Will Topps or Panini be first to honor the "Jackie Robinson of the NFL?"
There is an opportunity here for Topps or Panini, not just to put some incredibly cool cards in the hands of collectors but to do what trading cards, at their very best, have done for more than a century: tell the story of the sport.
Literally every baseball fan knows the name Jackie Robinson and rightly so. In 1947, Robinson broke Baseball's Color Barrier, opening the door for fellow legends like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Roberto Clemente and paving the way for some of today's biggest stars, including Aaron Judge, Mookie Betts, and Ronald Acuña, Jr.
Robinson's iconic status as a Barrier Breaker has long been recognized in the Hobby, reflected by the fact that he has nearly 6,000 different baseball cards, roughly 99% of which were produced after he retired from baseball. In 2023 alone, for example, he had nearly 300 different cards.
Isn't it strange then that Kenny Washington, who broke the NFL's Color Barrier one year earlier, is someone most NFL fans and collectors have never even heard of! I would offer that at least one reason this remains true is that the "Jackie Robinson of the NFL" hasn't had a football card in 75 years! (Read that last part of the sentence again if you need to: 75 YEARS!)
Excluding an unlicensed reprint from 1990, here is Kenny Washington's complete history on cardboard.
If you're keeping score at home, that's a grand total of three cards—THREE CARDS!—though the die-hards will of course want both the black and white-letter variations from 1948 Leaf.
But yeah, even the most recent of these cards was issued three-quarters of a century ago, so what's stopping Topps or Panini from adding Kenny to their checklists today? In short, nothing. Literally nothing at all. "Wait," you say. "But what about licensing?"
From a league and team perspective, Panini is absolutely in the clear as they currently hold an exclusive license with the NFL and its properties. At the same time, take a look at the cards above (or most photos of Kenny as a pro!). As there are no league or team logos present, Topps wouldn't even need Photoshop to put Kenny Washington cards in its sets.
On the player side of the licensing equation, Kenny does not fall under any current NFLPA agreements as he's not an active player. Permission to include Kenny on football cards would follow the same path Topps and Panini have long used to include retired greats from Hack Wilson to Josh Gibson in their sets: contracts with the family or agencies representing the individual player. But would the family support this? To find out, I asked Kenny's granddaughter, Kysa Washington.
"Yes, we would definitely be open to that."
So there you have it. What are you waiting for, Topps and Panini? Here is one of of the most important players in the history of the League, and only one of you will be the first to bring his cards (and his story!) to a new generation of collectors. And if you need a hand, just ask. I'll even write the backs for free!
Oh, and you really want to go crazy with this, did you know Kenny and Jackie were teammates at UCLA in 1939? Don't tell me a dual auto 1/1 card wouldn't send the Hobby into a frenzy!
Jason A. Schwartz is a collectibles expert whose work can be found regularly at SABR Baseball Cards, Hobby News Daily, and 1939Bruins.com. His collection of Hank Aaron baseball cards and memorabilia is currently on exhibit at the Atlanta History Center, and his collectibles-themed artwork is on display at the Honus Wagner Museum and PNC Park.