1948 Leaf Football Cards

Product Details

Giving football collectors a new set for the first time in a decade, 1948 Leaf Football has aged well and remains a popular option for rookie cards. Fans can find both pro players and college stars.

Baseball card collectors likely remember this timeframe for Leaf because of the set that straddled two years (1948-49 Leaf). The baseball set is also known for incredibly difficult short prints in its second series.

Leaf issued football cards in both of those years, as well, but in two separate sets: 1948 and 1949 leaf Football. There is a little confusion between the two releases as they feature similar players and have similar designs, but the differences are easy to spot.

1948 Leaf Football Set Details

1948 Leaf Football fronts showcase a black-and-white photo of a player with added color to the uniform and helmet. This is superimposed over a solid-color background. The section at the bottom contains the player's name and sometimes a nickname.

Backs are printed in black ink with no graphics. At the top is a card number, dashes and the player's name, with three lines of vital stats underneath. A biography of the player follows. There is also an advertisement for the All-Star Football Gum series and details of a wrapper redemption for pennants. At the very bottom is a 1948 copyright line.

Totaling 98 cards, '48 Leaf printed in two separate 49-card series. Cards #50-98 are much tougher than #1-49. Fortunately for those who collect Hall of Fame rookie cards, only two—Chuck Bednarik and Leo Nomellini—were included in the second series.

The release of 1948 Leaf Football (and 1948 Bowman Football) marked the first time since 1935 that a mainstream football set was available. As a result, nearly every card is technically a rookie even if they had been playing for several years to that point. Unlike the Bowman cards, several players in Leaf's set were still in college and are listed with their schools. This has made 1948 Leaf a bigger draw among Hall of Fame rookie collectors.

Cards were printed on both white and gray cardboard stock. The white stock is more common in the first series, while gray is more common in the second. There are also color variations throughout the checklist, probably due to coloring and registration issues during the printing process. These issues, combined with a general centering problem, has presented a considerable challenge for high-condition collectors.

As stated, rookie cards dominate the set, including several Hall of Fame players and Heisman Trophy winners. The most sought-after include Sid Luckman, Doak Walker, Bobby Layne, Steve Van Buren, Bob Waterfield, Sammy Baugh, Leo Nomellini, Charley Conerly, and Chuck Bednarik.

Key 1948 Leaf Football Cards:

• Sammy Baugh RC #34
• Chuck Bednarik RC #54
• Leo Nomellini RC #52
• Charley Conerly RC #53
• Bobbie Layne RC #6