Vince Lombardi Sweater Sells For $43,000

Vince Lombardi Sweater Sells For $43,000 

     Next time you think your late grandma’s nicknacks, bric-a-brac or Chachkies are taking up too much space in the attic. Examine them very closely, before you set up a yard sale. There may be treasure right under your nose. Take a look how a Tennessee couple found the old sweater of the Fordham University and NFL football legend at a Goodwill for only 58 cents. In this photo of a young Vince Lombardi (FCRH Class of 1937) during his Army coaching days.

 
Lombardi wearing his West Point coaching sweater.










 
     "I didn't see the Lombardi tag when we walked out with it or I might have made a connection," McEvoy said. "My wife (Rikki) saw it but she didn't know who that could be." The United States Military Academy (USMA) or West Point must have issued hundreds of those sweaters over the years? thought Sean McEvoy, a man who makes his living selling “vintage” clothing. He flipped the sweater inside-out, discovering a collar tag with something scribbled on it in faded black ink. After coaching Army, Lomardi became Offensive Coordinator for the New York Giants . Later he would become the head coach of the Green Bay Packers where he would win 5 championships -including the first 2 Super Bowls ever played.
 It read: Lombardi. 
                                                               
 
     Was this the Deal Of The Century? Had he really paid 58 cents for what might have been one of He decided to contact the Pro Football Hall of Fame, who requested that he donate the sweater outright — Sean, however, was still a businessman. If it proved to be the real deal, The McEvoys could expect to receive a large amount of money. Sean decided to contact Heritage Auctions in Dallas, Texas. He packed up the sweater and made the 12-hour drive to Dallas to meet with Heritage and members of a uniform authentication company Mears Memorabilia Evaluation . 

It Proved to be Real. 

     How did Vince Lombardi's sweater make its way to Asheville, N.C.? A fellow coach at USMA, named Bill Wannamaker was given the sweater by Lombardi. He kept it safely in his home in nearby Hendersonville since the 1950s. After his death in 2008, the Wannamaker family donated most of his clothing to Goodwill including this West Point sweater. The winning bid ultimately came in at $36,000, reaching a final sale price of $43,020 with the addition of a 19.5 percent buyer's premium. After taxes and fees, McAvoy netted over $20,000.
The Lombardi Family responded. "It's kind of hard to fathom spending that kind of money on a sweater, but these are the times we live in,"

     Vince's son, Vince Lombardi, Jr., told the Asheville Citizen-Times. Yet in the mind of Heritage's director of sports auctions Chris Ivy, “this was a small price to pay for a piece of history.”                                 

Sweater from Heritage Sports Auction Catalog.

     At the request of the Wannamaker family, Heritage Auctions is donating the money it collects from the seller, said to be nearly $4,000, to Goodwill.
-Kevin Bergin 

This article first appeared on the Fordham University Class of 1980 Facebook Site: https://www.facebook.com/groups/537184563628982
#westpoint #vincelombardi #fordhamuniversity #HeritageAuctions

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