The latest addition to my collection is this St. Louis Rams game-used jersey of linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar.

I found this jersey while scrolling through eBay. The jersey was generically advertised as being game-worn with heavy usage but no specifics were provided. The seller had low-resolution photos yet I was able to make out a couple repairs that could aid me in photomatching.

I went to Getty Images and Alamy Images and began searching up and down for a possible match. After two hours of sleuthing, I only found a couple photos of Dunbar wearing a potential match in a 2012 Week 14 game against the Bills. One photo from that game featured him running downfield through December drizzle with the ball in his hands and another showed him being mobbed by his teammates. I researched the game and found that he played in 100% of his team’s defensive snaps, making 7 tackles and snagging a game-sealing interception in the final minute to cap off a Rams comeback that kept the team alive in the playoff hunt. I was intrigued.

But two things gave me doubts. First, in the game photos his jersey had a Pro Football Hall of Fame 50th Anniversary patch, but the jersey for sale had no patches. The game photos also showed a clear rip in the front #8 but I couldn’t see damage or repairs to that number in the sale images. I zoomed in closely on the seller’s photo and felt like I could make out an extremely faint outline of the patch that appeared in the game photos, yet I couldn’t help but wonder if trying to photomatch a jersey after a stressful 12-hour work shift was making me see things.

I slept on it, woke up the next morning, and did something I normally don’t do: I gambled. I pitched the seller an offer that he accepted and hoped that I could potentially match the jersey after being able to hold it in my hands and see the details up close.
The jersey arrived. I ripped the box open, grabbed a flashlight, went into a dark room, and shined a light through the jersey. If my logic was correct, the jersey fabric would’ve had sewing holes in the outline of the patch that would cause light to pour through.

There it was: A hole pattern in the outline of the patch. I then looked closely at the front #8 and found a repair in the exact spot where the game photo showed a rip.

Sometimes gambles pay off.

I haven’t been able to photomatch the jersey to any additional games due to a lack of convincing evidence. I found photos from earlier in that season that were clearly not matches, so he must’ve started wearing this jersey with only a handful of games to spare. The amount of repairs indicate it was worn at least twice, but without conclusive evidence I’m left with only one definitive match. But that’s fine with me. This jersey tells quite a story even from one game.