P.H. Mayo was the first company to produce a football card series in 1894. Of course there was no NFL back then, but there were several college football teams. The Mayo set consisted of 35 players from Harvard, Yale, and Princeton.

The information you need to start collecting football cards is essentially identical to collecting baseball cards. To learn more about how to collect football cards please visit our baseball card collecting pages. Here you will find information about the various types of football cards to collect.

Please take the time to learn how to store football cards so that all of your fun, hard work, and money don't go to waste. For some collectors, investing in football cards is a serious business, which type of collector are you? Once you've started collecting, you'll want to learn how to figure out the value of a football card. For those that are absolutely passionate about collecting you'll want to read about the possibility of a football card career.

As with all sports cards we believe that trading is an excellent way to add to your collection. While you are here have a look at our football card trading message board.

April 2010
25th - 2010 Sage Autographed Football Hobby Box
28th - 2010 Press Pass Portrait Edition Football Hobby Box

May 2010
11th - 2010 Panini Prestige Football Hobby Box

June 2010
2nd - 2010 Sage Squared Football Hobby Box
16th - 2010 Donruss Elite Football Hobby Box

July, 2010
7th - 2010 Score Football Box
28th -2010 Panini Classics Football Hobby Box
-2010 TriStar Hidden Treasures Autographed Mini-Helmet Football Hobby Box

August 2010
17th - 2010 Panini Rookies & Stars Football Hobby Box
23rd - 2010 Topps Football Hobby Box

September 2010
1st - 2010 Upper Deck NCAA Sweet Spot Football Hobby Box
8th - 2010 Panini Threads Football Hobby Box
15th - 2010 Topps Platinum Football Hobby Box
22nd - 2010 Panini Epix Football Hobby Box
23 - 2010 Topps Finest Football Hobby Box

October 2010
4th -2010 Topps Factory Set Football Hobby Box
11th - 2010 Topps Chrome Football Hobby Box
19th - 2010 Upper Deck SPx Football Hobby Box

November 2010
17th - 2010 Topps Unrivaled Football Hobby Box

December 2010
1st - 2010 Topps Prime Football Hobby Box
27th - 2010 Topps Magic Football Hobby Box

2009/2010 Football card release dates

Football Card News

8/26/2010
2010 Topps Football arrives this week!

8/12/2010
Panini America Selects Peyton Manning as Official NFL Spokesman and Trading Card Ambassador.

8/2/2010
Panini Announces Exclusive Agreement with Pro Football Hall of Fame.

4/29/2010
The Topps Company, a leading creator and marketer of sports cards, today announced a multi-year trading card licensing agreement with the National Football League and NFL PLAYERS (the marketing and licensing arm of the NFLPA).

“We are excited to continue our deep, long standing partnership with the NFL and the NFLPA,” said Ryan O’Hara, CEO of The Topps Company. “Topps will bring innovative, exciting and fun products to the marketplace to serve consumers and customers well.”

3/31/2010
Upper Deck Unveils 2009 Exquisite Collection Football. Bonus pack of one autographed memorabilia card included in every box!

2/23/2010
Upper Deck Proudly Launches 2009 Ultimate Collection Football! One autograph or memorabilia card in every box; updated '97 Legends autographs fall at one per case!

2/19/2010
Saints Alive: Upper Deck Unveils Super Bowl XLIV Box Set! Impressive 50-card collection spotlights key moments from Super Bowl 44 and includes oversized commemorative card!

2/12/2010
Punt, Pass and Kick: Upper Deck Releases 2009 SP Authentic Football Card Set . Sports card leader unveils latest gridiron collection; once again, autographs are all hard-signed on cards!

2/4/10
In celebration of Super Bowl 44 in Miami, Panini, a leading manufacturer of licensed collectibles, NFL and NBA trading cards, put out a bounty valued at more than $1,500, for the collector who pulls the NFL Limited 2009 Pro Bowl Combo Materials card featuring Super Bowl quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Drew Brees (sequentially numbered #44 of 100). With a week left before the offer expired, collector Dawn McNew of Lehigh Acres, Fla., contacted the Panini offices to let them know the card all of America was searching for was part of her 1,000+ card Peyton Manning card collection.

1/27/10
Panini, a leading manufacturer of licensed collectibles, is offering the collector who uncovers the NFL 2009 Limited Pro Bowl Combo Materials card featuring Super Bowl quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Drew Brees (sequentially numbered #44 of 100), the chance to trade the card in for one box of every Panini NFL trading card released in 2010 and an exclusive Manning-Brees card sequentially numbered #1-of-1. Based upon the current production schedule, the collector will receive 10-15 products with a retail value of more than $1500.

1/25/2010
2009 NFL Contenders Legendary Contenders Short-Prints. Officials at Panini America announced today the complete list of short-printed Legendary Contenders from 2009 Contenders football.

1/18/2010
2009 NFL Contenders College Tickets Short-Prints. Officials at Panini America announced today the complete list of short-printed College Rookie Tickets from 2009 Contenders football.

1/15/2010
2009 NFL Contenders Short-Prints. Officials at Panini America announced today the complete list of short-printed Rookie Cards for 2009 Contenders football.

12/17/2009
Bengals WR Chris Henry dead at 26

12/11/2009
Upper Deck Captures Michael Oher, Subject of ‘The Blind Side,’ on Many 2009 Football Cards! New movie showcases homeless youngster from a broken home who fulfills potential by becoming starting offensive lineman in the NFL

12/9/2009
Pro Football Hall of Fame Unveils Super High-End football Card Set

Upper Deck is proud to present the 2009 NFL America's Team insert set paying homage to one of the greatest professional sports franchises of all-time. 2009 NFL America's Team - Collect the Dallas Cowboys like never before - Available in 2009 NFL Icons, 2009 NFL Upper Deck, 2009 NFL First Edition and 2009 NFL SP Signature Edition.

12/5/2009
NFL Players Association opts not to renew Topps football card license.

12/3/2009
Tattooed Colts’ Follower Matt Ellis Wins Upper Deck’s Ultimate NFL Fan Contest! Fanatical gridiron fan from Auburn, Indiana, proves worthy of grand-prize package

10/28/2009
History has a way of repeating itself, and with the forthcoming release of 2009 Limited Football Panini America Inc. has return a hobby classic to its roots.

10/26/2009
Christmas Arrives Early: Upper Deck Releases 2009 SP Threads Football Card Set. Extremely popular brand has been reconfigured to deliver the same high-end rookie cards at an even greater value!

10/20/2009
Upper Deck Releases 2009 SP Threads Football Card Set. Extremely popular brand has been reconfigured to deliver the same high-end rookie cards at an even greater value!

10/15/2009
Upper Deck Searches for the Ultimate NFL Fan! Sports card company to give away Ultimate VIP Fan Package to the most creative NFL fanatic via online promotion.

10/6/2009
Panini Releases FIRST Brett Favre Vikings Certified Autograph Football Card - Officials at Panini America announced today that the company will be including the FIRST certified autograph trading card of Minnesota Viking's quarterback, Brett Favre, in its October 2009 hobby release Certified Football. Facing his former team Monday night, Favre completed 24 of 31 passes for 271 yards and three touchdowns. The Minnesota Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers, 30-23 at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.

9/24/2009
Absolute Memorabilia Football Raises the Bar with Additional Hobby Hits.

9/21/2009
Within days of a season-ending wrist injury, Chicago Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher says he was written off by an autograph and sports memorabilia company.

9/18/2009
Upper Deck Kicks Off ’09 Football Season by Launching New, Interactive Gridiron Website. Collectors will be treated to online contests, a revolutionary new rookie card management system and much more!

9/15/2009
Sneak Peek Gallery: 2009 Playoff Absolute Football Cards

9/11/2009
2009 Topps National Chicle Football cards coming this winter

9/2/2009
2009 National Treasures Pen Pals.

8/31/2009
NFL Hall of Famer Elvin Bethea and five other players have sued the NFL for using their names and images for profit without their permission.

8/26/2009
Farve's First Donruss Threads Card Will Now Be Available at Target too

8/25/2009
Panini Makes First Favre Vikings Football Card a Walmart Exclusive

8/21/2009
Topps this afternoon revealed a card from the forthcoming 2009 Topps Finest Football, due out Sept. 15, sure to have a certain sect of purple people eating it up: Brett Favre’s first Minnesota Vikings card.

8/13/2009
Lights, Camera, Action: Top NFL Rookies Discuss the Art of Autographs. Standouts like Matt Stafford, Mark Sanchez, Percy Harvin, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Aaron Curry provide their take on signing for the fans!

8/1/2009
Topps officials recently released preliminary information and images on the rookie-laden 2009 Bowman Chrome Football, a 165-card set featuring 55 rookies seeded one per pack.

7/28/2009
Topps announces that there are several short-printed autographed cards and 50 base cards in the recently released 2009 Topps Magic Football.

7/21/2009
Topps officials on Tuesday morning released preliminary details and images of 2009 Topps Mayo Football.

7/15/2009
* Panini America will be continuing the tradition of holding the wrapper redemption. Collectors bringing FIVE un-opened packs of any 2009 Panini hobby product (or box of any Retail product), will receive a one-three card pack. Included in the packs will be updated Donruss Elite rookie cards, basketball and even Americana cards.

* Back by popular demand, Upper Deck proudly presents its new, league-approved “Top 10 Touchdown Dance Challenge” video captured at this year’s NFL Rookie Premiere Photo Shoot inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The cream of the league’s rookie crop proved that they not only possess great skills on the football field but can also hold their own with the best of them out on the dance floor or – in this case – the end zone.

6/25/2009
Bowman Sterling Football In a Class of Its Own. The collector-popular Bowman Sterling Football returns in 2009 featuring all the top rookies and super veterans for the upcoming NFL Season.

6/18/2009
Panini America Brings Back 1989 Score Football Cards

6/9/2009
Topps Chrome Football Returns with the Most Collectible 2009 NFL Rookie Cards! Every hobby box guarantees (1) autographed rookie card featuring names such as Mark Sanchez, Michael Crabtree and Matthew Stafford. Black Refractor (#’d to 25), Gold Refractor (#’d to 10) and SuperFractor (1 of 1) autograph parallels round out the assortment.

6/2/2009
* Record Breaker: Pristine Joe Montana Rookie Card Sells for $65K!

* The Upper Deck 2009 NFL Rookie Touchdown Dance Challenge video

5/28/2009
First look: 2009 Topps Chrome football

5/23/2009
Panini Confirms Prestige Variations

5/12/2009
The top picks from the 2009 NFL Draft, including the top three selections in Matthew Stafford, Jason Smith and Tyson Jackson, will headline a group of more than 30 NFL rookies who will make their professional debut at this weekend’s Reebok NFL Players Rookie Premiere presented by EA Sports and hosted by NFL Players.

5/6/2009
Panini: 2009 Playoff Prestige will have zero redemptions

4/28/2009
* Press Pass announces 2009 football cards red ink, inscriptions list

* McFarlane Toys unveils college football figures

4/27/2009
* Upper Deck Soliciting Special Inscriptions for NFL’s Top Rookies

* Panini America's Draft Day Surprise

3/11/2009
2008 UD Ultimate Collection Football Packs a Punch

2/26/2009
Officials at Donruss recently released images for its first NFL set of 2009, Playoff Prestige. Set to hit streets May 13th (just two weeks after the NFL Draft), the rookie cards from Prestige are the first official trading cards on the market with updated team and draft information for the new rookie class.

2/19/2009
Topps Mayo NFL / Short Prints Revealed - Topps announces that the recently-released and very popular 2008 Topps Mayo Football features a number of short printed cards including base cards, autographs and relics.

2/5/2009
Donruss Produces Pro Bowl Trading Card Set

2/4/2009
Stadium Club Football Super Teams….Prizes Announced

2/2/2009
Donruss officials said they were extremely happy with the turnout at this year’s Super Bowl Card Show, the first held under the company’s sponsorship.

1/26/2009
Playoff National Treasures 1 of 1's

1/22/2009
Donruss has created a 440-card Super Bowl edition factory set that will be sold at the event. Produced under the Score name, each card will feature the official Super Bowl XLIII logo. As a free bonus, collectors purchasing the factory set will get an exclusive 18-card set of those participating in this year's Super Bowl. Nine cards will highlight the NFC's Arizona Cardinals and nine will highlight the AFC's Pittsburgh Steelers.

1/20/2009
2008 Playoff Contenders Football Cards Part 2 of 2

1/16/2009
Product Review: 2008 Playoff Contenders Football Cards

1/12/2009
* Donruss Becomes the "Official Trading Card Sponsor of the NFL Experience"

* Topps announces the next etopps installment of its popular Allen & Ginter Super Bowl Champions collection.

1/8/2009
Football cards - On card rookie autographs in 2008 Playoff National Treasures

Sammy Baugh: 1914-2008

How much are my football cards worth?
Sell your baseball cards

Investing In Baseball Cards
A valuable 2006 baseball card
How To Store Baseball Cards
Baseball Card Careers
Baseball Card Release Dates
Baseball Card Collecting
Sports Card Shops
Online Sports Card Directory
Home page