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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:
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:
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