Collecting the best Junk Wax Football Cards is a great way to connect to your childhood for a relatively small price, compared to ridiculous modern day prices!
Top 50 Junk Wax Football Cards Everyone Needs!
When David asked me to put together a list of the best junk wax football cards from the ’80s and ’90s (after already tackling the top 101 junk wax baseball cards), I thought it was a great idea!
First off, it’s that time of year when visions of the gridiron begin dancing in our heads.
Also, when he suggested a Top 50 for football (baseball was Top 101), I thought it would be fun and easy as pie to come up with 50 legendary junk wax football cards.
I was right! This was a blast to put together, and it was not all that difficult to come up with, so the list almost fell into place.
As you likely know, we love rookie cards! That’s why we listed the Best NFL Rookie Cards Ever here, but the list below is primarily from just the Junk Wax Era. While many of these cards do happen to be rookie cards, there are actually several non-rookie cards that made the list, too!
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Top 50 Junk Wax Football Cards!
A couple of quick notes, I used the same “junk wax era” years as for baseball: 1981-1995. Also, I considered using the USFL Topps sets, but quickly dismissed this idea, as I think they may be just a bit too niche for the list. Anyway, please enjoy, and let us know where you agree and disagree. Thanks, and most importantly, enjoy football season!
David Gonos shares his thoughts in the italicized notes below!
1. 1981 Topps #216 Joe Montana RC
Essentially the king of the ’80s football era, as the Decade’s Greatest Quarterback on the Greatest Team of the ’80s, Montana’s cards rank among the most expensive on this list, though. His rookie card is one of the earliest on this list, also, barely being ranked in the “junk wax” timeline.
2. 1989 Score #257 Barry Sanders RC
Possibly the most exciting player to watch of this era, Barry had all the talent and highlights, but no championship trophies to go with it. Plus, his truncated career made his playing days stand up in a way his counterparts didn’t (see late careers Emmitt Smith and Thurman Thomas).
3. 1984 Topps #63 John Elway RC
Going from being a three-time Super Bowl loser to a back-to-back Super Bowl champion to finish out his career, this guy is better remembered after his career, I feel, than during.
4. 1984 Topps #123 Dan Marino RC
Breaking the touchdown passes in a season record in his sophomore season had us feeling different about him than his late career fizzle under Jimmy Johnson. Either way, Dan the Man is still considered one of the greatest pure passers the game has ever seen — and this 1984 Topps Football set ranks among the best football card sets ever!
5. 1986 Topps #161 Jerry Rice RC
- View prices on eBay!
- Here’s David’s article on “9 Things You Didn’t Know About 1986 Topps Jerry Rice RC!”)
6. 1990 Score Supplemental #101T Emmitt Smith RC
Like Emmitt Smith rookie cards? Then this list is for you!
7. 1982 Topps #434 Lawrence Taylor RC
Our first (but not last) defensive player on this list — and L.T. lands inside the top 10!
8. 1986 Topps #374 Steve Young (first Topps NFL card) RC
Young’s USFL card goes for a pretty penny, which makes it tough to call anything that expensive “junk”! (Granted, Montana’s RC is expensive, too, but you get our point!)
9. 1984 Topps #280 Eric Dickerson RC
A 2,000-yard rusher with stellar career stats and a big personality, Dickerson never seemed to get the same fanfare as Marcus Allen or Tony Dorsett.
10. 1988 Topps #327 Bo Jackson RC
I was so happy to see Bo land inside the top-10 on this list. Amazingly, he’s the only guy on both the baseball and football lists. (He was just top-15 in baseball, though.)
11. 1983 Topps #294 Marcus Allen RC
12. 1982 Topps #486 Ronnie Lott RC
13. 1986 Topps #275 Reggie White RC
14. 1989 Topps Traded #83T Barry Sanders RC
15. 1990 Topps Traded #27T Emmitt Smith RC
16. 1989 Score #270 Troy Aikman RC
17. 1990 Fleer Update #U40 Emmitt Smith RC
18. 1985 Topps #251 Warren Moon RC
- View prices on eBay!
- He’s a complicated fella to root for, but here’s my reasoning on why this card ranks among those Cards That Make Us Happy!
19. 1989 Score #246 Deion Sanders RC
20. 1983 Topps #38 Mike Singletary RC
21. 1989 Score #18 Michael Irvin RC
22. 1989 Score #211 Thurman Thomas RC
23. 1986 Topps #389 Bruce Smith RC
24. 1987 Topps #362 Jim Kelly (first Topps NFL card) RC
25. 1983 Topps #33 Jim McMahon RC
26. 1987 Topps #296 Randall Cunningham RC
27. 1981 Topps #150 Kellen Winslow RC
28. 1989 Score #258 Derrick Thomas RC
29. 1987 Topps #264 Herschel Walker (first Topps NFL card) RC
30. 1989 Pro Set #494 Barry Sanders RC
I present to you, one of the most beautiful sports cards ever created!
31. 1992 Stadium Club #683 Brett Favre RC
Not gonna lie, I was a little upset Favre’s 1991 Upper Deck misspelled card wasn’t in this spot! To be fair, this was his first card in a pro uniform and a Packers uniform.
32. 1984 Topps #111 Howie Long RC
33. 1989 Score #78 Rod Woodson RC
34. 1984 Topps # 353 Roger Craig RC
35. 1981 Topps #194 Art Monk RC
36. 1989 Score #72 Cris Carter RC
37. 1986 Topps #388 Andre Reed RC
38. 1985 Topps #33 Walter Payton
The first non-rookie card on the list — and it happens to be one of Payton’s final cards, coming in the year of the Bears’ Super Bowl win!
39. 1990 Action Packed Rookie Update #34 Emmitt Smith RC
That’s right — my man has FOUR cards listed among the top 5o best junk wax football cards! That leads everyone on this list and Emmitt’s not even a quarterback!
40. 1989 Topps Traded #70T Troy Aikman RC
41. 1984 Topps #380 Darrell Green RC
42. 1989 Topps Traded #30T Deion Sanders RC
43. 1994 Upper Deck SP #3 Marshall Faulk RC
44. 1986 Topps #255 Boomer Esiason RC
45. 1986 Topps #20 William “The Refrigerator” Perry RC
Any Bears fan worth his weight in bratwursts must have a card of The Fridge in his collection.
46. 1986 Topps #187 Bernie Kosar RC
- View prices on eBay!
- Another one of my favorite “Cards That Make Us Happy!”
47. 1982 Topps #51 Anthony Munoz RC
48. 1987 Topps #45 Doug Flutie (first Topps card)
49. 1988 Topps #144 Brian Bosworth RC
I love that this card made the list!
50. 1989 Topps #27 Ickey Woods RC
One of the most fun players to watch from back in the ’80s, every kid worth his trading cards was doing the “Ickey Shuffle” after scoring a touchdown in the sand lot next door. It’s one of my favorite “Cards That Make Us Happy!”
Some cards I was sad to see not make Scott’s list of the Best Junk Wax Football Cards includes the 1987 Topps Vinnie Testaverde RC card (just because I’m a Bucs fan!), the 1989 Topps Cris Carter RC (his Score made it, so I’m good with that) and the 1990 Topps Junior Seau RC.
Don’t forget to check out:
- Top 101 Junk Wax Baseball Cards!
- Best Football Rookie Cards from every era!
How many of the best junk wax football cards did you own? Which ones are you getting ready to buy after seeing this list!?!
