
Dan Quinn
In February 2015, the team was investigated by the NFL for alleged use of artificial crowd noise in the Georgia Dome.[35] The Falcons lost a 2016 NFL Draft selection as a result of the league's investigation.[36]
Dan Quinn's first season saw a 5–0 start, the team's best start in four years. They would then struggle throughout the rest of the season by losing 8 of their last 11 games, resulting in an 8–8 record. They did, however, give the Panthers their only regular-season loss. The Falcons used their first-round pick in the 2016 NFL Draft on safety Keanu Neal from the University of Florida.
2016
Main article: 2016 Atlanta Falcons season
In the Falcons' 25th and final season in the Georgia Dome, Atlanta lost their week 1 game to the Buccaneers 24–31. The Falcons would then win their next four including one over the Panthers, when the franchise set new records: Matt Ryan threw for 503 yards, and Julio Jones caught 12 passes for 300 yards. Beating the San Francisco 49ers 41–13 in Week 15, the Falcons improved to 9–5 and secured their first winning season since 2012. One week later, the Falcons defeated the Panthers in Charlotte, North Carolina, and clinched their first NFC South division title since 2012. In their last regular-season game at the Georgia Dome, the Falcons defeated the New Orleans Saints, and secured an 11–5 record and a first-round bye.
In the divisional round of the playoffs, Atlanta defeated the Seahawks 36–20 in the Georgia Dome, and hosted their last game at the Dome against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship Game on January 22, 2017. The Falcons defeated the Packers 44–21 to advance to Super Bowl LI as the NFC champions. Atlanta was up 28–3 late in the third quarter, and the New England Patriots scored 31 unanswered points, with the last 6 in the first-ever overtime in the Super Bowl. The Patriots' 25-point comeback was the largest in Super Bowl history.[37]
In 2016, the Falcons scored 540 points in the regular season, the seventh-most in NFL history, tied with the Greatest Show on Turf (the 2000 St. Louis Rams).[38] However, the Falcons defense gave up 406 points, 27th in the league.[39]
2017
Main article: 2017 Atlanta Falcons season
The Falcons moved into their new home, the Mercedes-Benz Stadium, this season. Their first game ever played at the new stadium was a preseason loss to the Arizona Cardinals. The first regular-season game at the new stadium was a rematch of the 2016–17 NFC Championship, with Atlanta defeating Green Bay 34–23. Their first loss of the season was a 23–17 home defeat to the Buffalo Bills in week 4.[40] The team returned to the playoffs with a 10–6 record (albeit with a third-place finish in the NFC South). The Falcons defeated the Los Angeles Rams 26–13 in the Wild Card round, but their 2017 season came to an end a week later in the Divisional Playoff round at the hands of the eventual Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles 15–10.
2020
In their first game with new uniforms, the Falcons lost to the Seattle Seahawks at home 38–25. The Falcons then suffered comebacks made by both the Cowboys on the road (39–40) and then back in Atlanta against the Bears (26–30). On October 11, after the team suffered a 23–16 loss at home against the Carolina Panthers and fell to 0–5, the Falcons announced the firings of Quinn and Dimitroff.[41] Defensive coordinator Raheem Morris took over for the rest of the season, leading the team to a 4–12 record. Morris was not retained after the season, and soon joined the Los Angeles Rams as their defensive coordinator.
2021–present: The Arthur Smith era
2021
On January 15, 2021, the Falcons announced that Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith had been named the 18th head coach in franchise history.[42] Four days later, New Orleans Saints executive Terry Fontenot was named the Falcons' new general manager.[43] Tight end Kyle Pitts was selected with the 4th pick of the 2021 draft, and longtime star receiver Julio Jones was traded to the Titans, after publicly requesting a trade from Atlanta.[44][45] The Falcons improved on their record from the prior year, finishing the season with a 7–10 record.
2022
On March 21, 2021, the Falcons traded longtime star quarterback Matt Ryan to the Indianapolis Colts.[46]
Stadiums
Main article: Mercedes-Benz Stadium
The Falcons have called three stadiums home in their 51 years of existence, and its third home in their history opened in the late summer of 2017. The first was the Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, sharing with the Atlanta Braves Major League Baseball team until 1991. In 1992, the Georgia Dome was built, and the Falcons played there from its opening to the 2016 season. The Dome has been frequently used for college football, including Georgia State football and college bowl games such as the Peach Bowl.
In an effort to replace the aging Georgia Dome and potentially host a future Super Bowl, team owner Arthur Blank proposed a deal with the city of Atlanta to build a new state-of-the-art stadium not far from where the Georgia Dome is located. Blank will contribute $800 million and the city of Atlanta will contribute an additional $200 million via bonds backed by the city's hotel/motel tax towards the construction of a retractable roof stadium. Blank will contribute additional money for cost overruns if it is needed. The team will provide up to $50 million towards infrastructure costs that weren't included in the construction budget and to retire the remaining debt on the Georgia Dome. In addition, Blank's foundation and the city will each provide $15 million for development in surrounding neighborhoods. Though the total cost of the stadium was initially estimated to be around $1 billion,[47] the total cost was revised to $1.5 billion according to Blank.[48] In March 2013, the Atlanta City Council voted 11–4 in favor of building the stadium.[49] The retractable roof Mercedes-Benz Stadium broke ground in May 2014, and became the third home stadium for the Falcons and the first for the new Atlanta United FC Major League Soccer club upon opening in 2017.
Logo and uniforms
Falcons uniform: 1971–1989
Falcons uniform: 1997–2002
Falcons uniform: 2016–19, including the throwback edition
The Atlanta Falcons' colors are red, black, silver and white.[50] When the team began play in 1966, the Falcons wore red helmets with a black falcon crest logo. In the center of the helmet was a center black stripe surrounded by two gold stripes and two white stripes. These colors represented the two college rival schools in the state of Georgia; rival schools Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (white and gold) and the Georgia Bulldogs (red and black). Although the gold was removed after several seasons, the white remains to this day. They wore white pants and either black or white jerseys. At first, the falcon crest logo was also put on the jersey sleeves, but it was replaced by a red and white stripe pattern four years later. They switched from black to red jerseys in 1971, and the club began to wear silver pants in 1978. The facemasks on the helmets were initially gray, becoming white in 1978, and then black in 1984; the team wore black face masks until its 2020 redesign.
A prototype white helmet was developed for the team prior to the 1974 season, but was never worn.
In 1990, the uniform design changed to black helmets, silver pants, and either black or white jerseys. The numbers on the white jerseys were black, but were changed to red in 1997. (The red numerals could be seen on the away jerseys briefly in 1990.)
Both the logo and uniforms changed in 2003. The logo was redesigned with red and silver accents to depict a more powerful, aggressive falcon, which now more closely resembles the capital letter F.[20][51]
Although the Falcons still wore black helmets, the new uniforms featured jerseys and pants with red trim down the sides. The uniform design consisted of either black or white jerseys, and either black or white pants. During that same year, a red alternate jersey with black trim was also introduced. The Falcons also started wearing black cleats with these uniforms.[52]
In 2004, the red jerseys became the primary jerseys, and the black ones became the alternate, both worn with white pants. In select road games, the Falcons wear black pants with white jerseys. The Falcons wore an all-black combination for home games against their archrivals, the New Orleans Saints, winning the first two contests (24–21 in 2004 and 36–17 in 2005), but losing 31–13 in 2006. The Falcons wore the all-black combination against the New Orleans Saints for four straight seasons starting in 2004, With the last time being in 2007, losing 34–14. They wore the combination again in 2006, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2. The Falcons won that game, 14–3. The Falcons also wore their all-black uniform in 2007 against the New York Giants, and in 2008 against the Carolina Panthers and against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (for the second time). After that, the black pants and uniforms were retired and the white pants were now used full-time with the regular uniforms.
In the 1980s, the Falcons wore their white uniforms at home most of the time because of the heat. When the Falcons started playing in a dome, the team switched to their dark uniforms for home games but have worn their white uniforms at home a few times since switching to the dome. It was announced at the 2009 state of the franchise meeting that the Falcons would wear 1966 throwback uniforms for a couple games during the 2009 season. The Atlanta Falcons wore 1966 throwback jerseys for two home games in 2009 – against the Carolina Panthers on September 20 and against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on November 29. The Falcons won both of those games. They donned the throwbacks again for 2 games in 2010, against Baltimore and San Francisco, winning both of those games as well. The throwbacks were used twice in 2011 and 2012; both times were against the Panthers and Saints. However, the throwbacks were retired following a 2013 NFL rule requiring only one helmet shell per team.
The Falcons unveiled an all-red Color Rush uniform on September 13, 2016; however, due to the fact that the Falcons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers had similar all-red Color Rush uniforms, the Falcons were unable to wear their Color Rush uniform until the 2017 season.[53][54]
Also in 2016, the Falcons unveiled a mixed throwback uniform set. The uniform tops, pants and socks closely resembled their 1960s kits. But due to the NFL's one-shell rule that prevented them from resurrecting the red helmets, the Falcons instead wore the black helmets with the original logo decal similar to the design they wore in the 1990s.
It was revealed in January 2020 that the Falcons will change uniforms for the 2020 NFL season.[55] The ensuing design featured the return to black as the primary home uniform color for the first time since 2003. Both the primary home and road uniforms featured the "ATL" abbreviation in red above either white or black numbers with red drop shadows. The white and black tops are usually paired with either white or black pants. The alternate uniform featured a red/black gradient design and also featured the "ATL" abbreviation in white above white numbers with black drop shadows. Black pants are only used with this uniform. All three uniforms feature red side stripes. The current throwback uniform was also retained. In addition, the Falcons switched to matte helmets with the enlarged falcon logo and gray facemasks.[56]
Rivalries
New Orleans Saints
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Main article: Falcons–Saints rivalry
In every season from 1970 to the present, the Falcons have shared a division with the New Orleans Saints (first the NFC West, and now the NFC South). Over this time, a heated rivalry has developed between the two cities' franchises, as they were the only two NFL teams in the Deep South for quite some time. The series is the oldest and most iconic rivalry in the NFC South.[57] Atlanta leads the series 52–48.
Carolina Panthers
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This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (June 2017)
Main article: Falcons–Panthers rivalry
In addition, the Falcons share a similar, yet smaller, rivalry with the Carolina Panthers, with both teams having been in the NFC West from the Panthers' founding in 1995 to the NFL realignment in 2002, where they have been in the NFC South since then. The Falcons lead the series 27–17.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2020)
Finally, the Falcons share a rivalry with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since the NFL realignment in 2002. Before that, Tampa Bay was in the AFC West. After, they were in the NFC Central before the realignment.
Philadelphia Eagles
Main article: Eagles–Falcons rivalry
The Eagles lead the Falcons 21–15–1, with a 3–1 lead in playoff games. The rivalry first emerged after the Falcons upset the Eagles in the 1978 Wild Card Round, and only intensified further thanks to the rivalry between prominent dual-threat quarterbacks Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick. Recently, the Falcons lost to the Eagles in the 2017 divisional round....
Radio and television
The Falcons' flagship radio station is WZGC 92.9 The Game.[66] Wes Durham, son of longtime North Carolina Tar Heels voice Woody Durham, is the Falcons' play-by-play announcer, with former Atlanta Falcons QB and pro football veteran, Dave Archer serving as color commentator.
In 2014, The CW owned-and-operated station WUPA became the official television station of the Falcons, gaining rights to its preseason games, which are produced by CBS Sports.[67]
In the regular season, the team's games are seen on Fox's O&O affiliate WAGA. When the Falcons challenge an AFC team, CBS affiliate WGCL will air those games while Sunday night games are televised on WXIA, the local NBC affiliate." (wikipedia.org)
"Panini is an Italian company headquartered in Modena, Italy, named after the Panini brothers who founded it in 1961.[1] The company produces books, comics, magazines, stickers, trading cards and other items through its collectibles and publishing subsidiaries.[2][3] Panini distributes its own products, and products of third party providers.[4] Panini maintains a Licensing Division to buy and resell licences and provide agency for individuals and newspapers seeking to purchase rights and comic licences.[5] Through Panini Digital the company uses voice-activated software to capture football statistics, which is then sold to agents, teams, media outlets and video game manufactures.[6]
New Media operates Panini's on-line applications, and generates income through content and data sales.[7] Forming a partnership with FIFA in 1970, Panini published its first FIFA World Cup sticker album for the 1970 World Cup.[8][9] Since then, collecting and trading stickers and cards has become part of the World Cup experience, especially for the younger generation.[10] In 2017, a 1970 World Cup Panini sticker album signed by Pelé sold for a record £10,450.[11][12]
Up until 2015, Panini produced stickers and trading cards for the UEFA Champions League. As of 2019, Panini had license rights of football international competitions such as the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Nations League and Copa América, as well as domestic leagues including the Premier League (from the 2019–20 season),[13] Spanish La Liga,[14] Italian Serie A,[15] and Argentine Primera División[16] among others. ...
History
Pelé trading card from the Mexico 70 series, Panini's first FIFA World Cup collection
Benito and Giuseppe Panini were operating a newspaper distribution office in Modena, Italy in 1960, when they found a collection of figurines (stickers attached with glue) that a Milan company was unable to sell. The brothers bought the collection, and sold them in packets of two for ten lire each. They sold three million packets. Having had success with the figurines Giuseppe founded Panini in 1961 to manufacture and sell his own figurines. Benito joined Panini the same year. Panini sold 15 million packets of figurines in 1961.[17][18][19] 29 million units were sold the following year, and brothers Franco and Umberto Panini joined the company in 1963.[17] Umberto Panini died on 29 November 2013 at the age of 83.[20] Panini Group start sponsor Modena Volley 1968–1989. The company became well known in the 1960s for its football collections, which soon became popular with children. Rare stickers (figurine) can reach very high prices on the collectors' market. Some popular games were invented which used stickers as playing cards.
In 1970 Panini began publishing L'Almanacco Illustrato del Calcio Italiano (The Illustrated Guide to Italian Football), after purchasing the rights from publishing house Carcano. Panini also published its first FIFA World Cup trading cards and sticker album for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, in addition to using multilingual captions and selling stickers outside of Italy for the first time.[8] Initiating a craze for collecting and trading stickers, Panini's stickers were an instant hit, with The Guardian stating in the UK “the tradition of swapping duplicate [World Cup] stickers was a playground fixture during the 1970s and 1980s.”[10][21] Another first for Panini, in the early 1970s, was introducing self-adhesive stickers; as opposed to using glue.[17]
Diego Maradona trading card issued by Panini for the 1986 World Cup
In 1986 Panini created a museum of figurines which they donated to the city of Modena in 1992.[22][23] Panini begins assembling each World Cup squad for their sticker album a few months before they are officially announced by each nation, which means surprise call ups often do not feature in their album. A notable example of this was 17-year-old Brazilian striker Ronaldo who was called up for the Brazil squad for the 1994 FIFA World Cup.[24]
In May 2006, Panini partnered with The Coca-Cola Company and Tokenzone to produce the first virtual sticker album for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. The album was viewable in at least 10 different languages, such as Portuguese, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean and Spanish.[25] For the 2014 World Cup, three million FIFA.com users took part in the Panini Digital Sticker Album contest.[26] Panini developed an app for the 2018 World Cup where fans could collect and swap virtual stickers.[27] Five million people gathered digital stickers for the 2018 World Cup.[28]
Sticker trade in Brazil for Panini's 2018 World Cup sticker album
The classic football stickers today are complemented by the collectible card game Adrenalyn XL, introduced in 2009. In 2010 Panini released a UEFA Champions League edition of Adrenalyn XL, containing 350 cards from 22 of the competing clubs, including defending champions FC Barcelona. Beginning in 2015, Topps signed a deal to produce stickers, trading cards and digital collections for the competition.[29] The fourth edition of Panini FIFA 365 Adrenalyn XL was released for 2019, featuring top clubs, teams and players.[30]
In January 2009, Panini acquired an exclusive licence to produce NBA trading cards and stickers effective with the 2009-10 NBA season.[31] On 13 March 2009, Panini acquired the US trading card manufacturer Donruss Playoff LP. With it, Panini inherited Donruss' NFL and NFLPA licences.[32]
Panini at the Comic Con Germany 2018
In March 2010, Panini acquired a licence from the NHL and NHLPA.[33] The 2010-11 ice hockey season was the first in five years that more than one company, with Upper Deck producing their own NHL cards.[34] In July 2010, Panini acquired a licence to create an official sticker collection for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in London 2012.[35]
In 2014, Panini made cards for that year's FIFA World Cup, and did the same for the 2018 edition, albeit with price hikes for packets across the world. Dubbed the “Panini Cheapskates”, in 2018 a UK couple won fans all over the world by filling in their 2018 World Cup sticker album by drawing in each player.[36] Panini (Along With Bandai) were distributors of the 2012 English dub of the 2011 Spanish television series Jelly Jamm.
During the 2018 World Cup, Panini produced an average of 8 and 10 million card packages per day.[37] In 2018, Panini signed a deal with the English Premier League to produce cards under license from the 2019–20 season.[13]
Some of Panini's releases in 2019 include collections of movies Avengers: Endgame[38] and Toy Story 4.[39] and the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup.[40]
Panini America
Superstars Kobe Bryant (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo signed exclusive deals with Panini in 2009 and 2015, respectively
In January 2009, the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced Panini would become the exclusive trading card partner of the league beginning with the 2009–10 season.[41] In March of the same year, The Panini Group purchased assets of the industry's second-oldest trading-card company, Donruss, and formed the new subsidiary, "Panini America". The company continued to operate out of Irving, Texas, with much of the existing upper management.[42]
Panini signed an exclusive agreement with five-time NBA champion Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers as its official company spokesman and global trading card ambassador in 2009. Bryant's special affiliation to Panini goes back to his time growing up in Italy where he collected Italian football stickers.[21][41] In March 2010, the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA) and National Hockey League (NHL) granted the Panini Group a multi-year trading card license, marking the third major sports license that The Panini Group had secured since establishing a presence in the U.S. in 2009.
According to the Panini Group, the 2010 FIFA World Cup sticker album sold 10 million packs in the U.S. alone.[21] In 2016, Panini America paid Cristiano Ronaldo $170,000 for signing 1,000 Panini stickers, while Neymar received $50,000 for signing 600.[43]
This subsidiary holds official licenses for NBA, NFL, WWE, FIFA, The Collegiate Licensing Company, Disney, DreamWorks and Warner Bros. Panini also has exclusive partnerships with Pop Warner Little Scholars, Inc., the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, and Pro Football Hall of Fame.
In January 2021, Panini America signed an exclusive multi-year trading card deal with the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).[44] Later in August 2021, Panini America also partnered with the UFC to release NFTs, commemorating big fights, milestones and moments.[45]
Panini family philanthropy
Giuseppe Panini, the eldest brother and the founder of this business, and a collector himself, financed the creation of the Raccolte Fotografiche Modenesi (Modena's photographic collections), an archive of more than 300,000 photographs and a similar number of postcards, describing the life of the city and the evolution of photographic art." (wikipedia.org)
"
A trading card of football (soccer) star Diego Maradona issued for the 1986 FIFA World Cup
A trading card (or collectible card) is a small card, usually made out of paperboard or thick paper, which usually contains an image of a certain person, place or thing (fictional or real) and a short description of the picture, along with other text (attacks, statistics, or trivia).[1] There is a wide variation of different types of cards.
Trading cards are traditionally associated with sports (baseball cards are particularly common) but can also include subjects such as Pokémon and other non-sports trading cards. These often feature cartoons, comic book characters, television series and film stills. In the 1990s, cards designed specifically for playing games became popular enough to develop into a distinct category, collectible card games. These games are mostly fantasy-based gameplay. Fantasy art cards are a subgenre of trading cards that focus on the artwork. ...
History
Origins
Main articles: Trade card and Cigarette card
Trade cards are the ancestors of trading cards. Some of the earliest prizes found in retail products were cigarette cards—trade cards advertising the product (not to be confused with trading cards) that were inserted into paper packs of cigarettes as stiffeners to protect the contents.[2] Allen and Ginter in the U.S. in 1886, and British company W.D. & H.O. Wills in 1888, were the first tobacco companies to print advertisements.[3] A couple years later, lithograph pictures on the cards with an encyclopedic variety of topics from nature to war to sports — subjects that appealed to men who smoked - began to surface as well.[4] By 1900, there were thousands of tobacco card sets manufactured by 300 different companies. Children would stand outside of stores to ask customers who bought cigarettes for the promotional cards.[5] Following the success of cigarette cards, trade cards were produced by manufacturers of other products and included in the product or handed to the customer by the store clerk at the time of purchase.[4] World War II put an end to cigarette card production due to limited paper resources, and after the war cigarette cards never really made a comeback. After that collectors of prizes from retail products took to collecting tea cards in the UK and bubble gum cards in the US.[6]
Early baseball cards
Main article: Baseball card
Adrian C. Anson depicted on an Allen & Ginter cigarette card, c. 1887
The first baseball cards were trade cards printed in the late 1860s by a sporting goods company, around the time baseball became a professional sport.[7] Most of the baseball cards around the beginning of the 20th century came in candy and tobacco products. It was during this era that the most valuable baseball card ever printed was produced - the T206 tobacco card featuring Honus Wagner.[8] The T206 Set, distributed by the American Tobacco Company in 1909, is considered by collectors to be the most popular set of all time.[9] In 1933, Goudey Gum Company of Boston issued baseball cards with players biographies on the backs and was the first to put baseball cards in bubble gum.[10] The 1933 Goudey set remains one of the most popular and affordable vintage sets to this day.[11] Bowman Gum of Philadelphia issued its first baseball cards in 1948.
Modern trading cards
Topps Chewing Gum, Inc., now known as "The Topps Company, Inc.", started inserting trading cards into bubble gum packs in 1950 with such topics as TV and film cowboy Hopalong Cassidy; "Bring 'Em Back Alive" cards featuring Frank Buck on big game hunts in Africa; and All-American Football Cards. Topps produced its first baseball trading card set in 1951, with the resulting design resembling that of playing cards.[12] Topps owner and founder Sy Berger created the first true modern baseball card set, complete with playing record and statistics, the following year in the form of 1952 Topps Baseball.[13] This is one of the most popular sets of all time; its most valued piece was 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle #311, which is sometimes erroneously referred to as Mantle's rookie card, though he had in fact appeared in the 1951 Bowman Baseball set.[14]
Topps purchased their chief competitor, Bowman Gum, in 1956.[15] Topps was the leader in the trading card industry from 1956 to 1980, not only in sports cards but in entertainment cards as well. Many of the top selling non-sports cards were produced by Topps, including Wacky Packages (1967, 1973–1977), Star Wars (beginning in 1977)[16] and Garbage Pail Kids (beginning in 1985).[17] In 1991 Topps ceased packaging gum with their baseball cards, making many collectors happy that their cards could no longer be damaged by gum stains[18] The following year, in 1992, Topps ceased using heavily waxed paper to wrap their packs of cards and began using cellophane plastic exclusively, thus eliminating the possibility of wax stains on the top and bottom cards in the packs.[19]
Digital trading cards
In an attempt to stay current with technology and digital trends, existing and new trading card companies started to create digital trading cards that lived exclusively online or as a digital counterpart of a physical card.
In 1995 Michael A. Pace produced "computer based" trading cards, utilizing a CD ROM computer system and floppy discs.[20]
In 2000, Topps launched a brand of sports cards, called etopps. These cards were sold exclusively online through individual IPO's (initial player offering) in which the card is offered for usually a week at the IPO price. That same year, Tokenzone launched a digital collectibles platform that was used by media companies to distribute content in the form of digital trading cards. The quantity sold depended on how many people offered to buy but was limited to a certain maximum. After a sale, the cards were held in a climate-controlled warehouse unless the buyer requests delivery, and the cards could be traded online without changing hands except in the virtual sense. In January 2012, Topps announced that they would be discontinuing their eTopps product line.[21]
Digital collectible card games were estimated to be a $1.3B market in 2013.[22] A number of tech start-ups have attempted to establish themselves in this space, notably Stampii (Spain, 2009),[23][24] Fantom (Ireland, 2011), Deckdaq (Israel, 2011), and 2Stic (Austria, 2013).
Panini launched their Adrenalyn XL platform with an NBA and NFL trading card collection. Connect2Media together with Winning Moves, created an iPhone Application to host a series of trading card collections, including Dinosaurs, James Bond - 007, Celebs, Gum Ball 3000, European Football Stars and NBA. In 2011, mytcg Technologies launched a platform that enabled content holders to host their content on.
On July 1, 2011, Wildcat Intellectual Property Holdings filed a lawsuit against 12 defendants, including Topps, Panini, Sony, Electronic Arts, Konami, Pokémon, Zynga and Nintendo, for allegedly infringing Wildcat's "Electronic Trading Card" patent.[25]
In 2012, Topps also launched their first phone application. Topps Bunt was an app that allowed users to connect with other fans in a fantasy league type game environment wherein they can collect their favorite players, earn points based on how well they play and trade and compete with other fans. Three years later, the same company launched a digital experiment in Europe (geotargeted to exclude the USA) with its Marvel Hero Attax, using digital as an overlay to its physical product.[26]
Value
Today, the development of the Internet has given rise to various online communities, through which members can trade collectible cards with each other. Cards are often bought and sold via eBay and other online retail sources. Many websites solicit their own "sell to us" page in hopes to draw in more purchase opportunities.[27]
The value of a trading card depends on a combination of the card's condition, the subject's popularity and the scarcity of the card. In some cases, especially with older cards that preceded the advent of card collecting as a widespread hobby, they have become collectors' items of considerable value. In recent years, many sports cards have not necessarily appreciated as much in value due to overproduction, although some manufacturers have used limited editions and smaller print runs to boost value. Trading cards, however, do not have an absolute monetary value. Cards are only worth as much as a collector is willing to pay.[28]
Condition
Card condition is one aspect of trading cards that determine the value of a card. There are four areas of interest in determining a card's condition. Centering, corners, edges and surface are taken into consideration, for imperfections, such as color spots and blurred images, and wear, such as creases, scratches and tears, when determining a trading card's value.[29] Cards are considered poor to pristine based on their condition, or in some cases rated 1 through 10.[30] A card in pristine condition, for example, will generally be valued higher than a card in poor condition.
Condition Description
Pristine Perfect card. No imperfections or damage to the naked eye and upon close inspection.
Mint condition No printing imperfections or damage to the naked eye. Very minor printing imperfections or damage upon close inspection. Clean gloss with one or two scratches.
Near Mint/Mint No printing imperfections or damage to the naked eye, but slight printing imperfections or damage upon close inspection. Solid gloss with very minor scratches.
Near Mint Noticeable, but minor, imperfections or wear on the card. Solid gloss with very minor scratches.
Excellent/Near Mint Noticeable, but minor, imperfections or wear on the card. Mostly solid gloss with minor scratches.
Excellent Noticeable imperfections or moderate wear on the card. Some gloss lost with minor scratches.
Very Good/Excellent Noticeable imperfections or moderate wear on the card. Heavy gloss lost with very minor scuffing, and an extremely subtle tear.
Very Good Heavy imperfections or heavy wear on the card. Almost no gloss. Minor scuffing or very minor tear.
Good Severe imperfections or wear on the card. No gloss. Noticeable scuffing or tear.
Poor Destructive imperfections or wear on the card. No gloss. Heavy scuffing, severe tear or heavy creases.
Popularity
Popularity of trading cards is determined by the subject represented on the card, their real life accomplishments, and short term news coverage as well as the specifics of the card.[28]
Scarcity
While vintage cards are truly a scarce commodity, modern-day manufacturers have to artificially add value to their products in order to make them scarce. This is accomplished by including serial-numbered parallel sets, cards with game-worn memorabilia, autographs, and more. Time can also make cards more scarce due to the fact that cards may be lost or destroyed.[8]
Catalogs
Trading card catalogs are available both online and offline for enthusiast.[31] They are mainly used as an educational tool and to identify cards. Online catalogs also contain additional resources for collection management and communication between collectors.
Terminology
Phrase Definition
9-pocket page A plastic sheet used to store and protect up card in nine card slots, and then stored in a card binder
9-Up Sheet Uncut sheets of nine cards, usually promos.
Autograph Card Printed insert cards that also bear an original cast or artist signature.
Base Set Complete sets of base cards for a particular card series.
Binder A binder used to store cards using 9-card page holders.
Break An online service where someone (usually for the exchange of currency) opens packages of trading cards and sends them to the buyer. Breaks have "spots" for sale, typically sorted by team.
Blaster Box A factory sealed box with typically 6 to 12 packs of cards. Typically sold at large retail stores such as Walmart and Target.
Box Original manufacturer's containers of multiple packs, often 24 to 36 packs per box.
Box Topper Card Cards included in a factory sealed box.
Blister Pack Factory plastic bubble packs of cards or packs, for retail peg-hanger sales.
Card sleeve Sleeves that cards are to be put in to protect the cards.
Cartophily Hobby of collecting trading cards, mostly cigarette cards.
Case Factory-sealed crates filled with card boxes, often six to twelve card boxes per case.
Chase Card Card, or cards, included as a bonus in a factory sealed case.
Common Card Non-rare cards that form the main set. Also known as base cards.
Factory Set Card sets, typically complete base sets, sorted and sold from the manufacturer.[28]
Hobby Card Items sold mainly to collectors, through stores that deal exclusively in collectible cards. Usually contains some items not included in the retail offerings.
Insert card Non-rare to rare cards that are randomly inserted into packs, at various ratios (e.g. 1 card per 24 packs). An insert card is often different from the base set in appearance and numbering. Also known as chase cards.[32]
Master Set Not well defined; often a base set and all readily available insert sets; typically does not include promos, mail-in cards, sketch cards, or autograph cards.
Oversized Card Any base, common, insert, or other cards not of standard or widevision size.
Parallel Card A modified base card, which may contain extra foil stamping, hologram stamping that distinguishes the card from the base card.
Pack Original wrappers with base, and potentially insert, cards within, often called 'wax packs', typically with two to eight cards per pack. Today the packs are usually plastic or foil wrap.
Retail Card Cards, packs, boxes and cases sold to the public, typically via large retail stores, such as K-mart or Wal-Mart.
Rack Pack Factory pack of unwrapped cards, for retail peg-hanger sales.
Promo Card Cards that are distributed, typically in advance, by the manufacturer to promote upcoming products.
Redemption Card Insert cards found in packs that are mailed (posted) to the manufacturer for a special card or some other gift.
Sell Sheet Also 'ad slicks'. Usually one page, but increasingly fold-outs, distributed by the manufacturers to card distributors, in advance, to promote upcoming products. With the proliferation of the Internet, sell sheets are now typically distributed in digital form to trading card media outlets such as Beckett and The Cardboard Connection so that collectors can preview sets months before they are released.[33]
Singles Individual cards sold at hobby or online stores.
Sketch Card Insert cards that feature near-one-of-a-kind artists sketches.
Swatch Insert cards that feature a mounted swatch of cloth, such as from a sports player's jersey or an actor's costume.
Tin Factory metal cans, typically filled with cards or packs, often with inserts.
Top Loader A hard plastic sleeve used to store a single card to prevent scratches, corner damage and other blemishes.
Unreleased Card Cards printed by the manufacturer, but not officially distributed for a variety of reasons. Often leaked to the public, sometimes improperly. Not to be confused with promo cards.
Uncut Sheet Sheets of uncut base, insert, promo, or other cards.
Wrapper Original pack covers, often with collectible variations.
Sports cards
Sports card is a generic term for a trading card with a sports-related subject, as opposed to non-sports trading cards that deal with other topics. Sports cards were among the earliest forms of collectibles. They typically consist of a picture of a player on one side, with statistics or other information on the reverse. Cards have been produced featuring most major sports, especially those played in North America, including, but not limited to, American football, association football (soccer), baseball, basketball, boxing, golf, ice hockey, racing and tennis.
The first set with a sporting theme appeared in 1896, a cricket series by W.D. & H.O. Wills of 50 cricketers. The tobacco companies soon realised that sports cards were a great way to obtain brand loyalty. In 1896 the first association football set, "Footballers & Club Colours", was published by Marcus & Company, a small firm in Manchester. Other football sets issued at that time were "Footballers & Club Colours" (Kinner, 1898); "Footballers" (J. F. Bell, 1902); "Footballers" (F. J. Smith, 1902) and "Footballers" (Percy E. Cadle, 1904).[34]
The first stage in the development of sports cards, during the second half of the 19th century, is essentially the story of baseball cards, since baseball was the first sport to become widely professionalized. Hockey cards also began to appear early in the 20th century. Cards from this period are commonly known as cigarette cards or tobacco cards, because many were produced by tobacco companies and inserted into cigarette packages, to stiffen cigarette packaging and advertise cigarette brands. The most expensive card in the hobby is a cigarette card of Honus Wagner in a set called 1909 T-206. The story told is that Wagner was against his cards being inserted into something that children would collect. So the production of his cards stopped abruptly. It is assumed that less than 100 of his cards exist in this set. The 1909 T-206 Honus Wagner card has sold for as much as $2.8 million.[35]
Sets of cards are issued with each season for major professional sports. Since companies typically must pay players for the right to use their images, the vast majority of sports cards feature professional athletes. Amateurs appear only rarely, usually on cards produced or authorized by the institution they compete for, such as a college.
Many older sports cards (pre-1980) command a high price today; this is because they are hard to find, especially in good quality condition. This happened because many children used to place their cards in bicycle spokes, where the cards were easily damaged. Rookie cards of Hall of Fame sports stars can command thousands of dollars if they have been relatively well-preserved.
In the 1980s, sports cards started to get produced in higher numbers, and collectors started to keep their cards in better condition as they became increasingly aware of their potential investment value. This trend continued well into the 1990s. This practice caused many of the cards manufactured during this era to stay low in value, due to their high numbers.
The proliferation of cards saturated the market, and by the late 1990s, card companies began to produce scarcer versions of cards to keep many collectors interested. The latest trends in the hobby have been "game used memorabilia" cards, which usually feature a piece of a player's jersey worn in a real professional game; other memorabilia cards include pieces of bats, balls, hats, helmets, and floors. Authenticated autographs are also popular, as are "serially numbered" cards, which are produced in much smaller amounts than regular "base set cards".
Autographs obtained by card manufacturers have become the most collected baseball cards in the hobby's history. This started in 1990 in baseball when Upper Deck randomly inserted autographs of Reggie Jackson into boxes. They are commonly referred to as "Certified Autographed Inserts" or "CAI's". Both the athlete's and card company's reputations are on the line if they do not personally sign these cards. This has created the most authentic autographs in existence.[citation needed] These cards all have some form of printed statements that the autographs are authentic, this way, no matter who owns the autograph there is no question of its authenticity. CAI's have branched out into autographs of famous actors, musicians, Presidents, and even Albert Einstein. Mostly these autographs are cut from flat items such as postcards, index cards, and plain paper. Then they are pasted onto cards. In 2001, a company called Playoff started obtaining autographs on stickers that are stuck on the cards instead of them actually signing the cards. There is strong opposition against these types of autographs because the players never even saw the cards that the stickers were affixed to.[citation needed]
The competition among card companies to produce quality sports cards has been fierce. In 2005, the long-standing sports card producer Fleer went bankrupt and was bought out by Upper Deck. Not long after that, Donruss lost its MLB license. Currently, Topps is the official baseball card of the MLB." (wikipedia.org)
"A rookie card is a trading card that is the first to feature an athlete after that athlete has participated in the highest level of competition within their sport.[1][2] Collectors may value these first appearances more than subsequent card issues. Athletes are often commemorated on trading cards which are highly collected based on the popularity of the athlete. Prices for rookie cards fluctuate based on consumer interest, supply and demand and other factors, but can surpass thousands of dollars....
Definition
A rookie card is not necessarily always produced during a player's rookie season because there could have been cards that fit the definition printed in previous years. It is generally agreed that to be a true rookie card, the card must be counted as part of a product's base set. Thus, limited quantity insert cards of any type are generally not considered to be rookie cards.[4]
In 2006 Major League Baseball instituted a set of guidelines which dictated what cards could and could not bear the official MLB rookie card logo.[5] Despite these guidelines, many collectors still regard a player's "true" rookie card as being their first officially licensed prospect card.
Debate
Debate within the hobby exists, as some collectors and pundits believe that an athlete's first appearance on any trading card qualifies as his rookie card. Others believe that a rookie card is the first licensed issue from a major manufacturer that is widely distributed. There can be more than one rookie card for a player. In 2006, Major League Baseball added a "RC" logo to rookie cards, and prohibited cards of players who have not yet appeared in a Major League game from being in the base set.[6]
This debate was exemplified when in 2001, Upper Deck, a trading card company, created a set of golf cards which featured Tiger Woods. However, Woods already had many cards from other manufacturers such as Sports Illustrated which included a young Tiger in a 1996 edition of their Sports Illustrated for Kids periodical, which routinely contains trading cards of various athletes. SI Kids cards have perforated edges and are normally unlicensed by the athlete. Hobby publication Beckett gave the 2001 Upper Deck Golf card a rookie card designation despite its arrival five years after the SI Kids release, sparking controversy.
The market, it appears, gives far greater credence and value to the 1996 Sports Illustrated for Kids release which sells for exponentially more. As it remains, there is no formal definition of a "rookie card," though some players do have cards that are considered "rookies" by all.
Famous rookie cards
Most of the top most expensive sports cards are rookie cards. Among those are the famous T206 Honus Wagner,[7][8][9] or 1952 Topps Mickey Mantle.[10]
1989 Upper Deck Ken Griffey, Jr.
In the 1989 Upper Deck baseball set, Ken Griffey, Jr. was selected to be featured on card number one.[11] At press time, Griffey had not yet played a major league game, so Upper Deck used an image of Griffey in a San Bernardino Spirit uniform.[12] Competitors such as Score and Topps neglected to include a card of Griffey in its 1989 base set, but later included him in their traded issues. Such neglect helped Upper Deck gain exposure due to the popularity of Griffey in the 1989 MLB season. Donruss and Fleer included Griffey rookie cards in their respective base sets, but they were never as popular as the Upper Deck issue. Also an afterthought was Griffey's 1989 Bowman Rookie Card. [13][14]
Despite the popularity of the Griffey card, it was not a scarce card. The card was situated in the top left hand corner of the uncut sheets and was more liable to be cut poorly or have its corners dinged. Company policy was that if a customer found a damaged card in its package, the company would replace it.[12] Many Griffey cards were returned and the result was that Upper Deck printed many uncut sheets (sheets consisting of 100 cards) of just Ken Griffey, Jr.[12] According to Professional Sports Authenticator, the Ken Griffey, Jr. would become the most graded card of all time with the company. PSA graded over 50,000 of the cards. The Beckett Grading card service has evaluated over 25,000 of the Ken Griffey, Jr. rookie cards.[12]
1986-87 Fleer Michael Jordan Rookie card
Michael Jordan Rookie Card, graded as a 9 by PSA, was sold for USD12,500 on April 24 2020." (wikipedia.org)
"A Refractor Card is a trading card that has a reflective coating and displays a rainbow when held at a specific angle. They are parallels of base set issues and were introduced with the release of the 1993 Topps Finest Baseball set. Later releases have confirmation of a Refractor on the back of the card in the form of either an R or the word Refractor printed, usually, beside or beneath the card number, but the first Refractors did not include this designation and are therefore sometimes more difficult to differentiate from base issues....
Variants
There are many Refractor variants that have been produced over the years, though most are simple color swaps of the base Refractors. These variants are typically serial numbered, but that is not always the case. The very first Refractor variant that was available was the Embossed Refractor, in 1997. [1]
Variants that typically appear in Topps Finest, Topps Chrome, and Bowman Chrome releases often include Gold, Blue, Red, Orange, Green, and Black. Less often, Refractor color variants including Pink, Purple, and White can be found. Usually, the Orange and Red Refractor parallels are extremely rare and have low serial numbers, while the Blue and Green ones are more common. This is not always the case, though, and tends to vary slightly from set to set and year to year.
In addition to regular Refractors and color swap Refractors, Topps Chrome and Bowman Chrome (and on occasion Topps Finest) sometimes include a parallel called an Xfractor or X-fractor. They typically have a checkerboard background design in addition to the regular Refractor finish and sometimes have serial numbers. Xfractors sometimes have color swap issues available or even Die-cut versions, too.
Bowman's Best sets have a unique issue called an Atomic Refractor that is much more rare than the regular Refractor parallel. Atomic Refractor parallels typically have serial numbers that are 4 times as low as the regular Refractors. For example, if a regular Refractor is numbered out of 400, then the Atomic version would be numbered out of 100. If the regular Refractor is numbered out of 100, the Atomic one would be numbered out of 25. In addition to the lower serial numbers, Atomic Refractors feature a different background design than regular Refractors.
The rarest Refractor variant is called the SuperFractor. It is a card that has a production run of just 1 and is serial numbered 1/1 (or sometimes "01/01," "001/001," or "One-of-One"). The backgrounds of SuperFractors have a gold spiral design, usually. There are even SuperFractor variants such as White SuperFractors, Bordered SuperFractors, and Die-cut SuperFractors in certain releases. These SuperFractor variants are all serial numbered 1/1, as well.[2]
In recent years, some new Refractor variations have appeared in products. Among these include, but are not limited to Blue Wave Refractors (and color swaps of those), Sepia Refractors, Prism Refractors, Mosaic Refractors, and Pulsar Refractors.
Some Refractor variants were tested and found to be not popular and therefore discontinued. One example of this is the Pigskin Refractor which appeared in the 2009 Topps Finest Football release.
There have even been some special edition Refractors variants for specific purposes such as Camo Refractors, which feature a camouflage border pattern and were issued to honor the US Armed Forces, and BCA Pink Refractors, which were issued for Breast Cancer Awareness.
Copycats
Because the term Refractor is a registered trademark of The Topps Company, Inc., other sports card brands that offer similar parallel cards are not able to use the name "Refractor".
Some other names of similar issues include Reflectors (made by Press Pass), Prizms (made by Panini), and Mirrors (made by Leaf)." (wikipedia.org)
"An American football card is a type of collectible trading card typically printed on paper stock or card stock that features one or more American football players or other related sports figures. These cards are most often found in the United States and other countries where the sport is popular.
Most football cards features National Football League (NFL) players, but can also feature college football players. Player cards normally list the player's statistics and a narration about their play. Some special edition packs of cards include authentic autographs or jersey cards. Some may include bubble gum or a special edition player card. Many cards are serial-numbered, meaning that there are only so many of that particular card produced. These include unique prints (numbered 1/1). Included in these are printing plates, used in the actual production of the card. " (wikipedia.org)