Last September I posted about how I purchased a ticket stub from the 2001 Lions @ Browns game in which Ty Detmer infamously threw 7 interceptions for the Lions - a feat that hasn’t been reached since and will probably never happen again. Well, wouldn’t you know it, I now own the jersey that Cleveland Browns linebacker Jamir Miller wore in that game in which he grabbed Detmer’s fourth INT of the day.

I found the listing on eBay, and the seller included a COA from a post-9/11 NFL auction that stated the jersey was worn in 2001 against the Bengals. The jersey has several repairs and is riddled with hit marks of various colors. Jamir Miller was a first-team All-Pro that year, so the usage was consistent with his hard-nosed style of play.

I zoomed in on the jersey and saw bright blue hit marks on the shoulders and immediately started to geek out. I scrolled Getty Images from the Browns/Lions game and found a definite match. Needless to say, I had to make the jersey mine.

I checked multiple images from the Browns/Bengals game and it was clear that Miller was wearing a fresh jersey. This demonstrates a lesson I’ve conveyed multiple times on this platform: When it comes to game-used memorabilia, don’t trust certificates of authenticity from the groups that originally release the jersey to the public even if they come from the teams themselves. Equipment managers most likely throw jerseys into storage closets and can easily mix up the provenance.

I was also able to photomatch this jersey to games against the Seahawks and Chargers, and the mileage it saw is pretty incredible:

Sacks: 3
Tackles: 17
Tackles for Loss: 5
INTs: 1
Players Tackled: LaDainian Tomlinson (for a 4-yard loss!), Ricky Watters, Doug Flutie, Matt Hasselbeck, James Stewart
Number of Times Featured in an NFL Primetime Highlight: 1

9/9/01 vs Seattle

Getty Image 599161

9/23/01 vs Detroit

Getty Image 1225352753

10/7/01 vs San Diego

Alamy Image 3AME6M0

My latest game-used jersey acquisition is this 2009 Purdue away game jersey worn by linebacker Joe Holland.

I found this jersey listed on eBay simply as a game-used Purdue jersey from the Joe Tiller coaching era. Although I’m not a Purdue fan (in fact, I went to Penn State), I quickly developed interest in this jersey because I’ll always be nostalgic for 2000s Big Ten football. In addition, it’s extremely difficult to find pre-NIL game-used college jerseys on the secondary market that still contain nameplates. I’ve observed from my research and experience scrolling through listings that most jerseys prior to the NIL period have nameplates removed by the school before they reach private hands.

Based on the nameplate and jersey number, I quickly identified that this jersey was worn by linebacker Joe Holland, who was a four-year defensive starter for the Boilermakers from 2008-2011. It’s clear that this jersey was worn during multiple games because it features several repairs and paint transfers of different colors. Photo-matching this jersey was extremely difficult because there aren’t many high-quality photos or video from Purdue football games prior to the mid-2010s. That said, I could quickly eliminate 2011 as the possible origin of this jersey because Purdue didn’t wear this style that season. The team didn’t wear nameplates in 2008 so I was down to 2009 or 2010 (or so I thought; more on that later).

I performed several dozen image searches for the 2009 season and watched some games on YouTube and I found some pretty solid evidence that the jersey was worn in Purdue’s game against Oregon, which featured a high-scoring showdown against a Ducks team led by Jeremiah Masoli (remember him?) and LaMichael James. Holland was all over the field that game, even registering a sack that knocked Oregon out of field goal range on an important drive late in the game.

Based on the maroon paint transfer marks, I’m pretty confident that the jersey was also worn at Minnesota that season as well. The evidence trail runs dry beyond that game, however. That said, I found some photos of Holland from the 2008 season that, although too grainy to photomatch, show the exact same jersey style and letter/logo alignment as this jersey. I’m thinking it’s possible that the jersey was a carryover from 2008-09, which would be incredible.

Joe was signed to the practice squads of a few NFL teams but never caught on in the pros, so he retired from football and followed in the footsteps of most former D1 linebackers: He went to dental school and started his own clinic. I’m sure this jersey would look great hanging in the lobby of his practice and I plan to help make that a reality someday.