Ty Detmer
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Ty Detmer
Game-Used 2001 Jamir Miller Cleveland Browns Jersey (Detmer 7 INT Game)
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
2001 Lions/Browns Week 2 Ticket Stub
Nearly all of the collectibles I purchase are intended for both enjoyment and an investment. This ticket stub from the 2001 Week 2 showdown between the Lions and Browns is pure enjoyment.
For those of you who don’t remember terrible football games from decades past—and for all you Cleveland and Detroit fans who forced yourselves to forget—this was the last game in NFL history where one player threw seven interceptions. That quarterback was an aging Ty Detmer, suiting up for the Lions against his former team. Not only did he throw seven picks, he threw them all within 29 minutes of clock time: from 2:14 remaining in the 2nd quarter to 3:28 remaining in the 4th quarter.
For a player to throw seven interceptions in one game, either the quarterback must be an all-time legend who has earned the undying faith of his coach or the team must be so bad that they have no other options. In addition, the game must remain close the entire time, meaning the other team must be incredibly bad. The Lions had just benched Charlie Batch for Detmer that game, and their opponent was downright horrible on offense, amassing only 257 yards of total offense on a +5 turnover ratio. Even with 7 INTs, the Browns only won 24-14 in a contest that was still up for grabs midway through the fourth quarter.
We’ll never see another 7 INT game again due to player parity, improved in-game metrics, more specialized game-planning, and the pass-friendly fashion of today’s NFL.
So why do I love this game so much? Because it serves as a reminder to me that everyone has bad days from time to time. In the rare instance when I make a giant mistake at work (I’m talking the get-yelled-at-by-senior-management kind of mistake), I rewatch this game as a kind of bizarre catharsis. It helps me move on. I’m going to get this graded with the custom tagline “Detmer 7 INTs”.
