ESPN: Dak Prescott allegedly used machine to sign cards
Jul 5, 2017, 9:49 AM | Updated: 3:50 pm
In this photo taken June 13, 2017, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott walks to the sideline during an NFL football practice at the team's training facility in Frisco, Texas. (AP Photo/Jaime Dunaway)
(AP Photo/Jaime Dunaway)
If you were lucky enough to snag an autographed Dak Prescott card, there is apparently a chance he did not actually sign it.
Bummer.
As reported by ESPN’s Darren Rovell, there is a rumor (accusation?) making the rounds that says Prescott, the star QB of the Dallas Cowboys, used a signature machine to leave his mark on memorabilia.
Steve Grad, principal authenticator of Beckett Grading Services, said his company personally looked at five autographed cards from collectors who received a Prescott autograph redemption in Panini’s 2016 Prizm set.
“They had a very machine like feel,” Grad said. “You could see the starts and stops.”
The lack of natural flow in the perfect signatures led to Grad concluding that the signatures were done by autopen, a signature machine that has had a presence in politics since the late 1950s.
Grad added he had never heard of a modern athlete signing in a similar manner.
As Rovell notes, it’s possible Prescott did not actually sign (or not sign) the cards, as it is common for athletes to get given blank labels that they sign and send back.
However, this is also not the first time autographed cards have come into question. In May, Panini discovered some of its cards signed by Falcons rookie Takkaris McKinley were not, in fact, autographed by him.
In that case, Rovell wrote, Panini promised to send customers actual signed cards to those who returned their not-actually-signed ones.
