Get your checkbooks out if you’d like another relatively rare chance at some stiff-armed history.
Ricky Williams claimed the 1998 Heisman Trophy as a member of the Texas Longhorns, with his 714 first-place votes marking what is currently the seventh-most in the history of the most prestigious award in college football. As detailed by the Associated Press, Williams sold his trophy to a private collector for an unspecified amount in 2014; this year, that private collector, Brian Hobbs, has decided to sell the trophy as part of the annual Heritage Auctions’ Fall Sports Memorabilia Collectibles event.
“I’ve had it in my collection a long time and I can’t keep everything, so I thought this was good timing for the trophy,” Hobbs, a Tallahassee, Fla., resident, told the AP. "(Texas’) football program is doing well, and it’s a very highly sought-after trophy. ... The timing seemed like the right time for the next collector to have it.”
According to Hobbs, the proceeds from the sale will be used to put his three children through college.
It’s believed that Williams’ prestigious hardware could collect in the neighborhood of $500,000. If that were to be the case, it would break the record for the sale of a Heisman Trophy set by the $435,763 coughed up for Tim Brown‘s 1987 award December of last year.
Earlier that year, the Heisman Trophy of the late Colorado running back Rashaan Salaam sold for nearly $400,000, a record number for such an award at the time.
The family of Yale running back Clint Frank sold his 1937 trophy in October of last year for $317,000. O.J. Simpson’s 1968 Trophy sold for $255,000 in 1999, while another former USC running back, Charles White, sold his Heisman for $184,000 in 2000.
Beginning in 1999, winners of the Heisman Trophy have been barred from selling their trophies by the trust that oversees the honor. The fact that Williams’ trophy is the last one awarded prior to that restriction being implemented could add to its value.
