Hobby Musings: NFL Auction bringing fans a piece of Super Bowl LIIIHobby Musings: NFL Auction bringing fans a piece of Super Bowl LIII – The Patriots’ win over the Rams in Super Bowl LIII sparked a new wave of collectibles for Pats fans and NFL fans alike.  While an item like a commemorative shirt or highlight reel is fairly common, procuring something from the game itself is a lot harder. To that end, NFL Auctions was able to acquire a number of items actually used in the Super Bowl.  To find out more about what they are offering, I had the chance to catch up with NFL Auctions’ Pete Quaglierini.

KS: Pete, you were actually at the Patriots’ win over the Rams in Super Bowl LIII for NFL Auction.  What memorabilia were you able to gather for the fans to include to their collections?
PQ: Hey Kelsey, we were able to retrieve directly from the officials at the time of it happening the first and second-half kickoff balls, the opening flip coin, and we got Julian Edelman to sign a Super Bowl XLIII Duke football right before going on to the podium for the postgame interview to inscribe the footballJulian Edelman Super Bowl XLIII MVP.” It is the first ball ever signed with that inscription. Most of the items are live on NFL.com/auction right now

KS: How do you go about collecting the memorabilia from the Super Bowl?
PQ: I meet with the head of officiating Al Riveron and then go into the official’s locker room three hours prior to the game and discuss how we want to proceed in the collection process. We never want to interfere with the flow of the game and I want to make the official, in this case John Parry, as comfortable as possible. John could not have been more helpful.

KS: How does gathering memorabilia for the Super Bowl compare to gathering it from other games?Hobby Musings: NFL Auction bringing fans a piece of Super Bowl LIII
PQ: This is like handling a peace treaty LOL. We have to get a few different folks involved as a lot of people are looking to get these items also.

KS: What are the odds of getting something like Tom Brady’s game-used jersey?
PQ: Getting anything game-used jersey wise from the Super Bowl is nearly impossible. They do not want anything to disturb them during the biggest game of the year.

KS: All in all, how do the players feel about surrendering their memorabilia whether it’s the Super Bowl or a regular game?
PQ: During the season, I go to many games during the season and some guys are great when you tell them that his jersey is going to help people with cancer or military charities and some don’t care. It’s like any walk of life.

KS: Authentication and provenance are always such a deal in the memorabilia world. Especially for the memorabilia in the Super Bowl, how do you show the fans that what they’re getting is indeed from the big game?
PQ: We use PSA/DNA for everything!

KS: All in all, what memorabilia from the game proves to be most popular with fans?
PQ: Game-used footballs, especially the ones with the Patriots printed on the balls, meaning the Patriots used that ball on offense, seem to sell the best and are the most popular.

Hobby Musings: NFL Auction bringing fans a piece of Super Bowl LIIIKS: If fans were interested in bidding on the memorabilia from the Super Bowl or anything else for that matter, how would they go about doing so?
PQ: All the items we get from the Super Bowl and from other games and signings during the season can be bid on at NFL.com/auction. Again, the NFL is the only league in the entire world that does not profit from the sale of these items. All the revenue generated goes to various NFL Charities such as St Jude, Make-A-Wish, NFL Foundation and Pat Tillman.

KS: Out of all the players in the NFL, which one is currently commanding the most demand for his memorabilia?
PQ: Would you believe Saquon Barkley, Drew Brees, but the man who commands the most is of course Tom Brady.

KS: With the NFL season over, the next big event for the league is the draft. When will we be seeing signed memorabilia from the upcoming rookies?
PQ: Yes, we will be inviting many guys to the draft and we will have them sign footballs and helmets. Keep checking NFL.com/auction for all these great items.

For more from Kelsey Schroyer, follow him on Twitter @KelSchroy75.

Hobby Musings: NFL Auction bringing fans a piece of Super Bowl LIII
Kelsey Schroyer

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