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 not only one of the best quarterback in the game’s history but one of the most iconic as well with his popularity branching out into broader pop culture.
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 0.3% of the more than 35,000 examples assessed by PSA earning a Gem Mint 10 grade.
The certification number on this card has been checked against the third-party grader's online database and is active as of 02/25/2026.
