Montana & Rice Autograph?

These autographs don't look good. We have done several shows with Jerry Rice and Joe Montana and we have watched them sign thousands of sports memorabilia items. This is being offered by amishrakefight5 on eBay and was sent to us by one of our loyal readers.

We believe these autographs are questionable for the following reasons:

1. Look at the home made COAs in the picture.

2. There are no Montana or Rice holograms. Both players have their own hologram and they usually supply these when they sign things.

3. The seller states that "...I started going to collectors shows...but I figured why not get more than one of each item..." So it appears that this seller goes to collector shows and buys multiples. Montana and Rice ALWAYS put their hologram on items at shows.

4. The autographs are not consistent with how Rice and Montana sign. Look at these authentic autographs below:

Can you see the difference?

A lot of people write us and say that "everyone signs different all the time". They also say "my own signature looks different every time I sign but it is still my signature"

There are a few problems with that statement. The first is that Jerry Rice and Joe Montana autograph items FOR A LIVING! Which means they are very good at signing their name and making it look consistent. Especially when they are being paid $100+ per autograph, they make sure their signature is clean and consistent.

Other people will say, "what if they signed this in an airport or in the locker room? Wouldn't their signature look different?"

First of all, when someone on eBay tries to tell you that they got the signature in the locker room, on the golf course, or in a hotel, you probably shouldn't be buying that item. The fact of the matter is that most athletes make a good living signing autographs these days so they do not sign a lot in public for free. Most of the times when they sign for free in public they will personalize the autograph (i.e. To Jim) so the person can't turn around and list it on eBay.

5. Other items. Take a look at the other items the seller is offering on eBay. Shaq, Dwayne Wade, Tom Brady, Sammy Sosa -- these guys don't sign much (and look at the autographs they are horrible). You can often tell if a seller is offering questionable merchandise by looking at everything else they are selling. If there are too many questionable items, everything is probably fake. Legitimate sports memorabilia dealers don't offer some authentic autographs mixed in with some fake autographs. It is either all real or all fake.