When is an ironclad game-used NFL ball even cooler? When you can photo-match it to a big play …

I’ve collected for decades — both cardboard and beyond with plenty of autographs and game-used memorabilia in my stash — but my biggest Black Friday find this year was one that I couldn’t have topped if I had tried.

(Well, at least on my budget.)

It’s my first full game-used NFL item and it comes with a pretty strong story but without my having to pay a premium price to go with it. How? It all came down to doing some research.

For a few months now I had been obsessing about finding a game-used NFL football for the heck of it — a whim, really — simply finding any ball on the cheap yet with some semblance of ironclad authentication. Better than that would be a ball with those attributes and also with some type of tie to what I collect, which really isn’t any one particular NFL team or player but instead my school and many of its recent stars, the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Thanks to Fanatics‘ business deal with its hometown Jacksonville Jaguars, the ball you see above is a reality in my collection and it came on the cheap for what it really is. That’s thanks in part to the Getty Images app that anyone can download on their phone — it’s a free tool that any game-used memorabilia collector must have.

Do you know someone who would want a Carolina Panthers ball card?

It’s a simple idea, but Buzz thought it should come to life.

With all of the game-used touchdown balls from the Carolina Panthers heading into the stands to young fans this season, wouldn’t there also be a football fan or two out there interested in a game-used ball card like this one? (I mean, look at the kid in the Auburn hat. You know he’d want one right about now.)

Buzz grabbed an old (admittedly low-res) Prestige card image of the likely NFL MVP Cam Newton from eBay and meshed it with a new photo to create this what-if card and simply present the following question.

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It’s a simple idea — and really something that’s already pretty commonly done just without the power of a timely and topical photograph. Something tells Buzz that a card like this would be popular right now — maybe even moreso in a couple of weeks if (or is it when?) the Panthers win Super Bowl 50. Or, perhaps there could be a set even more specifically branded to footballs for Panthers fans with a photo of Newton handing the ball toward the camera lens? Maybe a card in a commemorative Super Bowl championship set — or the key item in a kid-focused release.

Just an idea. This kid knows he’d want one.

Follow Buzz on Twitter @BlowoutBuzz or send email to BlowoutBuzz@blowoutcards.com. 

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