Pennsylvania Resident Collects, Photo-Matches Jerseys
When Zach Good was younger, he hoped to one day have a cool man cave in his home.
Now in his 30s, Good has the financial resources to tackle that project. One area of concentration for Good is collecting jerseys of NFL players.
A few years ago, Good started buying vintage 1990s Champion jerseys of players he enjoyed watching growing up, including Jerry Rice, Barry Sanders, Steve Young, and Randall Cunningham. He amassed about 50 fan jerseys.
“I have a long-term goal where I want to collect one jersey of every number from 1 to 99, which is a pretty ambitious goal,” Good said.
Good, who lives in Pennsylvania, enjoyed collecting replica jerseys but decided to shift his focus. He thought he should buy an actual team-issued or game-used jersey because that’s the real deal.
Good jumped into the new avenue of collecting jerseys by buying a couple of team-issued jerseys of Los Angeles Chargers running back Melvin Gordon.
“A lot of times when you think about buying game-used jerseys, you think that they cost thousands, and you only think about the big stars,” Good said. “I started researching and realized that I could find some quality used jerseys of players who aren’t that well known or who were in and out of the pro level—the active roster to the practice and back and forth.”
Game-Used Jerseys
Good next turned his focus to collecting game-used jerseys.
Before buying a jersey, Good makes sure the item is a genuine game-used piece.
“I found a couple of jerseys I was interested in buying; I wanted to see for myself. Can I prove that this jersey was used,” Good said. “So, I just started a rudimentary process of examining the jersey closely before purchasing it for unique marks, scuffs, and other identifying characteristics that would not be present on any other jersey just due to the nature of it being game used.”
Photo-matching a jersey with the game it was worn in can be difficult. Good will search through hundreds, if not thousands, of game photos from services such as Getty Images to authenticate a jersey.
“That sort of started this love of this process,” Good said. “I know some jersey authentication companies do this for you, but they’re essentially doing the same thing. I found a little bit of an amateur gap where the amateur can do something very similar.”
Beginner’s Luck
The first NFL game-used jersey Good purchased two years ago prompted a little beginner’s luck.
While searching on eBay, Good came across a jersey of Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Auden Tate from the 2019 season. The jersey was clearly ripped from the bottom to across the chest. The eBay description noted that Tate’s jersey was ripped during a game, which made Good curious since NFL jerseys these days are extremely tough to rip.
“I just knew there was more to the story than that,” Good said.
Even though the jersey came with a certificate of authenticity from the Bengals and Fanatics, Good wanted to find out how the item got ripped.
After reviewing the box score and looking at photos from the game, Good watched the entire game on the NFL’s website. It wasn’t until late in the fourth quarter that Good found his answer.
“Tate caught a pass and was tackled from behind and his neck moved forward in a very scary manner. It looked like a potentially serious injury,” Good said. “The game stopped for 10 minutes while the staff was treating him. He was put onto a spine board and strapped in because there was potential for a spine or neck injury.”
As Tate was carted off the field, Good noticed the jersey was damaged because medical staff cut it off while treating him. Thankfully, Tate dodged a serious injury and was able to fly home that night on the team plane.
Knowing all this background, Good wanted the jersey for his collection. He purchased it for $350, framed it, and hung it on a wall.
“That jersey is the epitome of everything you look for in a game-used jersey,” Good said. “It tells such an incredible story.”
A Big Long-Term Goal
Good tracked another jersey with an interesting lineage. The arena football team Los Angeles Cobras lasted just one season before folding in 1988, and Joe Kelly was on its roster. While researching, Good discovered that football Kelly is the dad of current Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly.
Thus far, Good has acquired nine game-used jerseys — four NFL and five college ones, all from bowl games — for his collection.
Once Good has conducted research and purchased a jersey, he will document his authentication process—the dates the jersey was used, the plays the player was involved in, and the player’s stats.
Good’s long-term goal for his jersey project is to keep it going for another four to five years. At that point, he would like to obtain a book deal or start a podcast in which he would contact players of the jerseys he owns and gift them their jerseys.
“A lot of the players I’m collecting don’t have a ton of game-used memorabilia,” Good said. “Most of them were in and out of the league for two or three years and then disappeared. They may have only had two or three years of pro jerseys that they ever wore in games.”
