Fanatics and College Football (Part 1 of 2)

Trading cards depicting players in their college uniforms have been around since the beginning of the hobby.  One of my favorites in this category is the 1935 National Chicle showing Bronko Nagurski in his days as a Minnesota Golden Gopher.  Historically, early cards showing players in their professional uniforms are more desirable than those presenting college garb.  However, with Fanatics acquiring Topps, there could be more hobby attention on the college game.  For the past two years, Fanatics has released a Bowman college football product.

In baseball, first Bowman prospect cards have always been popular among trading card enthusiasts.  This coupled with college football’s enormous regional following makes keeping an eye on Bowman University Football worthwhile. Below are some of the players I am looking forward to watching as college football kicks off next month.

Before we jump into the list, keep in mind a couple of things.  While the 2022 Bowman Chrome University Football is made up of chrome base cards, the 2021 edition is not.  In 2021, base cards are paper and the only way to get a chrome finish on a card is to pull a parallel.  The most common 2021 parallels are base refractors with stated odds of one per every six packs.  In addition, the 2021 set is not fully licensed and logos are airbrushed from uniforms.  This is a turnoff for some collectors.  With that out of the way, let’s talk about some players!