1981 Fleer NFL Football Stickers - New York Jets and Oakland Raiders

Next up on the list of 1981 Fleer Team Action NFL Football Stickers variations are 2 AFL rivals whose most famous game is remembered more for the show that interrupted the fantastic ending of the game than the ending itself. The "Heidi" Game as it has come to be known changed the way that football was broadcast when NBC made the decision to cut to the movie Heidi with 65 seconds left in the Jets - Raiders game in 1968.

Viewers missed the Raiders score 2 TDs in 9 seconds and come back from a 32 - 29 deficit to a 43-32 win because the game was preempted by the movie. The reaction from viewers was overwhelming as so many people called NBC that the switchboard shut down due to the massive amount of calls. As a result, NFL TV policies were amended to require that games be shown in their entirety in the markets of the teams involved.

New York Jets:

The variations on the Jets stickers are a very subtle difference in the shade of green on the helmets.


The difference is minor with the stickers on the left having a slightly darker shade of green.

Oakland Raiders:

There are actually 4 Raider helmet variations (although I've only got 3 variations to show). The obvious variation is that the helmet can be found with either a gray or white facemask.


What's not so obvious is that there is a second variation that has to do with the placement of the helment on the football field background. As you can see in the scan below, the hash marks are in different positions on the 2 helmets with the gray facemask.


This same variation exists with the white facemask helmet, but I haven't been able to track down a copy yet.

The logo variation is also due to the markings on the football field background.


The sticker on the left has the yard line going through the top of the "O" in Oakland while the sticker on the right has the yard line going through the middle of the "O". The other minor difference is the white outline around the logo. It is slightly thicker on the sticker on the left.