Holmgren didn't make either the Cardinals or Topps cuts

This is the fifth in a string of "football cards that never were" that I've created in December. It's likely to be my last football custom for a while; I'll be switching gears to do some baseball cards.

I showed you a 1969 Topps-style Winston Hill card (Dec. 2), and cards of Bucky Pope (Dec. 14) and Booth Lusteg (Dec. 17). Both of the latter had never before appeared on contemporary football cards, while Hill was part of a number of national and regional issues.

On Dec. 21, I presented my card of former Eagles and Jets head coach Rich Kotite. Kotite had a short, undistinguished career as a player with the N.Y. Giants and Pittsburgh Steelers, but didn't appear on a Topps or Philadelphia card during his playing days.

Mike Holmgren didn't have a card -- or a career -- as an NFL player. However, as the very successful head coach of the Green Bay Packers (75-37 1992-98), he can be found on a number of cards in the 1990s; from ProSet, Pro Line and various local team issues.

Holmgren had an even longer career as head coach for the Seattle Seahawks, 86-74 between 1998-2008. However, he doesn't seem to have appeared on any major card sets in that span.

There does exist a really nice Topps photo taken during his time in the St. Louis Cardinals camp in 1970. It's the picture I used on my custom card.

Holmgren had been drafted by the Cards in the 8th round (#201 overall) of the 1970 NFL draft. He'd been a backup quarterback with the USC Trojans 1966-69, when the team won the Athletic Association of Western University conference titles in 1966-67 and Pac-8 crowns in 1968-69. The 1967 Trojans were National Champions with a 10-0-1 record.

The team went to the Rose Bowl in each of Holmgren's seasons there.

Holmgren's pro prospects were dampened by a 1969 knee injury that limited his playing time. He never made it out of the Cardinals' pre-season camp. He went back to his high school alma mater in 1971, where he began his coaching career.

You can order this card. Unless otherwise noted, all of my custom cards are available to collectors for $9.95 each, postpaid. Complete checklists of all my custom baseball, football and non-sports custom cards were published on this blog on Dec. 10 (football), July 6 (non-sports) and Sept. 19 (baseball). To order, email me at scbcguy@yahoo.com for directions on paying via check/money order, or to my PayPal account.