16 Most Valuable 1974 Topps Football Cards

1974 Topps #383 John Hannah Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $650

Picked 4th overall by the New England Patriots in the 1973 NFL Draft, John Hannah immediately slotted in as the team's starting left guard for the 1973 NFL season.

Hannah proved a quick study as the one-dimensional blocking required of guards in a collegiate wishbone offense hadn't fully prepared him for the complex blocking schemes of the NFL.

But, Hannah's athleticism and smarts won out.

He was one heck of an asset over the Patriots' first 13 games before a freak leg injury ended his campaign heading into the team's last game.

Come 1974, Hannah was healed and ready to realize his promise.

In his sophomore campaign for the 7-7 Patriots, Hannah evolved into a nuanced run and pass protector and even added a fumble recovery and a touchdown scamper.

Within a few years, Hannah would be widely celebrated as one of the most complete offensive guards ever to play the game.

And after missing just five games due to injury over his 13-year Hall-of-Fame career, Hannah remains one of the position's standard-bearers to this very day.

1974 Topps #500 Roger Staubach

Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $600

The 1974 Dallas Cowboys were, in a word, snake-bitten as they finished the year with a mediocre 8-6 record, missing the playoffs and finishing third in the NFC East.

And that was despite boasting the league’s best total offense and fourth-best total defense.

But, they faltered in close games as four of the team’s six losses came by four points or less.

It didn’t help that star quarterback Roger Staubach fell to Earth after a stellar 1973 campaign.

Staubach completed 52.8% of his passes in 1974, a drop-off of nearly ten percent from a career-high 62.6% the year before.

He did throw for a new career-best 2,552 yards in his sixth season but, his touchdown passes dropped dramatically from 23 in 1973 to 11, while his interception total remained static at 15.

As always, though, Staubach remained one heck of a ground threat under center, rushing 47 times for 320 yards and three scores on the year.

Unfortunately, Staubach had a few costly turnovers and botched drives late in contests, especially during an early-season four-game losing streak that put Dallas behind the eightball to stay.

Captain Comeback returned to Pro Bowl form the following season, but 1974 stands out as a frustrating outlier in his Hall-of-Fame career.

1974 Topps #121 Harold Carmichael Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $600

When the Philadelphia Eagles drafted Harold Carmichael with the 161st pick in the seventh round of the 1971 NFL Draft, they likely had no clue that he'd one day turn out to be a Hall of Famer.

After a couple of seasons in the league, Carmichael broke out in a big way in 1973 under new coach Mike McCormack as he led the league in receptions (67) and receiving yards (1,116).

Both figures would turn out to be career highs for Carmichael, but he continued to be a staple in the Eagles' offense for the remainder of his thirteen-year stint in Philadelphia.

Carmichael received one final shot in the NFL when the Dallas Cowboys signed him early in the 1984 season to help fill in for an injured Tony Hill but was later cut after appearing in just two games.

During his fourteen-year career in the NFL, Carmichael was a four-time Pro Bowler, two-time Second-Team All-Pro, and the 1980 NFL Man of the Year.

On January 15, 2020, he received the ultimate honor of being elected to the Hall of Fame.

1974 Topps #470 Terry Bradshaw

Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $550

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw's early-career struggles with accuracy and turnovers came to a head before the 1974 NFL regular season.

Heading into the campaign, Bradshaw lost his starting quarterback job to Joe Gilliam.

Lucky for Bradshaw and the Steelers, that didn't last.

After the defense saved the team from Gilliam's dreadful 5-for-18 passing performance in a Week 6 victory over the Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh reinserted Bradshaw as their number-one QB.

Bradshaw played in eight of the team's 14 regular-season contests (seven starts), posting a 5-2 record, completing 45.3% of his passes for 785 yards, seven touchdowns, and eight interceptions.

While Bradshaw continued to struggle with consistency, he managed the offense well enough to lead Pittsburgh to a 10-3-1 record and an AFC Central crown.

In the playoffs, the oft-maligned Blonde Bomber upped his game to new heights, completing 58% of his passes in the team's three postseason contests for 394 yards with three touchdowns against just one pick.

To cap it all off, Bradshaw provided two of the most clutch moments in the team's run to its first Super Bowl title: a fourth-quarter strike to Lynn Swann for the decisive score in a 24-13 AFC Championship Win over Oakland, and a red-zone connection with Larry Brown late in the team's 16-6 Super Bowl IX triumph over the Minnesota Vikings.

1974 Topps #219 Ray Guy Rookie Card

Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $525

The first punter selected in the first round of the 1973 NFL Draft, Ray Guy proved to be an X-factor for the AFC West champion Oakland Raiders in his sophomore season.

Guy led the NFL with an average of 42.2 yards per punt in 1974, regularly pinning opposing offenses deep in their own territory.

On the year, Guy punted 74 times for 3,124 yards for the 12-2 Raiders, without allowing any of them to be blocked.

That was a common theme for Guy as his punts were blocked only three times throughout his 14-year Hall-of-Fame career with the Raiders.

Named to the Pro Bowl for the second consecutive season, Guy bested his NFL-best punting numbers in the team’s two playoff games.

He punted 12 times for a total of 516 yards against the Miami Dolphins and Pittsburgh Steelers, calculating a stellar average of 43 yards per punt.

A world-class athlete who served as the Raiders’ emergency quarterback, there’s never been a punter quite like Guy since his retirement after the 1986 season.

A legit star for the Silver and Black, Guy revolutionized the punting position for generations to come.

1974 Topps #130 O.J. Simpson

Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $375

1973 was a banner year for Buffalo Bills superstar running back O.J. Simpson when he became the first player in NFL history to eclipse 2,000 yards rushing (2,003).

After winning the NFL MVP Award and Bert Bell Award, Simpson was hard-pressed to provide a worthy encore to his otherworldly fifth professional season heading into the 1974 campaign.

And, due to a nagging knee injury, it didn't quite happen.

While he broke the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the third-straight year (1,125 yards), Simpson's breakaway explosiveness declined.

He still led the NFL in total carries (270) but saw his yards per attempt drop dramatically from 6.0 to 4.2.

He also scored just three touchdowns on the ground in 1974, down from 12 the year prior.

Regardless of his reduced productivity, Simpson remained the class of the NFL at the running back position and earned his third-straight Pro Bowl and First-Team All-Pro nominations.

The Bills finished 9-5 for a second-place finish in the AFC East, earning an AFC Divisional Round matchup with the Steelers, Simpson's first and only playoff game of his career.

The Juice rushed for 49 yards on 15 carries, catching a touchdown pass in the team's 32-14 loss to the eventual Super Bowl champs.

1974 Topps #5 Carl Eller

Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $300

The Minnesota Vikings marched to a second-straight NFC Championship following the 1974 NFL season, riding a high-octane passing offense and stingy defense to another conference crown.

And while his overall effectiveness started to decline from an extraordinary half-decade peak, Hall-of-Fame left defensive end Carl Eller once again served as the edge-rushing heartbeat of the team’s “Purple People Eaters” defensive line.

Eller earned his sixth and final Pro Bowl nomination in 1974, garnering second-team All-NFC honors from the UPI.

Despite a decline in speed and explosiveness, the franchise’s all-time sacks leader remained a force to be reckoned with for the league’s third-best scoring defense.

Eller regularly served as a catalyst when the 10-4 NFC Central champions needed a big play from the defensive unit.

The Vikings gave up just 40 total points in three games for a sterling average of 13.3 points against per game in the playoffs.

And while they ultimately fell short of their title goals, Eller and the defense did their part to push the franchise to the brink of glory.

1974 Topps #451 Ken Stabler

Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $300

The 1974 season was a special time for the "Snake" as he tore opposing defenses apart to lead the NFL in touchdown passes (26) to go along with 2,469 passing yards as he led the Raiders to a 12-2 record and first-place finish in the AFC West.

Stabler also picked up the only First-team All-Pro and NFL MVP honors of his storied career to go along with his second-straight Pro Bowl selection.

Indeed, Stabler's regular season was an incredible spectacle for Raiders fans to experience and they entered the playoffs with extreme confidence.

After barely defeating an incredibly tough Miami Dolphins team looking to three-peat as Super Bowl Champs by a 28-26 margin in the Divisional Round, the Raiders' title hopes were cut short by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship.

Stabler and the Raiders would rebound a couple of years later in 1976, however, to secure a Super Bowl XI victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

1974 Topps #129 Fran Tarkenton

Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $250

While Minnesota Vikings star quarterback Fran Tarkenton wasn't the same scrambler at 34 years old that he was early in his career, he made up for it with veteran moxie and timely passing heroics for the NFC champs.

Named to his seventh Pro Bowl in 1974 after a three-year absence, Tarkenton was the engine for the league's second-best passing offense and fifth-best total offense.

He rushed for a modest 120 yards and two scores on 21 carries in 1974, yet, he picked his spots expertly and moved the chains when the team needed it most.

Tarkenton completed 56.7 % of his passes through the air for 2,598 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions.

An expert game manager with the arm and the eye to make any throw at any time, Tarkenton went 9-4 as a starter and led Minnesota to its second-straight AFC Central title and sixth in seven years.

In the playoffs, Tarkenton did enough to back up the team's opportunistic defense in wins over the St. Louis Cardinals (30-14) and Los Angeles Rams (14-10).

In Super Bowl IX, though, he had zero answers for Pittsburgh's aggressive defensive schemes.

Tarkenton struggled mightily, completing just 11 of his 26 passes for 102 yards with three costly interceptions while failing to record a rushing yard in the team's disheartening 16-6 defeat.

1974 Topps #218 Buck Buchanan

Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $200

At 6'7" and 287 pounds, Hall of Fame defensive tackle Buck Buchanan was considered huge for a lineman of his era and, as a result, gave opposing offensive linemen nightmares when trying to deal with him in the trenches.

When the 1963 AFL and NFL Drafts came around, it's hard to believe today that teams in both leagues had very different opinions of his potential value.

Or perhaps they just had very different needs...

Incredibly, the Kansas City Chiefs selected Buchanan with the first pick of the 1963 AFL Draft while he fell all the way to the 19th round of the 1963 NFL Draft when the Bears took him with the 265th pick.

Buchanan immediately got to work for the Chiefs and enjoyed an extremely productive thirteen-year career in Kansas City from 1963 - 1975.

Along the way, he'd make eight trips to the Pro Bowl and earned four All-Pro selections while leading the Chiefs to two AFL Championships (1966 and 1969) and a Super Bowl IV victory over the Minnesota Vikings.

1974 Topps #40 Joe Greene

Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $150

With top-level athleticism and trademark on-field malevolence, Pittsburgh Steelers left defensive end “Mean” Joe Greene was the centerpiece of the league’s top defense in 1974.

And in his third-straight year as a first-team All-Pro, Greene developed an unstoppable wrinkle to his game that spelled trouble for opposing quarterbacks and halfbacks.

Rather than lining up with his shoulders square to the opposing offensive line, Greene positioned himself at a sharp angle between the guard and center’s alignments.

Opposing offensive lines already struggled to adjust to Greene, but the extra leverage and disruption he created with this new tactic made him an even bigger nightmare.

Greene seemed to be at his best when it mattered most as he turned into a wrecking ball in the team’s last two playoff games, knocking Oakland and Minnesota’s high-powered offenses back on their heels.

The exclamation points were a critical interception and a fumble recovery at Pittsburgh’s five-yard line in the team’s ten-point Super Bowl victory over Minnesota.

At the right place at the right time, Greene’s dominant 1974 campaign was crucial in securing the first Lombardi Trophy in franchise history.

1974 Topps #230 Dick Butkus

Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $100

In 1973, future Hall-of-Fame middle linebacker Dick Butkus was in an unenviable position as the face of the Chicago Bears played just nine games due to a lingering knee injury.

Furthermore, the team was dreadful, finishing 3-11 for the Bears’ fourth last-place finish in five years.

In May 1974, Butkus decided to listen to his doctors and retired from football at the age of 31 with four years left on a five-year contract.

That’s when the off-field fireworks began...

Butkus had an extremely player-friendly contract with a no-cut, no-trade clause and was owed $115,000 a year through 1977, a guaranteed salary that was payable even if he required surgery.

Butkus’s deal also promised him compensation for medical and hospital expenses.

Per Butkus, the team declined to provide him this compensation, a decision that he claimed led to irreversible damage to his knee.

Bears owner George Halas balked at honoring the contract, telling Butkus that he would not be paid if he wasn’t on the field.

Shortly after his retirement announcement, Butkus filed a lawsuit against the team for $1.6 million.

It ultimately led to an out-of-court settlement and Butkus recouping the total value of his contract.

But, the relationship between the former face of the franchise and the team was on the outs.

Butkus and Halas didn’t speak for five years, and it took even longer for fences to fully mend.

1974 Topps #131 Larry Csonka

Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $100

After earning his fourth Pro Bowl selection and second First-Team All-Pro nomination during the Miami Dolphins' 1973 run to a second-straight Super Bowl title, fullback Larry Csonka entered 1974 in the final option year of his contract.

However, months earlier, in March 1974, Csonka was selected second overall in the brand-new World Football League's first draft.

That month, Csonka joined teammates Jim Kiick and Paul Warfield in announcing their intent to play in the WFL starting in 1975.

Now a lame duck, Csonka worked hard to maximize his final days with the Dolphins organization.

Named to his fifth and final Pro Bowl, Csonka rushed for 749 yards and a new career-high nine touchdowns on 197 carries.

With Csonka leading the charge, the Dolphins ended 1974 with the fourth-best rushing offense in the league and finished 11-3 for their fourth-straight AFC East title.

In the playoffs, the Dolphins drew a tough Divisional Round matchup with an Oakland Raiders squad looking for revenge for ousting them in the AFC Championship the year before.

Csonka was on his game in the rematch, rushing for 114 yards on 24 carries.

But, after a back-and-forth fourth quarter, the Dolphins ultimately fell 28-26 on a late touchdown pass by Oakland gunslinger Ken Stabler.

The next year, the departing trio of Dolphins landed with the WFL's Memphis Southmen.

1974 Topps #220 Franco Harris

Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $100

The Steelers succeeded for large chunks of the 1974 NFL season despite their quarterbacks Joe Gilliam and Terry Bradshaw being up-and-down propositions throughout the year.

That put pressure on the defense and the running game to pick up the slack.

The defense did its part.

And led by bruising big-yardage fullback Franco Harris, so did the rushing attack.

Harris ran for over 1,000 yards for the second time in his three NFL seasons, amassing 1,006 yards on 208 carries with five touchdowns.

He also worked fantastically as a safety valve for the passing game, catching 23 passes for 200 yards and a score.

Harris's efforts were more than enough to earn him his third-straight Pro Bowl selection to start his career and a second-team All-AFC All-Pro nomination by the UPI.

In the postseason, Harris upped his production from 83.8 yards per game to an eye-popping 114.3, rushing 87 times in the team's three wins for 343 yards and six touchdowns.

Nearly half of those yards came in Super Bowl IX as Harris rushed for 158 yards and a score to earn game MVP honors, despite fumbling twice.

1974 Topps #150 Johnny Unitas

Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $80

After spending 17 years with the Baltimore Colts, legendary quarterback Johnny Unitas was traded to the San Diego Chargers shortly after the 1972 NFL season.

Approaching 40 years of age, Unitas had been a part-time starter since the end of the 1970 season.

But, he was eager to sever ties with the Colts and start anew, and he had his chance as San Diego’s starting quarterback heading into the 1973 campaign.

It didn’t go well as Unitas started the Chargers’ first four games, going 1-3 and looking nothing like the four-time MVP of yesteryear.

Unitas completed just 44.7% of his passes in five games, throwing for 471 yards with three touchdowns against seven picks.

He was ultimately replaced for good by another future Hall-of-Famer, Dan Fouts, in the middle of a Week 4 loss to Pittsburgh.

Unitas attempted to give it one last go in the 1974 preseason, hoping an offseason of training could prove the difference.

After going 1-3 in preseason action and battling arm troubles, Unitas called it a career.

He ended up moving back to Baltimore with his family, signing on with CBS to do color commentary shortly after.

1974 Topps #200 Bob Griese

Estimated PSA 9 Mint Value: $75

One of the most successful and savvy game managers in NFL history, Miami Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese once again played his role to near perfection in 1974.

During Miami's second-straight Super Bowl season in 1973, Griese threw just 218 passes against 507 total rushes for the team as the unquestioned starter.

In the team's run to yet another division title in 1974, Griese attempted just 253 passes compared to 570 total team rushing attempts.

But, he made the most of his few aerial opportunities, completing 60.1% of his throws for 1,968 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 15 interceptions.

Rather than looking a gift horse in the mouth, Griese embraced his reduced role as a passer, and after leading the Dolphins to an 11-3 record, he earned his sixth Pro Bowl selection.

In the team's two-point playoff loss to Oakland, Griese went 7-for-14 for 101 yards, a touchdown, and a pick.

It was a disappointing end to the team's bid for back-to-back-to-back titles.

Although Griese remained the team's starter for another half-decade or so, the end of a dynasty had come.