Eli Manning's game-used helmet from Super Bowl XLII, in which he led the New York Giants to an upset of the then-undefeated New England Patriots, will hit the auction block at Goldin Auctions this month.
This is not the first time the helmet has been offered publicly, and it was most notably a key piece in a memorabilia fraud lawsuit settlement in 2018.
In 2014, three collectors filed a suit accusing the Giants and Manning of knowingly providing items to Steiner Sports that were misrepresented as having been game-used.
In the suit, the plaintiffs, Eric Inselberg, Michael Jakab and Sean Godown, claimed they had purchased two helmets, including one used by Manning during the 2008 Super Bowl, which were falsely represented as game-used.
The lawsuit said members of the Giants staff, including the team's dry cleaner, Barry Barone, and locker-room manager Ed Wagner Jr., would “beat up jerseys” to make them look as if they had been used in games.
Inselberg filed the suit after seeing the Giants donated another helmet, which they claimed to be the same one used in the Super Bowl, to a museum and later lent it to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Pro Football Hall of Fame told NJ.com the helmet had never been displayed as game-worn in a 2014 statement, saying it was displayed “only as 'Eli Manning's helmet’.”
In 2018, the lawsuit resulted in an undisclosed settlement. Shortly thereafter, Goldin Auctions sold Inselberg’s helmet for $81,015. A year later, Heritage Auctions sold the helmet for $54,000 in August 2019.
Goldin will sell the helmet once more in its upcoming Goldin 100, with a starting bid of $10,000.
Heritage has sold other game-used Super Bowl helmets over the last two years: An Emmitt Smith helmet from Super Bowl XXX sold for $108,000 in August 2024, a Troy Polamalu helmet from Super Bowl XLV went for $69,000 and a James Harrison helmet from Super Bowl XL fetched $60,120, both in August 2023.
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct.