1998 BARRY SANDERS & JEROME BETTIS SIGNED “COIN FLIP GAME” TICKET PSA 8💎AUTO 10

Description: HIGHEST GRADED BY PSA (POP 1) DUAL AUTOGRAPHED BARRY SANDERS AUTOGRAPHED JEROME BETTIS AUTOGRAPHED THANKSGIVING DAY LIONS VS STEELERS “COIN TOSS CONTROVERSY GAME” PSA 8 NEAR MINT-MINT (HIGHEST GRADED) PSA/DNA 10 GEM-MINT AUTOGRAPHS This is a rare and valuable ticket stub from the 1998 Thanksgiving Day Game between the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers. The ticket features the signature of two legendary players, Barry Sanders and Jerome Bettis, and has been graded PSA 8 NEAR MINT-MINT PSA/DNA 10 GEM-MINT AUTOGRAPH (HIGHEST). This is an original and authentic piece of sports memorabilia that any collector would be thrilled to own. The ticket stub is from the coin toss controversy and is a piece of history that any football fan would appreciate. Don't miss out on this opportunity to own a piece of sports history! THE BACKSTORY TO THE INFAMOUS GAME The controversial NFL Thanksgiving story of Jerome Bettis and the phantom 'heads' call As the NFL has featured at least one Thanksgiving Day matchup on the schedule almost every single season since the league's inception in 1920, there have obviously been plenty of wild moments on Turkey Day over the last century-plus. One such moment occurred in 1998 during a matchup between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Detroit Lions, who were tied at the end of regulation. As NFL overtime rules were a bit different back then, the coin toss was crucial, and legendary Steelers running back Jerome Bettis seemed to make the right call to get his team the football to start the extra frame. But it was there that chaos ensued. Let's take a look back on one of the most controversial coin tosses in NFL history. The Pittsburgh Steelers entered their first Thanksgiving Day game at 7-4 and were coming off an impressive 30-15 victory over the AFC Central-leading Jacksonville Jaguars. The Lions, a regular host on Turkey Day, were just 4-7 but were riding a two-game winning streak with wins over the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On paper, it seemed the Steelers wouldn't have much trouble picking up their eighth win of the season, but the Lions had other plans. Early on, this was a defensive battle as neither team put any points on the board in the first quarter. And the second quarter was all field goals as Pittsburgh took a 6-3 lead into halftime. The Steelers scored the game's first touchdown in the third quarter as Kordell Stewart and Will Blackwell connected for a 24-yard score. Detroit moved to within seven on a 52-yard field goal from Jason Hanson and then tied the game at 13-13 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter as Charlie Batch threw a 21-yard touchdown pass to Herman Moore. Detroit took a three-point lead on Hanson's third field goal of the day, but the Steelers forced overtime as Norm Johnson hit a 25-yard field goal with four seconds left in regulation. Jerome Bettis and the controversial coin toss………. As mentioned, NFL rules were a bit different back then. Under the prior format, overtime was 100% sudden-death, meaning the first team to score any points was declared the winner. So, again, the coin toss was crucial as all you really had to do was get in position for a field goal. As the visiting team typically gets to call the coin toss, the Steelers gave the job to Jerome Bettis, who'd rushed for 67 yards in regulation. As referee Phil Luckett tossed the coin in the air, Bettis appeared to call tails. However, as Luckett bent down to retrieve the coin, he announced to the capacity crowd at the Pontiac Silverdome that Bettis had called heads. And with the coin showing tails, that gave the Lions the football. Bettis immediately became irate, and he and Pittsburgh defensive back Carnell Lake berated the head official. But Luckett didn't back down as he insisted he'd heard heads. And after conferring with his fellow referees, he awarded the ball to Detroit. It didn't take long for the Lions to take advantage. After Terry Fair returned the opening kickoff 21 yards, Batch quickly marched his team down the field and put Detroit in position to win their third in a row. Less than three minutes into the extra frame, Hanson hit a 42-yard field goal to give the Lions a 19-16 victory. But that's actually not the end of the story. Did Jerome Bettis say both heads and tails? Following the game, Luckett told the media that he heard Jerome Bettis say "heads-tails," which could have meant that Bettis was trying to change his call. But as Luckett claims he heard heads first, he chose to honor that initial declaration. Bettis, obviously still upset with how things went down, responded to Luckett's claim by calling it a "bald-faced lie." The following week, a Pittsburgh TV station enhanced the audio, and it was crystal clear that Bettis had indeed made two calls. They also picked up a conversation between Bettis and Steelers head coach Bill Cowher, during which the Pro Bowl running back essentially admitted to saying "heads-tails." That same week, NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue changed the coin-flip format, announcing that players would have to definitively call heads or tails before the toss and not while the coin was in the air. But that's still not the end of the story. A few years later, Charlie Batch signed with the Steelers and actually became locker mates with Bettis. Naturally, the "heads-tails" controversy became a topic of conversation, and Batch claims Bettis would never admit to it. Here's what Batch had to say during a 2021 interview with CBS Sports: Every time around Thanksgiving, I'd say, 'Jerome, it's been a while, can you be honest with me, did you say heads-tails or just say tails?' He said, 'I said tails.' Every year now, as that running joke, I always tweet out to Jerome. It's been 23 years. Can you at least admit you said heads-tails? And it's crickets on his end. As for how the controversial coin toss affected the remainder of the Steelers' 1998 campaign, it made a significant impact as Pittsburgh went winless the rest of the way to finish the year at 7-9. But it's not as if the win helped the Lions, who also failed to notch a victory over the final four weeks of the year and finished Barry Sanders' last season at 5-11.

Price: 1750 USD

Location: Henderson, Nevada

End Time: 2024-12-29T13:35:23.000Z

Shipping Cost: 9.99 USD