A former equipment manager for the New York Jets and Mets has turned over his collection to an auction now underway. One of the items up for grabs is a jersey attributed to Joe Namath’s 1965 rookie season.
Herb Norman worked for the team during the Jets’ win in Super Bowl III but the jersey dates to a few years earlier, when Namath made headlines for spurning the NFL to sign with the upstart American Football League.
According to Grey Flannel Auctions, the Namath jersey was gifted to Norman’s son by Namath. GFA says it has photo-matched the jersey to several games. It’s the earliest Namath jersey ever to appear at public auction. Director of Operations Michael Russek calls it “one of the most historically significant football pieces to ever hit the market.”
Bidding is at $25,941 with the auction slated to run through July 22.
The Norman family archive also includes a 1969 Jets Super Bowl ring and 1973 New York Mets National League Championship ring.
When Albert Pujols replaced Mark McGwire at First base from the St. Louis Cardinals in 2001, few would have believed he would become one of the most prolific offensive players in the history of the game. Heading into the 2020 season, Pujols sits in sixth on the all-time home run list, just four long balls shy of Willie Mays.
Now, more than a dozen items from Pujols’ career are on the auction block.
Among the memorabilia Goldin Auctions is offering are the signed bat, helmet, jersey and cleats he wore while hitting his 650th home run, a plateau only five other players in baseball history have eclipsed.
Also offered in the collection are the helmet, jersey and cleats from his 604th homer, a baseball used in his first career major league game and several other lots of game-worn jerseys and cleats.
The items are all authenticated by Major League Baseball and each has been signed by Pujols as well.
The Pujols collection makes up lots #535-543 in Goldin’s Summer Auction, set to run through Saturday, July 18.
PSA’s backlog is now over 1.5 million cards and the company is planning on hiring and training about 100 employees in the next two months in an attempt to handle the never-ending tide of submissions.
Those two nuggets came inside this fun (and familiar) story from John Tomase of NBC Sports Boston, who has rediscovered his old collection during the pandemic and also talked about the hobby with Collectors Universe President and CEO Joe Orlando.
One of the 11 2003-04 Topps Chrome LeBron James BGS 10 Black Label cards sold for $71,200 Sunday night on eBay.
Another had sold on June 9 for $57,100.
A couple of PSA 10s are on the block as well right now.
On Friday, one of the five 2009-10 National Treasures Stephen Curry Logoman Auto rookies, this one graded BGS 9.5, sold for a best offer price of $68,000.
You can check out the ‘most watched’ basketball card auctions here.
Smaller sports card shows are open in some areas of the country. A few were held in Indiana over the weekend, including the Indy Sports Cards event Saturday at the LaQuinta Inn South, which had about 50 tables.
City ordinances made masks a requirement but it didn’t seem to bother collectors who turned out for the monthly show.
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