Another Heisman Trophy winner will be crowned Saturday night, and it will mean immediate dollars in the collectibles space for the newest member of college football's most exclusive fraternity.
The bookmakers are convinced that will be Travis Hunter as Colorado's two-way star is a -2500 favorite to take home the trophy.
The autograph landscape in college sports is not the same as it used to be. When underclassmen won the award in the pre-NIL era, they couldn't cash in immediately due to NCAA rules. When a senior joined the Heisman ranks, his autograph would immediately be in high demand.
In the NIL era, however, players can cash in while they're in college, which somewhat lessens the demand for immediate autographs from the Heisman winner.
Instead of predicting how much more Hunter could be worth in the new environment, cllct decided to take a look at the current Heisman market among living winners to see who is in the greatest demand.
There's not a perfect way to do this, but we decided to try. For our methodology, we found the last sale of a full-size (non-authentic or on-field) helmet signed by the Heisman winner and including the Heisman inscription. We then looked at what it sold for at the same auction house, Pristine.
Here are the Top 10:
- Reggie Bush (USC, 2005), $1,053
- Joe Burrow (LSU, 2019), $842.40
- Charles Woodson (Michigan, 1997), $615.58
- Herschel Walker (Georgia, 1982), $467.99
- Barry Sanders (Oklahoma State, 1988), $343.98
- (tie). Bo Jackson (Auburn, 1985) and John Cappeletti (Penn State, 1973) $327.60
- Tim Tebow (Florida, 2007), $307.13
- Jameis Winston (Florida State, 2013), $304.20
- Carson Palmer (USC, 2002), $303.03
- Lamar Jackson (Louisville, 2016), $292.50
Here are the Bottom 10:
- Gino Torretta (Miami (Fla,), 1992), $61
- Earl Campbell (Texas, 1977), $111.41
- Tim Brown (Notre Dame, 1987), 111.79
- Vinny Testaverde (Miami (Fla.), 1986), $122.95
- Ty Detmer (BYU, 1990), $129.19
- Chris Weinke (Florida State, 2000), $143.73
- Doug Flutie (Boston College, 1984), $166.82
- Eddie George (Ohio State, 1995), $167.88
- Charlie Ward (Florida State, 1993), $178.13
- Eric Crouch (Nebraska, 2001), $186.71
So, what can we learn from these lists, understanding there are going to be some anomalies.
Pristine Auctions CEO Jared Kavlie says he notices most of the top-selling players also had solid NFL careers. "College alone won't carry a guy," Kavlie said.
And that certainly appears to be the case with the top sellers.
It's worth noting Bush is high on the list because he stopped Heisman signing when he had the award stripped from him. As a result of recently getting his trophy back, Bush's Heisman inscription is more rare than others.
Although a great college career alone doesn't usually equal a valuable Heisman auto, USC is the school you want to go to if you are a Heisman winner: Bush, Carson Palmer and Marcus Allen are in the top 15.
The bottom of the list — which does not include everyone because a full-sized signed helmet has not recently sold for all winners, including Oklahoma's Steve Owens (1969) and Auburn's Pat Sullivan (1971) — has a couple surprises at the top.
Seeing Campbell there isn't completely surprising since it has been 50 years since he won the award — although he did have a Hall of Fame career in the NFL.
However, Brown, a Hall of Famer from Notre Dame, and George, a semifinalist for the Hall's Class of 2025 from Ohio State, are both surprising entries on the least expensive autographs list.
Darren Rovell is the founder of cllct.com and one of the country's leading reporters on the collectibles market. He previously worked for ESPN, CNBC and The Action Network.