Richard Coltrane (Col ’61) once had a collection of sports trading cards so large that he donated 80,000 cards to the Boys and Girls Club in Newport News before moving to his current home in Midlothian, Va. A letterman on the U.Va. track team, Coltrane has also been a lifelong Cavaliers fan—a passion that’s reflected in his large trading-card collection of Virginia alumni who played professional football and basketball.
His football collection includes players from many eras, beginning with college and professional hall-of-famer Bill Dudley and ending with a number of former Cavaliers who are still playing in the NFL.
That earliest card is still Coltrane’s favorite. “Bill Dudley is one of the all-time greats,” he says. “There hasn’t been anybody with the variety of talents he had. There have been better quarterbacks, punters, defensive backs and running backs, but I don’t know of anyone who could do it all the way he could.”
Coltrane recently donated his collection to the Alumni Association. A selection of his football cards can be viewed in this online gallery. Look for selections from his basketball collection; they will be posted this winter.
Bill Dudley
Johnny Papit
Gene Schroeder
Tom Scott
Henry Jordan
Jim Bakhtiar
Comments
Awesome collection.At least 6-7SuperBowl rings in this group.Ronde Barber has put up numbers that should get him to Canton and The Hall of Fame!Thanks for sharing.
No Bob Davis? Cavs' QB in early '60s. Went on to play for the Jets and other NFL teams. I'm pretty sure he had a card. He was from my NJ hometown and a friend of my older sister. He got me interested in UVa which ultimately led to me choosing to attend The University.
Anthony Poindexter is the best UVA player of all time. Discuss.
Where's Billy Griggs????
Nice set of cards...lots of rookie cards. I did not know the "Persian Prince" had played in Canada...in his 6th year with Calgary at the age of 24??
Leave a Comment