$50 Reward Offered for Terrell Owens Bengals Jersey Photomatch Help!

[RKO18]

Hey guys,

I was recently able to acquire a jersey that I had been wanting for quite sometime: a Terrell Owens Game-Worn Cincinnati Bengals jersey from JO Sports; which I now consider to be the centerpiece of my collection.

It's an incredible shirt that displays respectable signs of use and was purchased UNWASHED.

I've spent time over the past few days attempting to find a definitive photomatch, but have had no luck thus far. When comparing pictures of the jersey to pictures I've found from the game, nothing looks out of line; but I've yet to find that clear, definitive photomatch.

I've posted pictures of the jersey I purchased along with some pictures from the game I've already found online.

I am offering $50 to the first person who can find me a clear, definitive photomatch.

Matching up the stains on either the front or back of the jersey may be ideal. There are a number of pictures on Getty, USPressWire, etc. I've just had a tough time finding anything definitive.

Any help that could be provided would be MOST APPRECIATED.

Please feel welcome to either post in this thread or email me at peytonmanningtribute@yahoo.com to claim your $50 reward if you feel that you've found something solid.

Thanks guys!!!

[RKO18]

[RKO18]

[RKO18]

[RKO18]

Okay guys,

The jersey I purchased was worn by Owens during the Week 12 (11/25/10 Thanksgiving Day Game on NFL Network) against the New York Jets.

I just put up some additional pictures that I hope might help someone be able to find a photomatch. When I took the jersey out to take the pictures, something stood out to me. It was the stitching in the upper right-hand corner of the number '1' on the back of the jersey.

There almost appears to be a little extra black material in that one area. I do not have any great close-up shots of the back of Owens' jersey from the game, but I do think that I noticed that little bit of extra black material in one of the photos I previously posted.

You guys tell me...

[RKO18]

After having been working on finding a photomatch for a great deal of the night, I think that I may have finally discovered something. Because I wasn't able to find anything conclusive when comparing my jersey to photos of the Jets game, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to compare my jersey to photos of Owens during other games in the 2010 season just to see if something might turn up.

I may have lucked out.

For starters, my jersey shows a respectable amount of use. It's not hammered by any means, but the amount of use seems to be respectable for a game (@ the Jets) where Owens only caught 3 passes. Could it be possible that my jersey was worn during a different game?

A fellow board member was kind enough to forward me a high-resolution image of Owens during the Jets game; and in the image, it appeared as though there should be some white-stitching around Owens' left under-arm that I just didn't see on my jersey.



Clearly the jersey shows signs of game-use; so I looked at images from other away games until one game in-particular caught my eye. The 10/24/10 game @ Atlanta. The holes within the top portion of the front number '8' seemed to match up very well.







From what I could tell, the holes in the top of the front number '8' as well as the specific hole right underneath the curved part of the front number '1' seemed to match up well.

Then, I noticed three distinctive characteristics present in my jersey that matched up with images of Owens from the Falcons game.


1) The off-set placement between the NFL Shield and the large "B" Cincinnati Bengals logo.





2) The white stitching present at the under-arm to the right of the front number '1'.





3) The orange stitching present at the left of the under-arm to the right of the front number '8'.





From as best as I can tell, all of the above-mentioned characteristics seem to match up very well, if not perfectly with my jersey. If that be the case (and that is not to say that this jersey wasn't worn in the 11/25/10 game against the Jets), that would mean that this jersey was in-fact worn during the Bengals 10/24/10 game against the Atlanta Falcons.

In that game, Terrell Owens caught the 150th touchdown of his career!

That would also explain why my jersey seems to have a bit more use then one would expect (Owens had 9 catches for 88 yards and a touchdown against Atlanta). There are also some faint red (what appears to be) paint marks of some sort; again, in line with what may have been on the Georgia field.

So what do you guys think...do I have a photomatch?

Does anyone know where I might be able to find any high-resolution images from the Bengals 10/24/10 game against the Falcons?

[masp3392]

nice photomatch bud, probably took you while to get that perfect pic

[RKO18]

Thanks masp3392.

Another board member was kind enough to also forward me the following high-resolution image of Owens from the Atlanta game. In the image, there is a mark to the left of the front number '1' that appears to be in a different place then on my jersey. My jersey has a similar mark right around there, but I'm not sure if they line up perfectly.

However, comparing the holes around the front number '8' does appear to be a match as best as I can tell.

[CollectGU]

I think you need to find better resolution photos to find a conclusive match, things appear promising but I do not see that conclusive match you are looking for.

best,
Dave

[dplettn]

If JO Sports marked it as the Jets game (and I hope we can assume such is not an error), I would be very surprised if the jersey was also used in another game. Late last season, the Bengals changed their own Proshops offering from "Worn" to "Issued" but TO was one of two worn/issued jersey names they appear to have been trying to monetize at the $750 price point all season. Even after they changed their offerings from "Worn" to "Issued" late in the season there were 6 to 10 TO jerseys among their "Issued" rack with several appearing to show use. When you count them and the offerings JO received, it appears TO in particular average amount of use per jersey would be less than 4 QTRs. When JO and the Bengals got married, it was a marriage of two similar businesses that are very focused on profit first, then profit second, then profit third. As priorities, good taste and value for the consumer experience probably ranks somewhere in the 100s.

Speaking generally, if your jersey was worn for more than 1 game its a special thing for an Owens 2010. The organization's priorities being what they are (profitability w near term vision), they don't miss opportunities to generate revenue above contribution margin. So, once Mr. Popcorn came to Cincy, Owens gamers hit maximum production.