It’s been a minute since I acquired a game-used football jersey but last week I nailed a special one.
I stumbled across this 2004 Kansas City Chiefs jersey of running back Derrick Blaylock on eBay and saw that the seller wisely (and accurately!) advertised it as photomatched to a Week 13 game against the Raiders in which Blaylock put up 74 yards from scrimmage and scored a touchdown. As many of you know, I don’t collect jerseys of big names—I collect jerseys of big moments—but I’ve yet to nab a game-used NFL jersey that’s seen the end zone. Factor in that the jersey was riddled with repairs and paint transfers, and I needed to have it.
The question was how much I was willing to pay—and if someone would be willing to pay more. From my experience, skill player jerseys from 1995-2005 that feature significant usage go for hefty sums. In the past year I’ve seen a 2005 Lamont Warren Raiders jersey go for $500, a 1997 Charles Way Giants jersey go for $800, and a 1999 Greg Hill Lions jersey go for $400, so I was ready to be priced out. The one thing working in my favor was that the seller set the auction to end at 12:15pm EST on a Saturday afternoon during March Madness, which is a time when bid snipers would be busy hanging with friends or running errands.
The seller made an even bigger error: He didn’t attempt to photomatch the jersey to additional games. Fellow Mantel users, if you learn one thing from me, please let it be: A jersey with repairs has been used in more than one game.
After I checked a Chiefs uniform history site and verified that the team wore white jerseys for all their away games in 2004, I pulled up Blaylock’s game log from that season and analyzed his road game stats. In the away game previous to the positive photomatch, a Week 10 showdown in New Orleans, Blaylock tallied 224 yards from scrimmage and scored a touchdown. Not only that, but it was his first career start and his career best game in terms of total output. I spent a couple hours searching for photos online and watched the game on YouTube, and although I couldn’t definitively photomatch from those sources, I knew that a jersey with this much damage was indicative of a game in which the player carried the ball 36 times.
I set a reminder, threw out a healthy bid with 1 minute remaining before auction close, and waited depressingly to see that dreaded sniper bid…and I won. But not only did I win—I ended up paying the least I’ve ever spent on a game-used NFL jersey. The football gods were smiling upon me.
After I received it through the mail, I had the opportunity to examine the jersey up close and saw the details that the seller’s photos didn’t disclose. Guess what? I was able to use the NFL broadcast of his monster game to photomatch the jersey thanks to multiple paint transfer markings that were a dead-on match. Not only that, but I also photomatched it to a Week 4 game against the Ravens (Getty Image 1266303497). Although I’ve verified he didn’t wear the jersey in the final game of 2004, I can prove he wore it for 3 (and almost certainly 5) games across the season. Here’s the statistical breakdown from those games:
Carries: 52
Rushing Yards: 252
Receptions: 8
Receiving Yards: 88
Total Touchdowns: 2
Tackled By: Champ Bailey, Ray Lewis, Charles Woodson, Ray Buchanan, Ted Washington
Number of Times Featured in an NFL Primetime Highlight: 1
