Montana Game Worn Chiefs jersey w Montana LOA

[mmonte4]

I'm not a football guy, but even I would love to have this one!

http://www.huntauctions.com/live/ima...m=1&lot_qual=f

Interested to hear some commentary about this piece.

[packerfan]

Did Montana really wear a jersey that small? He's seems like a 46 or 48.

[mmonte4]

Did Montana really wear a jersey that small? He's seems like a 46 or 48.

anyone care to respond? i have nothing to offer when it comes to nfl

[sox83cubs84]

I noticed the text quoted in Hunt's description cites it as "1994 game jersey", not 1994 game-worn (or game-used) jersey" Could it be a pro-cut, never worn, signed and authentciated by Joe with no attempt by Joe to indicate game wear (and an error by Hunt's)? I agree, 40 is awful small...44 or 46 would seem more in line.

Dave Miedema

[solarlottry]

As a 49er GU collector for the past 20 years I have had the good fortune to own and examine quite a few authentic game used and some no so authentic Montana jerseys. Plus I have followed most of the Montana items that have been auctioned over that time frame, so I have a fairly reasonable idea as to what size he wore from 1979-1992.

The 49ers wore Wilson from 1979-1983 and from 1990-1990. During the 79-83 time frame at least 3 authentic GU Montana shirts have been sold and both were size 44. Grey Flannel also sold a supposed "rookie era" gamer in 1999 that had a custom hem and thus no size.

From 1990-1992, which is basically the 1990 season as Montana missed all of 1991 and only played in one game in 1992, Wilson was also worn. By this point Montana was wearing a size 46. The team was selling his gamers via their equipment manager, Bronco Hinek, and I distinctly remember jersey size being a major factor in determining authenticity. 98% of Montana jerseys sold that season had a 49er team letter, signed in ink by Bronco and mentioning the jersey size.

As a collector living in SF at the time and actively looking for a GU Montana shirt, I remember discussing the size issue with a number of other collectors. Based upon their direct interaction with Bronco it determined that any shirt that was not a size 46 was probably not authentic.

The team wore Russell from 1984-1989 and Montana wore a size 44. I have seen quite a few authentic Russell Montana gamers and all were size 44. Again the team sold quite a few shirts each with a team letter also mentioning size. My sample size with regard to his authentic Russell gamers is fairly large as I have been able check out a number of 49er collections and all have been a size 44.

I have attached a few images of the Wilson and Russell tagging showing the size of each shirt.

With this information I would bid carefully on the Hunt KC Montana "game jersey"! As Dave stated, the inscription "game jersey" does not, in any way, say that the jersey was game worn. The Montana LOA may state something different so before bidding I would ask what exactly the Montana LOA states.

Always buying quality 49ers GU items and ALL 1994 49er GU items!

Paul
garciajones@yahoo.com

[nickacs]

I emailed Hunt Auction a few hours ago and Mr. David Hunt replied back to me with this email. I know he must be super busy with his auction, so it was a pleasure to hear back in just a couple hours!


"Nick,
Attached are the letters for the Montana pieces. Additionally, I can tell you that we communicated directly with Joe and his representative who fully confirmed he wore the jersey. I can also tell you that one problem with using comparative examples for authentication is that the other examples that are used are often times themselves not authentic which of course causes the concern. At any rate, we can tell you that we guarantee the offered jersey 100%.

Thanks,
David"

[gingi79]

Barry at MeiGray was selling a Montana photomatched from the 1980s a few months ago. It is no longer on the site but he may be able to add another expert opinion on sizing if someone cares to email him.

[nickacs]

Just doing a quick Google search for 94 Montana jerseys, here's a white 1994 KC Montana from HA auction in 2006 that sold for ~$1800:

http://www.ha.com/c/item.zx?saleNo=8...temsport081506


Size tagging pic.. Interesting it's size 44 and not 40? But this jersey didn't have any solid provenance, so who knows..

[aeneas01]

I emailed Hunt Auction a few hours ago and Mr. David Hunt replied back to me with this email. I know he must be super busy with his auction, so it was a pleasure to hear back in just a couple hours!

imo dave hunt is second to none when it comes to answering questions, promptly and thoroughly. as far as the montana helmet is concerned, it's an interesting piece with apparently sound provenance. my only concern is that the helmet model, schutt, isn't what montana can be seen wearing in game or practice photos / film footage when he was with the chiefs. montana wore this model almost exclusively when he played for the 49ers but switched to a riddell when he joined the chiefs - was this because of an endorsement deal, concussion concerns due to the concrete surface at arrowhead, something else? who knows. but i would want to see at least one photo of montana sporting a schutt helmet as chief before i felt more comfortable about this helmet. fwiw i think hunt is stating that it was his practice helmet...

[jppopma]

I have noticed that Hunt will often list jerseys as "game jerseys" and not come out and say "game used" or "game worn". I think they do this for liability purposes in case something turns out to not be what it appears. Pretty much their way of offering the item up but expecting buyers to still to their own homework.