• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
    • Advertise with SC Daily
    • Write for Sports Collectors Daily
    • Write About Your Sports Collection
    • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?
  • Hot on eBay
    • Most Watched Graded Rookies
    • Most Watched PSA 10 Cards
    • Most Watched BGS, BVG Cards
    • Most Watched SGC Cards
    • Most Watched CSG,CGC Cards
    • Most Watched Baseball Cards
      • Most Watched 2023 Baseball Cards
      • Most Watched 2022 Baseball Rookie Cards
      • Bowman Chrome Cards
      • Ronald Acuna Jr. Cards
      • Shohei Ohtani Cards
      • Mike Trout Cards
      • Fernando Tatis Jr. Cards
      • Babe Ruth Cards
      • Hank Aaron Cards
      • Jackie Robinson Cards:
      • Mickey Mantle Cards
      • Willie Mays Cards
      • Vintage Baseball Card Sets
      • T206 Cards
    • Most Watched Basketball
      • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards
      • 100 Hottest 2022-23 NBA Rookie Cards
      • Victor Wembanyama Cards
      • Michael Jordan Cards
      • Kobe Bryant Cards
      • LeBron James Rookie Cards
      • Nikola Jokic Rookie Cards
      • Giannis Antetokounmpo Cards
      • Luka Doncic Rookie Cards
      • Prizm Basketball Cards
      • Panini National Treasures
    • Most Watched Football Cards
      • Most Watched NFL Rookie Cards
      • 2023 NFL Rookie Cards
        • CJ Stroud Cards
      • 2022 NFL Rookie Cards
        • Brock Purdy Rookie Cards
      • 2021 NFL Rookie Cards
      • 2020 NFL Rookie Cards
        • Joe Burrow Rookie Cards
        • Justin Herbert Rookie Cards
        • Jalen Hurts Rookie Cards
      • Josh Allen Rookie Cards
      • Patrick Mahomes Rookie Cards
      • Tom Brady Cards
    • Most Watched Hockey Cards
      • Top 100 Most Watched Hockey Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2021-22 NHL Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2020-21 Rookie Cards
      • Most Watched 2019-20 Rookie Cards
      • Connor McDavid Cards
      • Wayne Gretzky Cards
      • Bobby Orr Cards
    • Most Watched Soccer Cards
    • Most Watched UFC Cards
    • Most Watched Golf Cards
    • Most Watched 1 of 1 Cards
    • Most Watched Topps SuperFractors
    • Most Watched Racing Cards
    • Top Sports Card Dealers on eBay
    • Most Watched Memorabilia
      • Vintage Sports Memorabilia
      • Vintage Sports Tickets, Stubs
      • Most Watched Autographs
  • Ending Soon on Ebay
    • Baseball Cards
    • Basketball Cards
    • Football Cards
    • Hockey Cards
    • Soccer Cards
    • Golf Cards
    • UFC Cards
  • Top - Ad

Sports Collectors Daily

Sports Collectors Daily

Sports collecting news - Sports cards and sports memorabilia industry news.

When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network and Amazon.com.

  • Sports Memorabilia News
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
      • New Sports Card Release Calendar
      • Shop Talk
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Affordable Vintage Cards, Collectibles
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
      • Old Hockey Card Sets
      • Vintage Pack Facts
  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • Around The Hobby
    • Editor’s Blog
    • David Cycleback’s Identification and Authentication Advice
  • Popular Stories
  • Sell Your Cards
You are here: Home / Around the Hobby / Card Back Q&A: Ed Marinaro Talks Running Wild at Cornell, Heisman Trophy Finish, Durability

Card Back Q&A: Ed Marinaro Talks Running Wild at Cornell, Heisman Trophy Finish, Durability

March 15, 2022 By Tony Reid

Long before he became a well-known actor, Ed Marinaro was first and foremost an athlete.  He was the talk of college football in 1971 when he led the nation in rushing at Cornell, bringing national attention to the Ivy League through an appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Marinaro played six seasons in the NFL with the Minnesota Vikings New York Jets and Seattle Seahawks, appearing in Super Bowls VIII and IX with the Minnesota Vikings. 

During his career, he appeared in the 1974, 1976 and 1977 Topps sets and also had a card in the 1976 Crane Potato Chips disc set and a 1977 TCMA issue. He’s also been part of some post-career football sets. We recently talked with him about what he saved from his dual careers, autographs and collecting as a kid.  He also joined us for an edition of Card Back Q&A:

Tony Reid-Your 1974 Topps rookie card, like many of your early cards do, mention your incredible college statistics, including setting 17 NCAA records during your time at Cornell. Your career, especially your magical senior season, was one for the record books. When you hear some of those numbers or some of those stories, what are your thoughts about that time in your life today?

Ed Marinaro– With those kind of statistics, no one ever plans on doing that. I was pretty heavily recruited out of high school to play football and basketball. I never thought I would ever achieve those kind of statistics. I was lucky to play for a team that played an offense that suited my skillset. Back then, we played freshman football and the varsity team was running a whole different offense my freshman year. They changed it between my freshman and sophomore year. They went into a Deep I formation where I was in a two point stance and they would give me the ball four or five yards behind the line of scrimmage and I could pick where I wanted to go or they pitched it to me. I averaged about 40 carries a game and never got hurt, which is amazing when you think about it. Now, in pro or college ball, no one plays every down. Back then I played every down.

The fact that I was able to survive that and not get injured is pretty remarkable. It was a very heady time. It all happened really quickly. I went from a relatively obscure player at an Ivy League college to by my fourth varsity game I was Sports Illustrated Back of the Week. It was crazy. I broke all of the Ivy League rushing records in the fourth game of my college career.

TR-In 1987 TCMA produced a card set that featured a card of you that mentioned you finishing as a runner up to Pat Sullivan for the Heisman Trophy in 1972. How special was it to receive that level of recognition for your amazing senior football season?

EM-Honestly, it would have been nice to win but I think when you win the Heisman Trophy it can really become a burden on you, moving forward in life. It forces you to live in the past. I wasn’t thinking that at the time but as I reflect back, winning the Heisman Trophy is kind of an annuity. You can make a living being an ex-Heisman Trophy winner. I couldn’t rely in that, so it motivated me to do other things in life. There are certainly Heisman winners that are uber successful like the Roger Staubachs of the world.

It was a different time. The market today is just loaded with football players. Every place you turn there is an athlete promoting something. It’s kind of a saturated market right now.

TR–In 2005 Topps produced an All American set, paying homage to college football greats. On the back it shares some staggering numbers such as your average of 175 rushing yards per game, your incredible 10 200 yard games and the fact that in 1971 you averaged 209 yards per game. I don’t even know what my question is but to see and hear those numbers is amazing.

EM-Looking back at it, I was durable and took a lot of shots but that was probably one of my better qualities. Just gaining all of those yards when they knew what was coming, they knew I was going to carry 40 times. I carried 47 times two times in my career. It wasn’t hard to scout us they just had to stop me. It is a tribute to how good my team was back then. We had a really good team. We had a lot of really great athletes playing offensive line in front of me. They were the unsung heroes. I was lucky, I had three really good fullbacks during my career.

It was fun. I have a lot of friends who I played with who I am still friends with that take a lot of pride in what we did as a team and in what I did. Being an Ivy Leaguer, I think a lot of people questioned my statistics and my success because I was playing in the Ivy League but I went on and had a six year NFL career which would have been longer if I didn’t get hurt. A lot of guys come from much bigger schools than Cornell that never make it in the NFL. You can’t really judge people like that. I wouldn’t change anything.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Reddit
  • Facebook Messenger

Related Stories:

Ed Marinaro Q&A: Ivy League Legend Turned Actor on Childhood Card Collecting, Autographs, Namath and More Card Back Q&A: Kevin Jordan Talks Only Signing Error Card for Nun and Pinch Hitting vs. Nenn Card Back Q&A: Phil Bradley Talks College Football Stardom, Mariner Memories and Father’s Influence Card Back Q&A: Jim Everett Talks Quarterback Challenge, Rams ‘All Sports Days’ and High School Wrestling Career Card Back Q&A: Ruppert Jones Talks Taking Up Karate, Hitting Third Deck in Kingdome, Claudell Washington Card Back Q&A: Marty Cordova Talks Valet Parking, Record HR Streak, Kirby Puckett Mentorship

About Tony Reid

From the time he was a little kid, Tony has been a huge sports fan. If he could play sports, watch sports and talk about sports it was a great day. From as early as he was drawn to sports, Tony was drawn to collecting sports cards. Not much has changed over the years. He collects RCs of star players in baseball, basketball and football. He also has a soft spot for first autographs of MMA stars. If you want to talk to Tony about the greatness of Michael Jordan, Bo Jackson or Ken Griffey, Jr. you can reach him at [email protected] and @tonyreidwrites on social media.

Filed Under: Around the Hobby, Popular Stories Tagged With: Card Back Q and A, Ed Marinaro

Primary Sidebar

Our articles may contain affiliate links. When you click on links to merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network. 

Shop Sports Cards on Ebay
  • Football
  • Basketball
  • Baseball
  • Hockey

High End Cards and Memorabilia

  • BBCE Authenticated Boxes, Packs opens in a new window
  • Graded pre-War Card eBay Auctions
  • PWCC Premier Auction
  • PWCC Fixed Price Marketplace
  • Graded Rookie Cards on eBay opens in a new window
  • Authenticated Photos on eBay opens in a new window
  • Graded Tickets & Stubs opens in a new window

Bargain Corner

  • Michael Jordan cards $5 and less opens in a new window
  • Kobe Bryant cards $5 and less opens in a new window
  • Mickey Mantle Cards Under $150 opens in a new window
  • Graded T206 Cards Under $150 opens in a new window
  • Pre-War Cards Under $100 opens in a new window
  • Pre-1980 Graded Baseball Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Pre-1980 Graded Football Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Basketball Cards $25 and less opens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Hockey Cards $10 and Less opens in a new window
  • Complete Sets $20 and Less opens in a new window
  • Baseball Hall of Famers for $5 or Less opens in a new window
  • Football Hall of Famers for $5 or Less opens in a new window
  • Hobby Boxes Under $30 opens in a new window
  • Pre-1986 Rookie Cards Under $1 opens in a new window
  • Buy Boxes Directly from Topps opens in a new window

RSS Auction Report

  • Heritage Auctions December Sports Showcase Auction Ends Dec. 23, 2023
  • JG.Limited History & Culture Auction Ends December 12, 2023
  • Pristine Auction December 2023 Daily, Weekly and Featured Auctions

Footer

Categories

  • Around the Hobby
  • Business/Industry News
    • Sports Memorabilia Business News
    • Sports Memorabilia Industry News
  • David Cycleback's Identification and Authentication Advice
  • Editor's Blog
  • Featured Articles
  • Hobby Shop Talk
  • National Sports Collectors Convention
  • Popular Stories
  • Rich Klein's Ramblings
  • Sports Card News
    • Modern Sports Card News
      • New Sports Card Release Calendar
    • Vintage Sports Card News
      • Old Baseball Card Sets
      • Old Basketball Card Sets
      • Old Football Card Sets
      • Old Hockey Card Sets
      • Vintage Pack Facts
  • Sports Memorabilia News
  • Uncategorized

Sponsor Links

  • Sports Card Forumopens in a new window
  • Buying Vintage Sports Cardsopens in a new window
  • Championship Rings For Saleopens in a new window
  • Autographed Baseballsopens in a new window
  • Vintage Graded Baseball Cardsopens in a new window
  • Sports Collectors Storeopens in a new window

Pages

Ending on eBay Soon
  • Baseball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Basketball Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Football Card Auctions on eBay Ending Soon
  • Hockey Card Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
  • Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay Ending Soon
Top 100 on Ebay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Baseball Rookie Cards on eBay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Basketball Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Top 100 Most Watched Hockey Rookie Card Auctions
  • Top Authenticated Vintage Unopened Sports Card Boxes, Packs on eBay
Most Watched on eBay
  • 100 Most Watched Graded Rookie Cards for Sale on eBay
  • 100 Most Watched Tom Brady Card Auctions on eBay
  • 50 Hottest Hobby Boxes at Auction on eBay
  • 50 Most Watched Golf Trading Cards on eBay
  • 50 Most Watched Wrestling Trading Cards on eBay
  • 75 Most Watched Bowman Chrome Cards
  • Most Popular Bobbleheads on eBay
  • Most Watched 1/1 Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Basketball Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Complete Baseball Card Sets at Auction on eBay
  • Most Watched Football Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Football Rookie Card Auctions
  • Most Watched Goudey Baseball Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Hockey Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Racing Cards on eBay
  • Most Watched Soccer Cards for Sale on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Autographs on eBay
  • Most Watched Sports Jerseys on eBay
  • Most Watched Unopened Sports Card Boxes, Packs on eBay
  • Most Watched Vintage Sports Memorabilia on eBay
  • Hottest Panini National Treasures Cards on eBay
  • Hottest PSA 10 Cards for Sale on eBay
  • What’s Hot on eBay
Sports Memorabilia
  • Sports Card Bargain Bin
  • Sports Memorabilia Auctions Ending Soon on eBay
About Sports Collectors Daily
  • Advertise with SC Daily
  • Contact Us
  • Get Sports Collectors Daily via EMail
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
Sell Your Cards
  • What’s It Worth
  • Where Can I Sell My Baseball Cards?

Copyright © 2023 SportsCollectorsDaily.com | Web Design by Wickam Groupopens in a new window