THE ATHLETIC: John Elway headlines Topps’ Bowman Draft set with ad featuring Larry David’s ‘George Steinbrenner’

There’s an axiom in sports where you never want to be the guy who follows “the guy.” That’s the challenging position Topps put themselves into when featuring Tom Brady’s Montreal Expos “What if?” moment as the top chase card in their 2023 Bowman Draft baseball set.

The trading card giant has brought an iconic quarterback from the generation before Brady who was also selected in the MLB draft before going on to NFL stardom as its 2024 Bowman Draft ace in the hole. Topps also threw in an all-time great parody of one the most famous and/or infamous baseball owners in the history of sports to kick off the set’s release this week.

Bowman Draft primarily features newly professional prospects from the most recent MLB Draft. Denver Broncos Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway stands as the star non-prospect in this year’s set with base cards, parallels and autographed variations. To power up the release, Topps called on comedian Larry David to reprise his role as the voice of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner from the 1990s sitcom “Seinfeld” for a commercial to promote the product…