Hi. A lot of these cards that are labelled Rookie Cards by the card manufacturers aren't true rookies, from what little I understand. I really don't know myself. Thanks for the info and good luck!
a easy way to tell is look at the stats on the back...if the stats are for a nfl team then its not the rookie...if it says super rookie...they are refering to the excellent rookie season the player had...the newer cards are marked rookie now but older ones will not have the rookie card symbol or logo ...it will only have college stats for future refrence...