DOWNLOAD: Paper Players

The Colorado Rockies. Tim Tebow. Tom Brady and Eli Manning. The Avengers. The Detroit Lions. What do all these have in common? All have been part of the paper doll craze.

Photo illustration by Jill Pickett, Dolls by Melissa Vessels

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Now comes players from the seven area high schools.

In 2007, The Denver Post did cut-out-and-build-’em-yourself Rockies action figures. Then last fall, the paper had a Tebow figure.

The Detroit Free Press countered with a similar cut-out figure of fearsome defender Ndamukong Suh, which the paper cleverly displayed sacking the Tebow doll.

USA Today created dolls of last year’s two Super Bowl quarterbacks – Brady and Manning.

The Victoria (Texas) Advocate adapted the sports dolls into superheroes for the Avengers, which came out in May.

Not to be outdone, The Free Press offered 10 Detroit Lions, plus the team mascot and a page of accessories like goal posts and little tubs of Gatorade.

The craze trickled down to the high school level as the York Daily Record and Tulsa (Okla.) World each offered players in their communities.

So, where does this go next? Area football players, as two from each team were selected for this massive project. Copy editor Melissa Vessels designed the dolls using preseason mug shots for their faces and trying to reproduce the likeness of the uniforms.

We encourage readers to print their own dolls — they work best using cardstock — build them and snap a few photos. Share them with us by posting to our Facebook page or tweeting them to the sports Twitter account. We look forward to seeing your creations.