Some future Pro Football Hall of Famers are being drafted this week.
We just don’t know their names yet.
We do know the names of some past greats who were once NFL draftees and some of the jerseys they wore on the way to Canton are among the top items in the new Heritage Auctions catalog.
The auction includes the hobby’s only known jersey from former Chicago Cardinals running back Charley Trippi. Signed by the Hall of Fame running back who also provided a letter of authenticity, the red shirt with Trippi’s white number 62 dates to the early 1950s and is expected to sell for at least $15,000.
All-purpose sensation Paul Hornung’s iconic number 5 Green Bay Packers jersey is represented by a road model jersey from the 1960s that’s expected to sell for $40,000 or more. Hornung is the first pro football player to win the Heisman Trophy, be selected as the first overall selection in the NFL Draft, win the NFL Most Valuable Player Award, and be inducted into both the professional and college football halls of fame.
While Hornung’s career was winding down, a Chicago Bears rival was just getting started and the auction also includes a Dick Butkus road jersey dating to 1971-72. The white jersey bearing Butkus’ familiar #51, shows multiple team repairs and has been photomatched to a game against the Packers in 1972. It’s projected to fetch $30,000 or more.
Tony Dorsett became a college sensation at Pittsburgh, then a Dallas Cowboys legend. Before that, he was a star at Hopewood High in Pennsylvania, thought of in such high regard that his coach’s family kept one of his jerseys. That shirt from Dorsett’s teenage years includes a letter from the family and carries a pre-sale estimate of at least $10,000.
Other football jerseys in the auction include one used and signed byHouston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, dating to his 2017 rookie season and a 2001 Tennessee Titans Eddie George jersey.
They’re part of the Heritage catalog that includes hundreds of items that will be sold over a two-night close, May 16-17 at HA.com.
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