Virginia Trading Cards

Richard Coltrane (Col class of ’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 UVA 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.