What draws you to football/football history?

[vintagebaseballcardguy]

Originally Posted by revmoran

You might think that since my father played in the NFL I would have a long-standing interest in football, but the truth is I only took an interest after his death. I'm very drawn to artifacts as an entry point into research, and the development of the internet for the public user and the emergence of eBay allowed me to dig deep without leaving home.

That is an excellent point. The internet has changed the common person's access to information and goods (like cards and memorabilia) in ways that are sometimes difficult to understand. For an example not from sports, I finished a doctorate a couple of years ago. I wasn't sure how the dissertation process might go. Some folks who are a few years older than me told me their tales of woe about being in a library for hours upon hours and flipping through gigantic stacks of books, periodicals, microfilm, etc. Thanks to the internet, I did most of my research at home in my underwear. On-line university libraries were my best friend during that period of my life!
Back to your point about researching and ebaying football. I might have given up collecting were it not for these two realities. Where I live, you can pretty much forget about a card show. I would still be living in the days of buying from Tuff Stuff, SCD, etc. Accessibility has certainly aided collectors of all sports.