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Lot # 437: George Trafton Signed Index Card (PSA)

Category: Football

Starting Bid: $50.00

Bids: 0 (Bid History)

Time Left: Auction closed
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Item was in Auction "2023 Summer Pop-Up",
which ran from 6/11/2023 7:00 PM to
6/25/2023 10:00 PM



George Trafton was "... the meanest, toughest player alive," said the immortal Red Grange of his Chicago Bear teammate. Offered is a George Trafton single-signed index card. Trafton was a player on Knute Rockne's 1919 undefeated team - and Trafton was a teammate of the legendary George Gipp - and was a key player on the Co-National Champion Notre Dame team. The Pro Football Hall of Fame center started his pro career wuth the Decatur Staleys of the American Pro Football Association - the forerunner of the NFL - in 1920. In 1921, the Staleys transferred to Chicago as the Chicago Staleys in the first year of the National Football League. After not playing in 1922, Trafton came back to pro football in 1923 and played through 1932 with the Bears, six seasons as an All-Star. He is the first professional center to have snapped the ball with only one hand, and he was one of the first centers to roam at the center position on defense. Trafton also coached football, as an assistant at Northwestern, Green Bay, and the Cleveland/Los Angeles Rams, and as a head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the Canadian Football League, where his Blue Bombers won the Grey Cup in 1953. Trafton was also a professional boxer for a short time, and he was a boxing trainer. The signed index card measures 4.75x3". Using a ballpoint pen and writing in blue ink, Trafton wrote and inscribed, in neat, flowing, large script: "To Jack Thompson: I wish you what you wish for yourself - Good Luck, Good Health and Gods[sic] Wishes/Sincerely George Trafton 12-1-70." Trafton dated the card himself. This is a tough Pro Football Hall of Fame autograph. Trafton died in 1971. Trafton has written a very nice note, and the ink signature is 8/10. The signed index card has been has been encapsulated and PSA/DNA certified as "AUTHENTIC AUTO."

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