First Heisman Trophy won by a wide receiver going up for auction
By Keith Farner
Published:
For the second time since Tim Brown won the top award in college football, the trophy is going up for sale.
It was the first Heisman Trophy given to a wide receiver, and it happened in 1987 when Notre Dame WR Tim Brown was honored. Darren Rovell of ESPN reported that Brown sold the trophy last year in a private sale, and that buyer has consigned it to the auction.
The trophy will be sold in an auction conducted by New Jersey-based Goldin Auctions. The auction starts online on Nov. 19 and closes Dec. 8, the day the 2018 Heisman will be awarded.
The exact price range is unknown, but similar recent transactions have brought six-figures.
Rashaan Salaam’s from 1994 sold this year for a trophy record of $399,608, Charles White’s 1979 trophy sold for $184,000 in 2000 and O.J. Simpson’s 1968 trophy sold for $255,000 in 1999. The family of Yale running back Clint Frank sold his 1937 trophy last month for $317,000.
Brown was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015 after a 17-year NFL career.
This may be one of the last auctions of this kind, though, because the Heisman Trust has changed its policies.
Since at least 1999, the Heisman Trust has made winners sign a waiver that they would not sell the trophy. The Heisman also maintains that it owns the right to publicly display any trophy.
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
