[cincopa AgEAPMLBhH4n]

One of the most enjoyable “AFL experiences” that I have had was an afternoon spent with former Oakland Raiders teammates, Ben Davidson and Tom Keating.  For a two-hour period, Davidson and Keating looked through my collection of autographed AFL trading cards, laughing, swearing, and telling stories about the players they saw while flipping through those two binders.  The stories were many and fantastic, and to this day I kick myself for not having the foresight to somehow record the meeting.  I promised myself that if I ever had a similar opportunity that I would be sure to make an audio recording of the event.

This past week I had the pleasure of visiting the home of former Dallas Texans and Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver, Chris Burford, and spending a few hours with the AFL great.  Chris showed me many photographs and pieces of memorabilia from his long AFL career, which I will share in future posts.  When my turn came time to show what I had brought to the afternoon, I got out my binders of cards, and turned on the audio recorder of my iPhone.

The following is a the first half of our trading card reminiscence.  I will share the second half later.  For those that wonder what cards we were viewing, this period of the discussion would have covered the players who spent 10 years in the AFL, the AFL All-Time First and Second Teams, 1960 & 1961 Fleer, and 1961 Topps, several of which can be found in the MEMORABILIA section of the site.