Jack Ham - Pittsburgh Steelers / Penn State Nittany Lions 

1981 Topps #235 Football Card

Hall of Famer / 4 Time Super Bowl Champion / Steel Curtain !!

Great card of NFLs all-time great player – card pulled from a 500 count vending box - card never exposed to wax / bubble gum

see photos for condition, nicely centered card - this card is often not well centered - ships in plastic penny sleeve

Will combine shipping  - 1st item full price shipping, $0.50 add on each for each additional item

Great price for a 40+ year old card !!

Jack Raphael Ham, Jr. (born December 23, 1948) is a former American football outside linebacker who played for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL) from 1971 to 1982. He is considered one of the greatest outside linebackers in the history of the NFL


Ham played college ball at Penn State. In his three years as a starting linebacker, the Nittany Lions had records of 11-0, 11-0, and 7–3. In his senior year, 1970, Ham was co-captain, had 91 tackles, four interceptions, and was an All-American. He had 251 career tackles, 143 unassisted. He blocked three punts in 1968, setting a school record that was not tied until 1989.[citation needed] He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1990.[1][4]


On December 11, 2014 the Big Ten Network included Ham on "The Mount Rushmore of Penn State Football", as chosen by online fan voting. Ham was joined in the honor by John Cappelletti, LaVar Arrington and Shane Conlan.


Ham was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second-round (34th overall) of the 1971 NFL Draft. He won the starting left linebacker job as a rookie. He was first-team All-Pro six years and was named to eight straight Pro Bowls.[1] He was named the greatest outside linebacker of all time by a consortium of professional sports writers, beating Lawrence Taylorfor this honor.[citation needed] Ham was blessed with tremendous quickness — according to Steelers coach Chuck Noll and teammate Andy Russell he was the "fastest Steeler for the first ten yards, including wide receivers and running backs", this was on a team which included John Stallworth, Lynn Swann and Frank Lewis.[citation needed] He was one of the few outside linebackers who could play pass defense as well as the NFL's top safeties. Although he was a ferocious hitter, he was known as a player who couldn't be fooled and was seldom out of position.[2] Maxie Baughan, the great former NFL linebacker said of Ham, "He was one of the more intelligent players to ever play that position. He was able to diagnose plays. You couldn't ever fool him."[citation needed]


Ham's career statistics include 25 sacks, 21 fumbles recovered, and 32 interceptions[1] (although the sack numbers are unofficial since the NFL did not begin recording sacks until Ham's final year in the league, so he officially has just three sacks).[5][6] As these numbers indicate, Ham had a flair for the big play, guided by some of the best football instincts ever found in a linebacker. Ham was a member of four Super Bowl winning teams during his twelve-year career (although he did not play in Super Bowl XIV due to an ankle injury), all of it spent with the Steelers.[1][2] His 53 takeaways are the most in NFL history by a non-defensive back.


Career information

High school: Johnstown (PA) McCort

College: Penn State

NFL draft: 1971 / Round: 2 / Pick: 34

Career history

Pittsburgh Steelers (1971–1982)

Career highlights and awards

8× Pro Bowl (1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978,1979, 1980)

6× First-team All-Pro (1974, 1975, 1976, 1977,1978, 1979)

2× Second-team All-Pro (1973, 1980)

2011 Pittsburgh Pro Football Hall of Fame

NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team

NFL 1970s All-Decade Team

1975 PFWA Defensive Player of the Year

4× Super Bowl Champion (IX, X, XIII, XIV)

NFL Record for most career forced turnovers by a linebacker (53)

Ranked number 47 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Football Players

Ranked #60 on NFL.com's Top 100 Players of All-Time

Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team

Pittsburgh Steelers All-Time Team (50th Season)

Pittsburgh Steelers #59 no longer issued

College Football Hall of Fame inductee (1990)

Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee (1988)

Career NFL statistics

Interceptions: 32

Touchdowns: 2

Stats at NFL.com

Stats at pro-football-reference.com

Pro Football Hall of Fame

College Football Hall of Fame