AboutFred Goodwin Expertise My particular expertise is Cowboys history from 1960-1988 (the Landry era); I'm also a Cowboys book fanatic (I have almost 200 different Cowboys-related titles), and I also collect Cowboys football cards (but stopped in 93). But I am not an expert in the value of cards or collectibles – so please don't ask.
Before you ask: "So-and-so" almost certainly DID NOT PLAY for the Cowboys -- trust me! Before you ask me, ask the guy for proof!
Finally, I DO NOT ANSWER “PRIVATE” QUESTIONS! My work requires research, so the results must be made public.
Experience I had a Cowboys webpage recognized around the Internet as the authoritative list of Cowboys links, and I have a Cowboys book collection second to none (200 titles). In addition to my book collection, I have every Cowboys media guide back to 1960, which makes researching questions much easier.
Expert: Fred Goodwin Date: 12/23/2007 Subject: Autograghed Football?
Question QUESTION: My mother sent me a football that has many "signatures" on it and I wanted to know if it could be authentic and from what year would all these players be from if they played the same year:
Tom Landry, Dan Reeves, Jethro Pugh, D.D. Lewis, Bob Lilly, Mel Renfro, Bob Hayes, Ray Renfro, Lee Roy Jordon and many others I did not recognize. The football does not appear to be an official football and only has the NFL Logo Sheild Stamp and under it "DALLAS COWBOYS" no year and poor stitching on what could be either very old leather of vinyl. A drop of water had accidentally dropped on one of the "signatures" and it smeared. That is the only reason I wanted more information. Thanks Chris
ANSWER: Chris:
All of those names are of legitimate ex-Cowboys. But I'm in no position to judge their authenticity. I suggest you visit a local baseball card shop and ask the owner if he or she is aware of anyone in your area who can help you with appraising the authenticity of your autographed ball.
By the way, Ray Renfro never played for the Cowboys, but he was an ass't coach from 1968-72. All of the players you identified were on the team during that time.
Good luck,
Fred Goodwin
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QUESTION: Do you know if there were mass produced Team Autographed footballs from that time frame. Or could it just be a novelty item. Thanks again for your time.
Answer Chris:
I'm not really an expert in collectibles.
I seem to recall seeing mass-produced "autographed" footballs from various time periods; they usually consist of three brown panels and a white panel for the machine-imprinted "autographs". But whether that describes what you have I really can't say.
Like I said, I suggest you find a collectibles expert in your area and talk to them -- there's very little I can tell you about your ball in a forum like this.
