As some of you know from my previous posts, I collect game-used football jerseys and perform research to photomatch them and uncover neat stories they might tell. I wanted to take you through a brief tour of that process using a jersey I purchased recently.

While cruising eBay last month I stumbled across a game-used Chargers jersey of current Vikings defensive lineman Jerry Tillery. The jersey was riddled with stains, scrapes, and punctures, which is right up my alley because I only collect jerseys that can be definitively photomatched to at least one game, and this kind of wear makes the photomatching process easier and conclusive.

The Tillery jersey came with a certificate of authenticity from the Chargers stating that it was used during the 2022-2023 season but I disregarded it because certs can be wrong, certs can be faked, and there’s no direct authentication link between the cert and the jersey itself, such as a unique sticker code or a photo of the jersey on the certificate.

Before making an offer I needed to verify that I could match the jersey to at least one game. I did some image searches of Tillery using Getty Images, Alamy Images, and Google. The simplest reference point to use in photomatching was the clear black mark that streaks across the front jersey numbers. After sifting through a couple dozen photos I found a Getty image from a game against the Broncos in Week 12 of the 2021 season that showed this exact stain. I also found some images from other games that at first glance looked like potential matches. It was time to make the seller an offer.

The seller was my favorite kind of eBayer: He hadn't researched his product at all, he chose a product title that didn’t align with the description (the title says the jersey is from 2020 but the description says 2022-2023), and he appeared to use ChatGPT to generate a meaningless description. After a little back and forth we settled at $200 all-in. In terms of an investment, I knew I was walking into at least a break-even deal given that recent game-used NFL jerseys with signs of wear tend to sell in the $200-400 range for the average player. Factor in that Tillery is a former first-round pick out of Notre Dame who’s still active in the league, and $200 was a good price even if the jersey was only used in one game.

After receiving the jersey through the mail I located the Chargers 2021 jersey variation calendar online. This helped me narrow down the games in which this jersey could’ve been used. I’d already photomatched it to Week 12, so I started by searching for images of Tillery from the next game on the schedule, which was Week 13 at Cincinnati. Photos of him from that game showed a fresher jersey with minimal signs of wear, indicating that Week 12 of the 2021 season was the last time Tillery wore the jersey.

I then started working backwards. For Week 9 against the Eagles I found an action shot in which the black mark appears across the numbers. Two games in the books.

It became harder after that, as jerseys only get cleaner (and therefore more bland) the farther back you go.

For the next game on the list—Week 6 against the Ravens—I used a combination of factors to conclusively match the jersey to game photos: (1) the two puncture holes on the front 9, (2) the pair of scrape marks on the lightning bolt on the right shoulder, and (3) the dot pattern in between the numbering (which I don’t love using as a standalone matching technique but can help rule out negatives). These things, taken together, cleared my evidence bar. The jersey was used in at least 3 games.

Week 3 against the Chiefs was hazy but I found a reasonable photomatch on the jersey's front dot pattern. I didn't feel 100% confident on this one so I put an asterisk beside it.

Then there was Week 2 against the Cowboys. A photo from this game clearly shows the right shoulder lightning bolt with the same scrapes and imperfections. A definitive match. Now I also felt 100% confident about Week 3 because of the matching I found coupled with the improbability that Tillery wore a different jersey in the game between Week 2 and Week 6. I was up to five games now.

Only Week 1 remained. I found a closeup from that game which shows a perfect match of the dot pattern on the front of the jersey. As I mentioned earlier, I don’t love dot matching on jerseys simply because it’s possible to manufacture near-identical jerseys with today’s technology, but the dot pattern match is too exact and unique to be a false positive.

It took several hours and I had to sift through at least two thousand photos, but I matched my latest purchase to 6 NFL games.

From there, I used Pro Football Reference and a little bit of YouTube to tabulate stats for those games:

Tackles: 16  (including Ezekiel Elliott, Dak Prescott, and Melvin Gordon)
QB Hits: 6  (including Patrick Mahomes)
Total Snaps: 337

I don’t know if metrics exist regarding the average number of games that a player wears a specific jersey in this current era of sports, but for the NFL I would have to guess the average is somewhere around 2-3 games for the following reasons: (1) most teams have 3-4 jersey variations they wear throughout the 17-game season, meaning the most any one jersey style is worn is 6-8 games, (2) teams change up jersey styles almost every year so the same jerseys probably don't carry over to the next season too often if ever, (3) unlike the old days, NFL teams are flush with cash to replace jerseys rather than repair them for continued use, (4) players sometimes trade or give away their jerseys, (5) the NFL now has a game-used jersey process.

All things considered, there probably aren’t many recent NFL game jerseys that have seen as much mileage as this one.

I recently picked up this game-used 2009 Humanitarian Bowl jersey of Bowling Green running back Willie Geter.

The 2009 Humanitarian Bowl pitted a solid Bowling Green State against the Idaho Vandals, who were playing in just their second bowl game in history. The contest was a back-and-forth offensive spectacle, with the teams combining for 85 points and nearly 1,000 yards from scrimmage. Idaho edged Bowling Green on a two-point conversion with four seconds left in the game.

Why I like this jersey: First, there are only so many bowl games played per year, making the population of game-used bowl jerseys much more limited than regular-season ones. Not all colleges have player names on the backs of their jerseys, and I’m a stickler for jerseys with nameplates. It’s also difficult to find game-used memorabilia of impact players, and Geter accounted for 161 yards from scrimmage and two trips to the endzone, one of which was a 59-yard touchdown run.

Geter never played football professionally, but for a brief moment on a Wednesday afternoon in December 2009, the eyes of the sports world were watching him cut across midfield on the way to football glory.

Submitted for the approval of the Mantel society is this game-used jersey of Alex Carrington from the 2010 Senior Bowl. Carrington was a defensive lineman from Arkansas State who used his Senior Bowl invite as an opportunity to get attention from scouts prior to the NFL draft. His efforts paid off, as his performance nudged him up to the 72nd overall pick that year. He went on to play six seasons in the NFL, mostly for the Bills.

I love game-used memorabilia that tells a story or captures an interesting moment. For this reason, I knew I had to snag this jersey when I found a photo of Carrington uppercutting Tim Tebow during the game - an image that became one of Sports Illustrated’s photos of the week. In an age when NFL prospects skip high-tier bowl games to avoid injuries, it feels like ancient history to see one of the greatest college football players ever take snaps in a showcase bowl game. Tebow was battling strep throat that week - I highly doubt this haymaker aided in his recovery.

Even without documentation, it’s safe to assume that this jersey is authentic and game-worn, considering that Under Armor likely didn’t make multiple jerseys for one bowl game and nobody’s bootlegging an Alex Carrington jersey. Even so, I found a game photo that clearly demonstrates the red mark on the front #6 and the loose thread that hangs below the Under Armor logo. Conclusive evidence is always nice.

One of my favorite pieces of sports memorabilia is this signed game-used L.A. Xtreme jersey of Errick “E-Rupt” Herrin from the XFL’s flagship 2001 season. Herrin was a former US Marine and USC linebacker who thought he would erupt in the XFL (and thus the nickname).

He had a huge game in the infamous double-OT showdown against the Chicago Enforcers that pushed back SNL’s start time past midnight. Although he went on to have a productive season, injuries limited his eruption and he didn’t dress for the “Million Dollar Game”.

Being a collector who needs proof that his jerseys were actually game-used - and being a single guy with no kids - I spent a weekend combing through XFL game footage on YouTube in an attempt to photomatch the jersey. Just when I was starting to conclude that the hours spent watching busted plays and dropped passes were a total loss, Herrin could be seen walking in front of a sideline shot of QB Tommy Maddox in the Week 8 telecast against the Las Vegas Outlaws, giving a clear view of the prominent dirt stain on the jersey’s lettering. Eat your heart out, MeiGray.

I stumbled across this game-used jersey of former Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Auden Tate while scrolling through eBay last year. The jersey, which is torn up the side and across both collars, was advertised as having been “ripped during the game”. I knew right away that it must’ve had an intriguing backstory.

I began scouring Google for anything I could find related to the origin game in 2019 and discovered articles about Tate experiencing a scary neck injury in a game against the Raiders. Late in the game Tate caught a third-down pass and was hit in the back by a defender, causing his nick to bend forward unnaturally. The game was stopped for ten minutes while Tate was stabilized on a spineboard and carted off the field. A close examination of the jersey’s rips demonstrate that they were made by a pair of scissors that the medical staff used to remove the jersey during treatment without disturbing his neck. Fortunately the injury turned out to be just a scare and Tate was back on the field two weeks later.

Long story short, after some eBay haggling the jersey arrived in my mailbox and it’s safe to say that it’s my favorite collectible that I’ve ever owned. I love memorabilia that tells a story, and this one speaks of a modern-day gladiator who put his life on the line for a winless team in the Coliseum (L.A., of course).