cohibasmoker
04-22-2009, 07:30 PM
Recently I noticed a new style Duke football on eBay that the seller says is from the Colts Super Bowl season of 2007/2008. Since the auction did not say the football came with a LOA, I asked the seller if he had any documentation stating the football is from the 2007/2008 season. So far, the seller hasn’t gotten back to me. Until he/she gets back to me, from the scans, what do we know about the football?
1) The NFL shield (Scan 1) – the football definitely is not from the 2008 season because in 2008, all NFL footballs had 8 Stars in the NFL shield;
2) Roger Goddell (Scan 1) - Since Roger Goddell is on the football, we can assume the football is either from the regular season of 2006 or 2007 - Again, in 2008, all Duke’s had 8 Stars on them so the shield has narrowed the years down to either 2006 or 2007;
3) Team Name (Scan 2) - This is a good thing because when the NFL when to the new style Duke footballs in 2006, all of the authentic footballs which were shipped to the NFL teams, had the team name was laser-printed on the panel under the NFL shield;
4) What Year (Scan 3) - So is the football from 2006 or 2007? Is there any way to tell? Yes there is. Under the Wilson Made is USA stamp, there are a couple of very tiny initials under the stamp. These initials represent when the football was SHIPPED from the Wilson factory. If the football is from 2006, the first initial should be the letter “J”. If the football is from 2007, it will have the letter “K”. The second letter represents the Month the football was shipped.
Is this an exact science? Hey, this is the sports memorabilia field so NOTHING is an exact science. What I can say is, I’ve owned 60+ new style Duke footballs and I have personally examined twice that many over the past three seasons. Does this make me an expert – NO WAY, SHAPE or FORM. This is just a little project I’ve undertaken and everyone’s input is welcome.
1) The NFL shield (Scan 1) – the football definitely is not from the 2008 season because in 2008, all NFL footballs had 8 Stars in the NFL shield;
2) Roger Goddell (Scan 1) - Since Roger Goddell is on the football, we can assume the football is either from the regular season of 2006 or 2007 - Again, in 2008, all Duke’s had 8 Stars on them so the shield has narrowed the years down to either 2006 or 2007;
3) Team Name (Scan 2) - This is a good thing because when the NFL when to the new style Duke footballs in 2006, all of the authentic footballs which were shipped to the NFL teams, had the team name was laser-printed on the panel under the NFL shield;
4) What Year (Scan 3) - So is the football from 2006 or 2007? Is there any way to tell? Yes there is. Under the Wilson Made is USA stamp, there are a couple of very tiny initials under the stamp. These initials represent when the football was SHIPPED from the Wilson factory. If the football is from 2006, the first initial should be the letter “J”. If the football is from 2007, it will have the letter “K”. The second letter represents the Month the football was shipped.
Is this an exact science? Hey, this is the sports memorabilia field so NOTHING is an exact science. What I can say is, I’ve owned 60+ new style Duke footballs and I have personally examined twice that many over the past three seasons. Does this make me an expert – NO WAY, SHAPE or FORM. This is just a little project I’ve undertaken and everyone’s input is welcome.