Clocking in at 385 cards in total, the 2003 Topps football card checklist contains multiple superstars and a fantastic rookie card class.
Though Andre Johnson is the only one of those rookies who has yet achieved Hall of Fame honors, other superstars like Jason Witten, Terrell Suggs, Anquan Boldin, Kevin Williams and Larry Johnson made their cardboard debuts in this set alognside him.
It may be overlooked in today's market, but there are many great cards in this set...
Some collectors may shy away from the full-color borders.
But others really enjoy it.
Regardless, the player names stamped in gold foil offer an interesting aesthetic to balance out the design.
Overall, though it flies under the radar, there's plenty to enjoy inside the set checklist.
And in this guide, we'll take a look at the 15 most valuable.
Let's jump right in!
2003 Topps #258 Tom Brady
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $115
The first great Patriots team of the Tom Brady era made its mark as a defensive juggernaut.
All Brady needed to do in 2003 was balance the offense and limit mistakes to unlock the team's potential.
Instead, he put himself right in the middle of the MVP conversation, beginning his journey to GOAT status.
The raw numbers of Brady's 2003 season don't necessarily scream off the page.
The 26-year-old Michigan product completed 60.2% of his 527 passing attempts during the regular season, a marked drop in accuracy compared to his first two seasons as a starter.
He finished sixth in the league in passing yards (3,620), 10th in passing TDs (23), and near the middle of the pack in interceptions (12).
His passer rating (85.9) barely cracked the top ten.
So, how exactly did Brady finish third in the league's MVP race?
Adrenaline and magic.
Brady made the Pats must-watch football, orchestrating an AFC-best five game-winning drives.
2003 Topps #314 Terrell Suggs Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $90
One start, one hell of a rookie year for Terrell Suggs.
Selected 10th overall out of Arizona State, Suggs was shuffled into a deep, star-studded Baltimore Ravens defense.
Flanked in the linebacking corps by Ray Lewis, Ed Hartwell, and Peter Boulware, Suggs was a reserve for all but one game in his debut season.
And if not for a late-season injury to Boulware, his start total would have been zero.
Regardless, Suggs fit Baltimore's 3-4 scheme perfectly, finishing seventh in the NFL with 12.0 sacks.
That's impressive enough, yet absolutely daffy in a part-time role.
Suggs also registered a pick, three passes defensed, five forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries, and 29 tackles (20 solo).
A picture-perfect Lawrence Taylor impersonation was all it took to earn him the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
"Every rookie in the NFL knows it's hard to come into the league and perform good enough to get an award for it," Suggs said. "I'm kind of overwhelmed with the whole thing."
The Ravens' prize as division champs was a Wild Card Round showdown against co-MVP Steve McNair and the Titans.
Suggs registered just one assist in the contest as Baltimore fell 20-17 on a late Gary Anderson field goal.
2003 Topps #372 Jason Witten Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $90
After a college career that transformed him from a defensive player to a tight end, Jason Witten declared for the NFL with a remarkable NCAA legacy.
He left college as one of the most elite tight ends in the country and one of the best tight ends in Tennesee Volunteers history.
Eventually, the Jason Witten Collegiate Man of the Year award would be named after him.
As proof of his efforts in college football, the Dallas Cowboys drafted Witten in the third round with the 69th overall pick.
Despite being one of the youngest players in the NFL, Witten quickly earned a key role, starting seven games and playing in 15, despite a jaw injury that he played through for much of the season.
Witten had 35 receptions for 347 yards, averaging 23.1 yards per game, earning All-Rookie honors and playing an integral part in helping new head coach Bill Parcels turn over a new leaf for the Cowboys.
After three 5-11 seasons in a row, the Dallas Cowboys finally returned to the postseason thanks to their 10-6 record.
However, they were completely outmatched by the 3-seed Carolina Panthers, ending their season in a 29-10 blowout.
2003 Topps #97 Peyton Manning
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $85
The Indianapolis Colts and star QB Peyton Manning had underperformed to their talent level 3 years in a row after a successful 1999 season.
2003 was the year Manning looked to put the past behind him.
He and the Colts started the year looking extremely impressive for the hopeful fan base in Indianapolis.
The Colts got off to a 5-0 start and never looked back, never really in doubt of missing the playoffs and finishing with a 12-4 record.
They won the AFC South, and Manning stuffed the stat sheet, averaging a league-high 266.7 yards per game with a 67% completion percentage.
Finally, after finishing second in voting in 1999, Manning won his first MVP trophy.
The Colt's Wild Card matchup with the Denver Broncos resulted in a lopsided 41-10 win, but their next battle against the 13-3 Kansas City Chiefs wasn't easy.
The teams were fairly evenly matched, with Indy narrowly edging out a 38-31 victory at Arrowhead.
Manning's next test came against Tom Brady and the New England Patriot's elite defense.
That Patriot's defense stifled the Colt's offense, eliminating them 24-14 and cutting Manning's Super Bowl hopes short with a resounding thud.
2003 Topps #131 Drew Brees
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $85
Over nineteen years as an NFL quarterback, Drew Brees put together just one season that many considered "below average."
That season came in 2003.
One year after wresting the San Diego Chargers' starting job away from Doug Flutie, the third-year pro nearly gave it back.
To put it bluntly, Brees was awful in the team's first eight games.
His struggles were amplified even louder when juxtaposed against one of the worst defensive units in the league.
San Diego sleepwalked to a 1-7 start with Brees under center, reopening the door for Flutie.
However, Flutie wasn't much better, and Brees returned to the starting role in Week 15.
Overall, the Purdue product's numbers were ghastly.
He went 2-9 as a starter, completing 57.6% of his passes for 2,108 yards, 11 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
As it turned out, it was only a bump in the road.
A year later, Brees went from zero to Pro Bowler and won the NFL Comeback Player of the Year award.
2003 Topps #250 Jerry Rice
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $85
Legendary wide receiver Jerry Rice was entering his nineteenth NFL season at 41 years of age.
Most wide receivers would have long since retired by then, but most wide receivers aren't Jerry Rice.
Not only was he still playing, he was still playing at a high level, coming off a Pro Bowl appearance the season before.
The Rich Gannon-Jerry Rice connection had also helped carry the Oakland Raiders to a Super Bowl appearance the year prior.
Rice averaged 54.3 yards per game but had only 2 touchdowns despite playing every game of the season.
Oakland started 2-2 but lost defending MVP Rich Gannon to a shoulder injury.
The result was a team constantly in range of winning games but could never close them, as the Raiders proceeded to lose seven games by a touchdown or less.
A 4-12 record brought an unceremonious end to Rice's Oakland career.
The loss would be the start of a difficult stretch for the Oakland Raiders, who wouldn't return to the playoffs for over a decade.
2003 Topps #380 Andre Johnson Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $65
Even as a rookie, Andre Johnson wasn't shy about the business side of football.
After the Houston Texans selected him with the third overall pick of the 2003 NFL Draft, Johnson fired one agency for another in hopes of leveraging a big-time contract.
Negotiations continued as training camp approached.
Rather than risking a preseason without their new blue-chip WR, the Texans agreed with Johnson on a six-year, $39 million deal.
It turned out to be a steal in the end.
In year one, however, there wasn’t much Johnson could do to elevate a woeful Houston squad.
The Texans did virtually nothing well in their second year as a franchise.
They had a bottom-five offense, a bottom-five defense, and a ho-hum special teams unit.
It was a perfect recipe for a 5-11 record and a last-place finish in the AFC South.
As for Johnson, he did the best he could with an unequivocally rough quarterback situation.
The former Sun Devil covered for the awful play of David Carr, Tony Banks, and Dave Ragone, posting a team-high 66 receptions for 976 yards and four touchdowns.
No other Texans wideout tallied more than 460 yards.
2003 Topps #100 Brett Favre
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $50
After an impressive 2002 regular season that ended in a devastating home playoff loss to the Falcons, Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers were looking for redemption.
However, they flirted with mediocrity for most of the season.
The first half of the season saw the Packers play .500 football until finally getting into a groove and closing the season on a four-game win streak to finish 10-6.
Brett Favre played strong football even by his lofty standards, leading the league in 32 total touchdowns and getting sacked a career-low 19 times (aside from his rookie year, where he didn’t see much playing time.)
The performance helped Favre make his eighth Pro Bowl and set the Packers up for another playoff appearance.
Green Bay faced the Seattle Seahawks in the Wild Card round, and the battle was close throughout.
The two teams ended up in overtime, where it was defensive end Al Harris, rather than Favre, who delivered the game-winning touchdown for Green Bay.
His interception set Green Bay up for a Divisional Round matchup with the Philidelphia Eagles.
The game once again went into overtime, but this time, it was Favre who threw an interception in the extra period, costing Green Bay another NFC Championship Game appearance.
2003 Topps #150 Emmitt Smith
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $50
Even if Emmitt Smith wasn't the All-Pro force of years past, he was still a valuable addition to a young, impressionable Arizona Cardinals roster.
"They'd see me show up at five o'clock in the morning to go work out," Smith said. "I'd been there by myself, and they come in about 6:30 or 7, like, 'Dude, why are you here so early?' 'This is what I do. This is the way we work.' And they started doing it. And that part was awesome."
That's not to say that the Cardinals were any good.
Even a healthy Smith wouldn't have been enough to save a badly assembled Arizona roster from itself.
Smith broke his left shoulder blade in early October and never looked right after.
He played in ten games in year one of a two-year deal, rushing 90 times for 256 yards and two touchdowns.
His 2.8 yards per carry set a new career low by a yard.
It was a sobering sight.
Smith's 11-year streak of 1,000 rushing yards or more had barely ended, and he missed #12 by just 25 yards in his final year as a Cowboy in '02.
With his body breaking down and his production dwindling, Smith's career was now officially in its twilight stage.
2003 Topps #293 Tom Brady
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $45
The "Weekly Wrap-Up" subset spanned cards #291 - #310 and showcased highlights of different players from the 2002 season.
In Tom Brady's case, the reverse of his card details his performance in a 41-38 overtime victory against the Kansas City Chiefs in which he threw for 410 yards and 4 touchdowns, both career highs at that point.
It was a glimpse of what was to come in 2003.
In 2003, Brady was unshakable.
He was even stouter in crunch time.
Brady's game management put the D in a position to close out playoff wins over Tennessee (17-14) and Indianapolis (24-14).
And in Super Bowl XXXVII against Carolina, he went from effective to legendary in a single breath.
Brady went 32-for-48 on the night for 354 yards, a touchdown, and a pick.
He saved his most brilliant moment for last, a franchise-defining one-minute drive to set up Adam Vinatieri's buzzer-beating, game-winning field goal.
After Panthers QB Jake Delhomme's two-minute hero turn tied the game at 29, Brady threw the final punch.
He went 5-for-6 for 67 yards within the span of 64 seconds.
Vinatieri converted from 41 yards with time expiring, cementing Brady as a two-time Super Bowl MVP and two-time champion.
2003 Topps #359 Kevin Williams Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $45
Oklahoma State University defensive tackle Kevin Williams had just finished his career with an elite OSU Cowboys unit.
The team finished 8-5 and was rewarded with a bowl game, a privilege that had become rare for the university.
After declaring for the NFL draft, Williams was ultimately selected 6th overall by the Minnesota Vikings.
Williams had a fantastic rookie year with the Vikings, finishing the year with 10.5 sacks, 51 combined tackles, and forced both 1 interception and 1 fumble.
Williams finished 4th in Defensive Rookie of the Year voting and made the All-Rookie team.
The Vikings looked like legitimate contenders towards the start of the season, beginning with an impressive 6-0 record.
However, they could not keep up their impressive pace and dropped their next four games, eventually finishing with a record of 9-7.
Minnesota narrowly missed the postseason after losing their final game to a below-average Arizona Cardinals team that they were heavily favored to defeat.
Still, the future looked bright with Williams on the roster.
In eleven seasons with the Vikings, Williams earned six Pro Bowl selections and five First-Team All-Pro honors as he soon developed into one of the NFL's best defensive linemen.
2003 Topps #240 Kurt Warner
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $40
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2003 Topps #265 Ray Lewis
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $40
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2003 Topps #348 Anquan Boldin Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $40
After a solid career at Florida State University, former high school quarterback turned collegiate wide receiver Anquan Boldin declared for the NFL Draft.
Boldin was selected with the 54th overall pick by the Arizona Cardinals, falling in the draft due to his performance at the NFL Combine.
However, Boldin quickly proved to be a standout among the rookie class, setting the NFL record for debut receiving yards by a rookie with 217.
He averaged 86.1 yards per game for 8 total touchdowns on the season.
Boldin finished the season with the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year award.
He also made the Pro Bowl, making him the lone Pro Bowler in a struggling Arizona Cardinals roster.
The Cardinals finished the year 4-12, with their lone highlight being an upset win to close the season against the playoff-hopeful Minnesota Vikings.
The loss knocked the Vikings to 9-7, and the Cardinals successfully dragged the team out of playoff contention.
2003 Topps #365 Larry Johnson Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Gem Mint Value: $35
During his senior year at Penn State University, Larry Johnson rushed for over 2,000 yards and helped the Nittany Lions to a 9-4 record and a Citrus Bowl appearance against Auburn.
The Kansas City Chiefs drafted Johnson at 27th overall to be a backup or possible replacement for defending Offensive Player of the Year Priest Holmes, as the front office wasn’t sure if Holmes would return.
However, Holmes returned and maintained his form as one of the league’s best running backs.
While Holmes was fighting for Offensive Player of the Year and even MVP votes, Larry Johnson was left to play backup running back.
He played in only six games during his rookie year.
However, he did manage to run for a touchdown despite only having 20 attempts on the season.
The Chiefs finished with a 13-3 record, earning themselves a first-round bye into a playoff game with the Indianapolis Colts.
Peyton Manning and company proved to be too much for the Chiefs, and Larry Johnson watched the entire game from the sidelines as his counterpart Priest Holmes rushed for an impressive 176 yards and 2 touchdowns in a narrow 38-31 loss.
In time, Johnson would become an elite runner in his own right.
2003 Topps Football Cards In Review
Whether you're a fan of the design or not, there's no denying the amount of star power found inside this set.
Big-name quaterbacks like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees and Brett Favre along with superstars like Emmitt Smith and Jerry Rice are a huge draw.
But the rookie card class is the most impressive thing about this set.
Andre Johnson is the only Hall of Famer among them.
But there are other big-name rookies like Jason Witten, Carson Palmer, Terrell Suggs, Larry Jonnson, Kevin Williams, Willis McGahee, Dallas Clark and more who had impressive careers.
Like most sets of the era, Topps included several different subsets to boost collector interest:
- Weekly Wrap-Up (#291 - 310)
- Rookies (#311 - 385)
- Transaction (Throughout checklist)
None of the cards in this set are going to break the bank when it comes to huge price points.
But there is a lot of great value packed within the 385-card checklist.