[drc]

That sound reasonable to me, except include odd ball issues. Rookie time frame + it's a card. Topps versus Kellogs has nothing to do with rookie era.

The practical collecting problem in football, is many players didn't get a card until several years into their career. Including folks like Joe Montana. Clearly, many collectors count these first cards as rookie cards. But, if you don't buy that definition, that's reasonable. One can refer to them as '1st cards.'

A question I have for you is, what if there was an odd ball card issued the year before the Topps rookie-- and the earlier oddball fits your Major League rookie definition? I never understood how a 1955 Topps card is called a player's rookie card when there is an otherwise legitimate card of the player from 1954.

Yes, there is always gray area and collector choice involved.