What football cards are worth money is not answered by a list of players, because the same player's cards run from cents to thousands depending on which card it is. Three things decide it, and all three are visible before you look up a single price: how many exist, what condition yours is in, and whether anybody is currently buying.
Serial numbering and short prints
The clearest signal a card is scarce is printed on the card: a serial number showing it is one of a stated run. Short prints, which are cards deliberately produced in smaller quantities than the rest of the set, are the next clearest, though they usually need a checklist to identify. A card with neither, from a set printed in the millions, is common however the photograph looks.
Autographs and patches, and which ones count
An autograph signed directly onto the card carries more than one signed on a sticker applied afterwards, and buyers know the difference. A memorabilia patch cut from a game-worn item is worth more than one cut from an item manufactured for the purpose, and the card's own wording usually tells you which it is. Read that wording; it is deliberately precise.
Condition, and being honest about it
Corners, edges, surface and centring decide most of the price once a card is not rare. Look at the corners against white under good light and hold the card at an angle to see surface scratches. Most people over-rate their own cards by a grade or two, and pricing an average card against sales of a sharp one is the commonest disappointment in this hobby.
Then check somebody is buying
Find five completed sales of the same card in the same condition. If they exist, the card value checker turns them into a figure. If they do not, the market is thin, and that is the real answer for most of a collection rather than a sign you have looked in the wrong place.
Questions people ask about what football cards are worth money
Are old football cards automatically worth more?
Older cards were printed in smaller numbers and survived in worse condition, which helps, but age alone does not make a card valuable. A worn common card from the 1970s can be worth very little.
What about Super Bowl-winning quarterbacks?
Demand for their cards is real, but it still meets supply. A common base card of a famous quarterback is a common card, and the sold prices show it.
Do rookie cards always beat later cards?
Usually, and by a lot, which is why comparing a rookie to a later issue of the same player tells you nothing useful. Compare rookies to rookies.
How do I identify a short print?
By checklist rather than by eye in most cases. Set checklists are published by collectors and by the manufacturers, and they name which cards in a set were produced short.