John Mackey played RB and WR at Syracuse from 1960-’62.
He rushed for 259 yards on 58 carries, scoring 2 TDs while catching 27 passes for 481 yards and 6 TDs over his college career.
Selected by the Baltimore Colts in the second round of the 1963 NFL Draft.
Made an immediate impact as a TE, catching 35 passes for 726 yards and 7 TDs.
Over the next 7 following seasons- he never failed to reach 400 yards or catch at least 22 passes.
In ’65 he had 30 catches for 814 yards and 7 TDs.
Then in ’66 he caught 50 passes for a career high 829 yards and 9 TDs.
Finally in ’67 Mackey caught a career high 55 passes.
Caught an acrobatic75 yard TD from Johnny Unitas in Super Bowl V over the Dallas Cowboys.
He’d play with the Colts through the 1971 season.
After an acrimonious departure from Baltimore, Mackey played a final season in 1972 with the San Diego Chargers.
A knee injury ended his career- but over that period he played in 139 out of a possible 140 games- a testament to his durability.
ACCOLADES:
Syracuse Orangemen #88 retired
NFL 50th Anniversary All-Time Team
NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team
NFL 1960s All-Decade Team
Pro Bowl 1963, ’65-68
All Pro 1966-1968
Baltimore Ravens Ring of Honor
Pro Football Hall of Fame
100 Greatest Football Players
Nassau County High School Athletic Hall of Fame
NOTES:
John Mackey is considered one of the greatest tight ends of all time and he was the second pure TE inducted into the HoF in 1992. He revolutionized the position with his combination speed and power.
He was also instrumental in unionizing the players into the NFLPA, serving as the group’s first president after the merger, and held that capacity from 1970-’73. (He was blackballed at the end of his career, but squeezed out a final year in San Diego.) Mackey organized the first labor strike, and helped overturn the ‘Rozelle Rule’ (which was in regards to free agency).
Frontotemporal dementia entered his life and it became harder and harder for him to function, and after a few bizarre social episodes, he entered full-time assisted living. Mackey’s wife reached out to Paul Tagliabue, who then worked with then current NFLPA president Gene Upshaw to create a new plan that would help cover the cost of former NFL players struggling with dementia and Alzheimer’s. It was called the ’88 Plan’ in Mackey’s honor.
In a final note, it’s very important with Mackey to make sure that you are getting a certified autograph of his- as there is a bustling market of fake autographs of his circulating in the wild.
REC
YDS
AVG
TD
LG
331
5236
15.8
38
89t
EPITAPH:
7/6/2011- John Mackey passed away at the age of 69. His brain was posthumously donated to science, where it was discovered he suffered from CTE.
Roger has some great cards, and many of them still I need to get signed for set needs. Both of his Action Packed cards are exemplary action shots. I really like the ’91 entry of him running from a Ram defender off canvas.
I still thoroughly believe that Roger should be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Jim Otto played center and linebacker at the University of Miami, FL.
He was selected by the proposed AFL Minnesota team in 1960.
When the Minnesota team joined the NFL instead, his rights fell to the Oakland Raiders.
Jim went on to play the entire 10 years of the AFL as the Raiders starting center.
He’d then play an additional FIVE more for the Raiders after the AFL and NFL merged.
Considered one of the finest- if not the finest center to play the game, Jim was showered with accolades throughout his career.
He was the last original Oakland Raider to retire- after the 1974 season.
Started 210 contests over his career.
Jim is equally well known as the most famous player to wear the number ’00’.
ACCOLADES:
First Team All- AFL 1960-’65, ’67-’69
Second Team All- AFL 1966
AFL All-Star 1961-’69
Pro Bowl 1970-’72
All Pro 1970
Second Team All Pro 1972
All Time AFL Team
NFL 100th Anniversary All-Time Team
University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame and Museum 1972
Wisconsin Sports Hall of Fame 1998
Pro Football Hall of Fame 1980
NOTES:
I wrote Jim back in 2020, and like many of the autographs during the COVID blitz- they got lost in the shuffle. Then as I got around to this post I kept kicking it further down, thinking I’d get him again on another card or two at that point. His fee also was just a modest $10 per card.
Both of these are sets that I really like. This classy 1970 Topps card with him popping a block with a smile is pretty iconic. The Upper Deck Legends turned into a set need around this time, and the silver sharpie touch was really nice of him.
Jim notably also suffered from more than SEVENTY operations due to his time playing football, and eventually had his right leg amputated in 2007, and almost died twice from post-surgery infections. Jim is a cautionary tale of ‘playing through pain’. He is said to have lived in constant pain over the last few years of his life- but remained a steadfast defendant of the sport.
EPITAPH:
5/19/2024- Jim Otto passed away at the grand old age of 86 in Aurora, Ca. No cause of death was given.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
