 Included in these are printing plates, used in the actual production of the card.The first American football cards were included in cigarette packages in the late 1800s.In 1888 Yale player Henry W. Beecher was included as the only football player in a set of 50 cards distributed in packs of "Old Judge" and "Gypsy Queen" cigarettes by Goodwin & Company., becoming the first American football card ever.