Today’s card of the day is a 1963 Kahn’s Wieners card of Joe Rutgens. Rutgens, a defensive tackle for the Washington Redskins from 1961 to 1969, is celebrating his 85th birthday today. Rutgens made the Pro Bowl twice, in 1963 and 1965. After starring at the University of Illinois, he was the third overall pick in the 1961 NFL Draft, after Tommy Mason and Norm Snead.
The 1963 Kahn’s Wieners set was the first Kahn’s set to include players from all of the NFL teams. The distribution among the teams was strangely uneven, however. The Redskins were one of the best represented teams, with fourteen cards. The Minnesota Vikings and Los Angeles Rams, at the other extreme, got just two cards each. An article on my old blog shows the card distribution among all the teams.
Joe Rutgens appeared in a few other sets, also. You can see all of his cards in the Gallery.
Happy birthday, Mr. Rutgens!
