You probably already know that most of the cards in your football collection aren’t worth a whole lot. Most of those players are forgotten, the cards are in terrible shape, or they’re from an era of overprinting.
But yes, football cards can be worth a lot of money if you have the right ones. Whether you have vintage rookies, Tom Brady cards, or even newer stuff that’s lower printed, you can still have a ton of money on your hands.
Let’s dive in and I’ll show you some of the more common “gold mine” cards that people find in their old childhood collections.
What is the Junk Wax Era?
First, we need to talk about junk wax. From the late 80s through the mid 90s, sports card companies began printing a crazy amount of cards.
According to Cardlines, some sets were estimated to have 5 million copies printed! Now imagine what that does to the value of your Emmitt Smith rookie:
That’s $15 for the league’s all-time rushing leader who played for the most popular team!
I doubt many people thought they were holding these cards for 30+ years hoping for a $15 card…
Or, take a look at Barry Sanders:
Now, because they are old cards and therefore many aren’t in great shape, a highly graded one still sells for decent money—a PSA 10 of that Sanders goes for about $145.
Of course, it seems that most people getting back into collecting now were active during that junk wax era! If you’re between 30 and 45, it’s likely that a good chunk of your collection is from this time.
If you’re just getting back into collecting and not sure which packs to buy, read our breakdown of the best football packs!
So Which Football Cards Are Worth Anything Today?
Dan Marino
I’m going to call anything before the junk wax era vintage for the purposes of this article. So let’s first take a look at Dan Marino’s Topps rookie:
| Card Grade | Value |
| PSA 10 | $3,950 |
| PSA 9 | $400 |
| PSA 8 | $100 |
| Raw | $45 |
1986 Topps Jerry Rice
| Card Grade | Value |
| PSA 9 | $2,020 |
| PSA 8 | $180 |
| Raw | $45 |
1981 Topps Joe Montana
| Card Grade | Value |
| PSA 9 | $2,500 |
| PSA 8 | $390 |
| Raw | $175 |
1976 Topps Walter Payton
| Card Grade | Value |
| PSA 9 | $4,500 |
| PSA 8 | $975 |
| PSA 7 | $550 |
| Raw | $185 |
1958 Topps Jim Brown
| Card Grade | Value |
| PSA 7 | $5,500 |
| PSA 6 | $2,600 |
| PSA 5 | $2,000 |
| Raw | $400 |
One thing to note about Jim Brown is that with an iconic rookie card like that, you’d think the raw version would actually be more than $400! The thing is…with a card like that, why wouldn’t you get it graded?
Anyone buying raw is going to assume there’s something very wrong with it.
Jim Brown is on my list of best football cards to buy right now!
Tom Brady Cards
I’m not going to go into too much detail here, because what more needs to be said about the undisputed GOAT?
If you have a Tom Brady rookie card in decent shape, you can go buy a car. For some of the rarer ones, you can buy a house.
So…Which Football Cards Are Worth Anything?
In this article, I decided not to go too much into current pricing, because I’m guessing you’re here to check on your older cards.
With the numbers of autos, rare parallels, numbered cards, and sweet inserts (like Kaboom), there are no shortage of ultra-high priced cards.
Like this Mahomes that sold for a paltry… $4.3 million
But in general, most of your late 80s to early-mid 90s cards aren’t worth as much as you think. If you have cards from before that, you might be in luck.
Non-Quarterbacks
Of course, the biggest cards are always quarterbacks. They’re too important and they’re some of the only players with true face and name recognition.
Of course, there are rare exceptions, but they have to be truly elite players that often transcend the sport. For example, Travis Kelce comes to mind. He’s a future hall of famer, has a popular podcast, and his off-the-field stuff popularity is only growing (see: Swift, Taylor).