This might be the most satisfying jersey match I’ve ever performed.

Last week I saw that a seller listed a bundle of Middle Tennessee football jerseys on eBay for $35 each. The jerseys had no information as to the year they were worn and all nameplates had been removed.

Mysterious jerseys with no provenance from a random school? Challenge accepted.

I pulled up a list of NFL players and draft picks who played for Middle Tennessee in the past decade and a few names came up. I used the school’s yearly rosters to find their numbers then searched the seller’s listings for those jersey numbers. One of the hits that came up was #30, which was worn by Darius Harris (2015-2018) and Jakobe Thomas (2021-2023). The jersey showed a lot of use, with paint transfers and ripped seams. Interesting.

I zoomed in closely on the seller’s photos and noticed a very faint outline of a captain’s patch on the right shoulder. I also noticed that the C-USA patch was sitting overtop the outline of a larger patch that was previously removed. I did some photo searching and noticed that graduate players wore a special C-USA patch that was larger than the normal one.

More searching found that Darius Harris was a redshirt senior in 2018 and was also named a captain that year. I scoured the internet for photos of him from his college days and although I found multiple with the same jersey style, the nameplate on the back was much more narrow than the nameplate stitch outline on the jersey for sale.

After a couple hours of searching I said screw it, the jersey is only $35, just buy it and resume the research when it arrives. I don’t love buying a jersey before I’ve photomatched it but that price is solid even for a generic game-used college jersey.

It arrived in the mail today and I got back to work. I hit some dead ends in my photo searching (surprisingly enough, major media outlets don’t send many photographers to Middle Tennessee games), but then I realized the clue was sitting right in front of me. In Jakobe Thomas’ 2022 team photo, I could clearly see the same outline of the removed C-USA graduate patch, along with a couple matching paint transfer scrapes on the shoulder. Business just picked up.

I performed Google image searches to determine the games in which Middle Tennessee used this jersey style in 2022. One of the hits was a showdown against Western Kentucky. Thomas had a big game, logging a bunch of tackles. I found the game posted online and scrubbed through the footage, watching the defensive plays closely. At one point the camera zoomed in on Thomas after he made a play and I could clearly see the swooping dark paint transfer on the front #3, along with matching paint transfers on the shoulders.

Boom. I turned nothing into something. Pure sweat equity. That’s why I love this hobby.

I’ll never know for certain, but if I had to guess, the team intended the jersey as an alternate for Darius Harris, which is why the jersey had the graduate logo and captain’s patch at one point. They probably didn’t put his nameplate on the back, and after he graduated they removed the patches to get the jersey back into circulation, ultimately repurposing it for Jakobe Thomas.

Thomas went on to join Miami in 2025 after leaving Middle Tennessee, playing a key defensive role in the Hurricanes’ run to the National Championship game. He was drafted by the Vikings in the 3rd round in April. Wherever he goes from here, he has at least one supporter.

A recent acquisition to my game-used jersey collection is this one of former Cowboys defensive back and special teams extraordinaire Keith Davis.

Keith had an interesting journey through the pros. He was undrafted out of Sam Houston State and signed with the Cowboys in 2002. A couple years into his pro career, he was shot while picking up a friend at a night club, and although he was an innocent bystander, Coach Parcells had him shipped to Europe to play for the Berlin Thunder. Keith had an amazing season in Europe and helped the Thunder win the 2004 World Bowl. He then came back to the Cowboys and had several productive seasons. Interesting side note: Davis was shot again - completely randomly - while driving to church in the Spring of 2006.

Davis wore this jersey in an October 29, 2006 game against the Panthers. The photo I used to match the jersey (Getty Image 72296494), shows Davis laughing on the sidelines while pushing Tony Romo’s hat down over his eyes. That date is a significant one for Cowboys fans because it’s the day Tony Romo had his first career start, stepping in for an aged Drew Bledsoe and leading the Cowboys to the playoffs.

I recently acquired this game-used jersey of former NFL player Margus Hunt.

Hunt had a ridiculous path to the NFL. He was born in Soviet-era Estonia and was a standout track and field athlete. He enrolled at SMU to further that career but by the time he arrived on campus, SMU shut down their track program. So what’s an athletic giant to do? Play football, of course.

Hunt began playing football for SMU and earned the nickname “The Eastern Block” due to his talent for blocking kicks. His size and ability was put on display at the NFL Combine, where he ran a 4.60 40-yard dash and bench pressed 38 reps at 225 lbs. Worth mentioning that he did all this at 6’8” and 277 lbs. The Bengals nabbed him in the 2nd round of the 2013 draft.

This jersey is from Hunt’s best season, which was 2018 with the Colts. He started 15 games and the jersey has battle scars from four of them. In this jersey he sacked Andy Dalton twice and Deshaun Watson once, also stuffing Joe Mixon and Leonard Fournette. Very happy to have the Eastern Block in my collection.

9/9/18 vs Cincinnati Bengals

2 sacks, 3 tackles

Photomatch: Getty Image 1030867028

9/30/18 vs Houston Texans

1 sack, 3 tackles

Photomatch: Getty Image 1043889922

10/21/18 vs Buffalo Bills

1 tackle

Photomatch: Getty Image 1052751794

11/11/18 vs Jacksonville Jaguars

2 tackles

Photomatch: Getty Image 1060924750

I recently acquired this 2013 Atlanta Falcons game-used jersey of offensive lineman Ryan Schraeder.

I normally don’t collect gamers of offensive linemen, primarily because their on-field experiences aren’t as eye catching as a running back or wide receiver, but this one tells a fun story. Schraeder started his first NFL game in this jersey, which was played in Toronto against the Bills. During that game, Schraeder blew open a huge hole that enabled Steven Jackson to score completely untouched from 27 yards out. The Falcons went on to win in overtime and Schraeder built an impressive career in the years to come.

Ryan’s career trajectory also makes this one noteworthy. He played 0 high school football games, which means my year of freshman football gives me more high school experience than a multi-year NFL player (and for the record, I started all 7 games and logged 1 reception). Ryan was busy playing baseball and basketball through high school, plus he wasn’t that big. Luckily for him, he grew a foot after high school and got into football while at Butler Community College. He bulked up to bring his weight in line with his height, and his Wikipedia page states that he once “put a Valdosta IHOP on a temporary hiatus because of how many pancakes he was able to consume on ‘National Free Pancake Day’ in 2013.”

Lord, please don’t let that be lowbrow Wiki vandalism.

This jersey represents an unconventional rise to the pros and several years of hard work (and pancake consumption). Glad to have it in my collection.

Photomatch

Getty Image # 453940217

Great deals on Fanatics for team jerseys and apparel. Up to 70% off, but I found a better deal with the Sean Taylor jersey for $50 original retail price $335. Check out the link below and see if you find some great steals.

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