Celebrating the 30th anniversary of its 1951 football card debut, Topps created a 528-card 1981 set featuring some of the game’s most promising players. It included Joe Montana, a rising star out of Notre Dame who had proven his mettle in the ‘79 Cotton Bowl. Concerns surfaced over the strength of Montana’s arm, though, which caused him to drop to the 82nd pick in the third round of the 1979 NFL Draft. He turned out to be the best quarterback in the game’s history until New England drafted a quarterback in the sixth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. In 1981, kids had a shot at landing the only widely recognized Montana rookie if they shelled out 30 cents for a pack of 1981 Topps football cards. But pulling one was just part of the battle. The card often displays poor centering and print defects, leading to only .3% of the 33,115 examples assessed by PSA earning a PSA 10 grade. That microscopic gem rate, combined with this listing's PWCC–A Eye Appeal designation, makes this Montana rookie card all the more monumental.
The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 06/03/2025.
