Players with only one card in my collection - 3

Continuing a series showing cards of five players with only one card in my collection. There is an interesting twist to this post though, in the fact that the five players are represented on four cards.

Once again, this post owes a lot to The Trading Card Database. I'm using their sorting tools to look through my listed collection to see who only has one card, and then finding the first five names that I haven't posted yet, and instead of hauling out my binders and pulling out the necessary cards to scan, I'm borrowing images from the database.

1967 Philadelphia #38

Okay, football collectors should recognize this set quickly with its yellow border. And, I really love that hair on the card!

John Brewer was drafted by the Browns in the fourth round of the 1960 NFL Draft. He played seven seasons with the Browns.

Brewer's first five seasons with the Browns were as a slot end (tight end). During that time he caught 89 passes for 1256 yards, and 6 touchdowns. He was the starting tight end for the Browns 1964 NFL Championship team.

As you can see from the card back above, Brewer was moved to linebacker for the 1966 season. This position change explains how, as a linebacker, he is wearing number 83.

Brewer made the Pro Bowl in 1966, and had one interception and two fumble recoveries that season. In his final season with the Browns in 1967, he recovered three fumbles, and had two interceptions, returning one of them 70 yards for a touchdown.

After the 1967 season, he retired from football to go into the insurance business. A few months later, he decided he would like to continue to play football, but only for a team closer to his home, and insurance business. The Browns traded him to the New Orleans Saints where he played from 1968-70.

Looking at the listed John Brewer cards on the Trading Card Database, I'm shocked that I don't own his 1964 Philadelphia card. I'll have to fix that sometime soon. Other than the two Philadelphia cards, he also has a card in a 1961 National City Bank Browns set.

Oh, and in case you were wondering at the answer to the question on the back of the card, it is Cherokee. The same fact was used on the 1964 card.

John Brewer passed away at the age of 74, in 2011.

1954 Bowman #16

The Cleveland Browns made Bobby Garrett the first overall pick of the 1954 NFL Draft.

An All-American at Stanford, Garrett was the MVP of the 1954 Hula Bowl, and the winner of the W.J. Voit Memorial Trophy (as the outstanding football player on the Pacific Coast) in 1953.

The Browns were looking to draft a quarterback that could replace Otto Graham, and must have felt that with his college play, and his awards, that he was a fitting choice. Unfortunately, after arriving at his first Browns camp, the team discovered a weakness they weren't aware of - he stuttered, giving him trouble calling plays in the huddle.

Looking at how much scouting teams do now, and how big the NFL Combine is, there is no way something like this would slip by on a number one pick today.

Bobby Garrett never played a game for the Browns. Before the season started, the Browns traded Garrett and three other players to the Green Bay Packers for Babe Parilli and Bob Fleck, in a trade of backup quarterbacks. The Packers were unaware of the stuttering when they made the trade.

Garrett played in nine games for the Packers in 1954, his only season in the NFL. This was his only football card. He died, at the age of 55, in 1987.

2003 Topps Total #338

How wonderful was Topps Total? This card is the only Browns card that I own for both Kevin Bentley, and Ben Taylor. There is a silver parallel to this card that I don't own.

Kevin Bentley was drafted by the Browns out of Northwestern in the fourth round of the 2002 NFL Draft. He played three seasons at linebacker for the Browns from 2002-04, before moving on to and playing for Seattle, Houston, Indianapolis and Jacksonville from 2005-11.

Bentley also has a 2002 Leaf Rookies & Stars card, and parallels for me to find for my Browns collection.


Ben Taylor was also a fourth round Browns draft pick in the 2002 NFL Draft, ten picks after Kevin Bentley. He was drafted out of Virginia Tech.

Taylor played four seasons with the Browns, from 2002-05, before finishing his NFL career with the Green Bay Packers in 2006.

This Topps Total card, and its silver parallel, are the only cards from his career.


Just in case anyone was curious about the third player on the card, I have six Earl Little cards in my collection.

1972 Sunoco Stamps

Okay, this still counts as a card for my collection, even though it is a stamp. I have chosen not to show the blank back of this sticker.

Jim Copeland was a tenth round pick, out of Virginia, in the 1967 NFL Draft. His career lasted eight seasons with the Browns from 1967 - 1974, starting 9 of 81 games with the team.

I really love the dirty photo on the sticker.

Jim Copeland passed away at the age of 65 in 2010.

This is Jim Copeland's only football card.