A $54,000 Mystery?

[aeneas01]

as some of you probably already know, a game used johnny unitas helmet recently sold at hunt auctions for a whopping $54,000 after premiums - the thing is, as far as i know, unitas never wore that type of helmet, a macgregor, during his pro career - he was a riddell man (rk & tk).

of the hundreds of photos available on the net and elsewhere and of the hundreds of photos i have personally seen of unitas in action, never once have i come across one in which he was wearing anything but a riddell. if any forum members have such a photo (unitas wearing a mac), PLEASE post it as i a) would love to add it to my photo-database and b) would love to believe, much more than i do now, that the helmet which sold at hunt for $54k was actually a rare unitas gamer.

interestingly there happens to be a colts' player that was known to sport a macgregor very similar to the one from hunt, another colts star who shared the backfield with unitas - tom matte. matte went through many different helmets when with the colts - several different macgregor models and then on to rawlings.

another interesting tidbit is that unitas at one time did endorse macgregor football helmets, albeit youth models. i have a few vintage macgregor ads, circa early to mid 60s, featuring unitas modeling mac helmets in front of star-struck little boys. but, again, as far as i know he never wore a mac in a game.

the $54k unitas gamer sold at hunt:





tom matte and his macgregor:



matte wearing his clearshell mac:



here's 1963 shot of matte wearing an older macgregor:

[aeneas01]

and johnny unitas wearing a riddell through the years....

unitas - 1956 (first year)


unitas - 1958


unitas - 1959


unitas - 1960


unitas - 1961


unitas - 1962


unitas - 1963


unitas - 1964


unitas - 1965


unitas - 1966


unitas - 1967


unitas - 1968


unitas - 1969


unitas - 1970


unitas - 1971


unitas - 1972

[CollectGU]

I was actually told the same thing by a number of helmet collectors as you are stating. Maybe Unitas gave this guy A HELMET but not HIS helmet....

Regards,
Dave

[aeneas01]

I was actually told the same thing by a number of helmet collectors as you are stating. Maybe Unitas gave this guy A HELMET but not HIS helmet....

Regards,
Dave

given john ziemann's (the original owner of helmet) well documented history with the colts, the city of baltimore and johnny unitas, it seems clear that he could have certainly been in a position to receive such a gift - but, again, unitas just didn't wear macgregor helmets.

the possibility that unitas gave him A HELMET and not HIS HELMET, as you mentioned, occured to me as well and, frankly, seems to make the most sense. that is until one reads the following accounts:

---------

The vintage helmet was worn by Unitas during his Hall of Fame career with the Colts. He handed it to John Ziemann, then a member of the Baltimore Colts Band, while walking off the field during the final game of a season. "Johnny told me they were getting new helmets next season, so he gave me that one," Ziemann said recently.

Ziemann, now 59, was a teenager when he got the helmet. He can't remember the exact year, but will never forget the moment. "Back in those days, the players and the band made appearances together. Everybody knew each other," Ziemann recalled. "After the last game that year, Johnny told me they were getting new helmets next season, so he gave me that one."

---------

i just can't imagine unitas walking off the field holding a helmet that didn't belong to him nor can i imagine unitas looking around for a helmet to give to mr. ziemann while he was trying to make his way to the locker room. but perhaps that is exactly what happened.

another thing that struck me as a little curious is why unitas would give his helmet to anyone after the last game of the season given that he would have needed it, more than often, for the postseason and/or the pro bowl. given that mr. ziemann joined the colts' band in 1962, he could have only received the helmet between 1962 and 1972. but unitas was a pretty busy guy during that period as follows...


1962 - pro bowl
1963 - pro bowl
1964 - league championship, pro bowl
1965 - season ending injury, 11th game
1966 - pro bowl
1967 - pro bowl
1968 - superbowl
1969 -
1970 - super bowl
1971 - conference championship
1972 -


assuming that unitas, like most (all?) players wore his helmet in the postseason and in the pro bowl, it would seem that 1969 and 1972 (years which the colts didn't make the postseason and unitas didn't make the pro bowl) would be the only years he would have given away his helmet. here are photos of the last games of these two season, 1969 and 1972 - no macgregor....

1969 - final game at los angeles


1972 - final game at miami



mr. ziemann is still very active:

His first project with the Babe Ruth Museum was a combined effort with the Maryland Stadium Authority serving as Project Director for the artifact removal and preservation phase of Baltimore's historic Memorial Stadium. When John Unitas was going to donate his memorabilia collection from his storied career, it was Ziemann who convinced the legendary quarterback to keep the collection in Maryland and donate it to the Babe Ruth Museum (now housed at Sports Legends) for generations to enjoy.

http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Ziema..._56735176.aspx


a quote from hunt:

"Because it's game-used, it's of interest to collectors and historians. Those are the kind of things you just can't get easily," Hunt said. "The rarity is significant."

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/10007767


riddle:

which is rarer - a game used macgregor helmet worn by johnny unitas or a photo of johnny unitas wearing a macgregor helmet during a game?

[mvandor]

Old post but I just read that this lid was won by none other than Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti to "keep it in Baltimore".

[aeneas01]

...

[orioles03]

one of the best owners in sports he donated it to sports legends museum.if you ever have a chance to get to baltimore visit one of the best sports displays around awesome colts stuff there .they have all sports there to