‘Pawn Stars’ expert: Antonio Brown’s Raiders memorabilia ‘worthless’
This is a different kind of out route. In a single day, Antonio Brown’s once-coveted Raiders memorabilia has been rendered nearly “worthless.”
That’s the educated summation from Steve Grad, the autograph guru for the “Pawn Stars” TV series on History channel
“Essentially anything Raider-related with his signature is almost to the point where it’s worthless,” said Grad, who is principal authenticator for Becket Authentication Services and a recurring expert on the long-running “Pawn Stars” series centered on Gold & Silver Pawn in Las Vegas. “His signature means nothing on Raiders items. You’re actually better off without the signature.”
LFG #GodsPlan pic.twitter.com/MflFD1MqoT
— AB (@AB84) September 7, 2019
Grad said this Saturday, just hours after Brown signed with the Patriots after being granted release from the Raiders. Brown was with the team in training camp but never played a regular-season game. Raiders fans aren’t interested in wearing or displaying any Brown gear (just ask them). Patriots fans will want Brown items from his new team.
Brown spent the off-season signing thousands of Raiders items and — in an unforeseen consequence — devaluing his own signature on those items.
Antonio Brown and the Patriots have reached an agreement on a 1-year deal worth up to $15 million that includes a $9 million signing bonus, a source tells @AdamSchefter. pic.twitter.com/KHvpzucPR3
— ESPN (@espn) September 7, 2019
“He signed probably between 2,000 and 5,000 Raiders pieces,” Grad said. “He was a signing machine. His signature is not rare, and it’s almost as if he was never really a Raiders player because he never played a game with the team.”
Brown signed thousands of silver Raiders uniform numbers for his issued No. 84, which then would be transferred to game-styled jerseys. Those numbers can’t be used now; they won’t be transferred to Pats’ jerseys, which use blue numbers on the road and white at home.
And, Brown signed many helmets — miniatures and game-issued items for sale at memorabilia shows and charity events.
You might remember, or not, that in May, an all-black helmet with the Raider logo and signed by Brown, was up for auction at the annual JDRF Gala at Mandalay Bay honoring Gary and Cindy Ellis and their family. Friday night, Brown’s signature was on another Raiders’ helmet up for bid at the TRF Gala. Jim Plunkett, Jon Gruden, Derek Carr, George Atkinson, Daryle Lamonica and many other current and past Raiders signed the piece.
I asked Grad what either of those helmets would be worth with the Brown autograph.
“About $150,” he said, reflecting the price of the piece without any signatures. “The best-case scenario on these is to take off the signature. His signature really taints those items. It’s a complete waste.”
John Katsilometes’ column runs daily in the A section. His PodKats podcast can be found at reviewjournal.com/podcasts.Contact him at jkatsilometes@reviewjournal.com. Follow @johnnykats on Twitter, @JohnnyKats1 on Instagram.
