German_Force » it's earning the respect

After retiring from the NFL a little more than a year ago Courtland Sutton Jersey , Evan Mathis decided to move closer to where he grew up in Alabama.

And to get the kind of house he and his wife wanted, Mathis needed to free up some money. And that meant the avid sports card collector would have to part with his prized possession: a 1952 Mickey Mantle baseball card.

"Just that image of the young Mickey Mantle, over the years it's been a centerpiece of the hobby," Mathis told The Associated Press by phone. "I guess it's kind of like the Mona Lisa of the sports card world."

Issued as part of its first set of baseball cards by Topps, the Mantle card is the marquee piece of a card-only spring collection by Heritage Auctions. It is one of six versions of the card to have been rated a Mint 9 by PSA, one of the leading sports memorabilia authenticators, with three others having earned a Mint 10 rating.

The card has been estimated by Heritage to be valued at $3.5 million. For comparison, the highest price paid for a card at auction was $3.12 million two years ago for a 1909 Honus Wagner card.

"It's what I consider the new face of card collecting," said Chris Ivy, Heritage's director of sports auctions. "For decades it's been the (Wagner card). For post-war (World War II) cards and the baby-boomer generation and beyond, it really does come down to this '52 Topps rookie Mickey Mantle card, which has kind of moved from just sports collecting to more of Americana."

Ivy attributes the high value of the card Mathis is selling due to its centering, strong corners and print quality 鈥?a rare combination, considering "quality control wasn't the top issue" for Topps in the 1950s.

"The fact that this one came out of the factory in strong condition, survived for many decades in that same condition, didn't get put in spokes or thrown away by mom is pretty miraculous Vikings Mike Remmers Jersey ," Ivy added.

Bidding for items in the collection, which also includes cards from the 19th century, ends April 20.

Mathis was a third-round pick by Carolina in the 2005 NFL draft. He retired in January 2017 after 12 seasons as an offensive guard with the Panthers, Miami, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Denver and Arizona. He was on the Broncos team that won Super Bowl 50.

He got into card collecting as a kid growing up a fan of Bo Jackson in Birmingham, Alabama, in the late 1980s. Jackson, who had attended high school in nearby McCalla before starring in football and baseball at Auburn, was a two-sport professional for the NFL's Los Angeles Raiders and baseball's Kansas City Royals. Mathis, about 6 years old then, started going to the store to buy packs of cards to get as many of Jackson as he could.

By his recollection, Mathis got away from the hobby around the time he was in middle school before picking it up again years later when his own NFL career was progressing and he could afford some of the cards he couldn't earlier. He was drawn to the 1952 Mantle card and bought several versions of the card inferior to the one he currently owns, and his best was a Mint 8 until about two years ago. That's when a collector friend sent him a photo of his Mint 9 to show it off, and Mathis knew he had to have it.

Mathis said he traded the "vast majority" of his collection and agreed to a payment plan for rest of the value to get the card. Now Pat Valaika Colorado Rockies Jersey , he's moving with his wife, Katelynn, and their two daughters from Arizona to Tennessee to be close to family, and needed to free up some money.

"I don't think I'll have any regrets because I'll have a nice house to show for it instead of the card," he said.

Looking to expand the pool of potential buyers, Mathis is willing to accept cryptocurrency such as bitcoin as payment.

"A lot of new money was created in crypto," Mathis said. "There's a lot of people that might have some newfound riches that they might want to diversify with, and I just kind of wanted to spread the target market out a little bit and give those guys a chance to jump in."

While Mathis is selling the card he owns now, he hasn't given up on the thought of acquiring one of the Mint 10 versions one day.

"It's not within my grasp at the moment," he said. "It's something to work for."

Follow Vin Cherwoo at VinCherwooAP


Baker Mayfield intends to conquer, not divide.

Although drafted by the win-starved Cleveland Browns with the No. 1 overall pick to be their quarterback of the future, Mayfield said Friday he plans to be a leader from the outset even if he doesn't start as a rookie.

Tyrod Taylor is the team's presumptive opening-week starter against Pittsburgh, and while Mayfield intends to compete for the job in training camp, he won't allow personal ambition to get in the way of team goals.

He won't step on any toes.

"It's not about individuals," Mayfield said as the Browns opened their three-day rookie minicamp. "They brought him and I in because we're both team-oriented guys. He's the starter, and all I can do is help us out. So it's not going to be something that separates the locker room. We're not going to be fighting over who's the man in the locker room.

"I'm a team-oriented guy and I just want to win."

Mayfield's leadership and drive were part of the self-assured Oklahoma quarterback's appeal to the Browns Walter Payton Jersey Youth , who believe 鈥?in time 鈥?he can turn around a team that has gone 1-31 the past two seasons.

The plan for now is for Taylor to start and Mayfield to learn while watching a quarterback who led the Buffalo Bills to their first playoff appearance in 18 years last season. The Browns traded for Taylor in March before they reached a consensus on taking Mayfield, who won a Heisman Trophy last season while losing some fans for objectionable on-field antics.

But Mayfield's a pro now, he claims more mature from his mistakes, and he's got a clean slate and a new set of priorities. At the top of his list: earning the trust of his teammates.

To do that, Mayfield intends to be himself, which means he'll go at it full throttle.

"I've got to continue my strengths, and leadership is one of them," he said. "So when you talk about that, it's earning the respect of the veterans in the locker room. The guys who have been doing it for a while, I have to earn their respect. You can't talk about it and earn their respect. You have to go to work. You have to put the time in. You've got to learn the playbook, and then when you get your opportunity, you've got to show that you're there for a reason."

Mayfield said he met Taylor when the QB stopped in while he was in quarterbacks coach Ken Zampese's office. Mayfield has been impressed with Taylor's commitment and openness.

"Everything I've heard, even when I went on my visit at the Bills, they said the same things about him, he's just an unbelievable guy," Mayfield said. "You see that and then you see him up here Cheap Antonio Callaway Jersey , how often he's actually here, it's very transparent who he is."

Mayfield knows he has a lot to learn. He's been digging into Cleveland's playbook, so the X's and O's make sense when he's on the practice field. He intends to be physically and mentally fit by the time training camp opens in July.

In the meantime, he's learning about Cleveland while Cleveland learns about him.

On Thursday night, Mayfield and the team's other rookies had dinner with some Browns alumni, including Hall of Famer Jim Brown, quarterback Bernie Kosar and others. They were told about what it's like to play for a fan base longing to see the Browns win again.

"The one thing I keep hearing about is the loyalty of the fans," Mayfield said. "I think about how they deserve a team that's winning, a team they can rally behind and that's what they'll do no matter what. This franchise is built on winning, they've been winning in the past and some of those guys set the tone. So right now we're trying to get back to that."

NOTES: The Browns said their trade on Wednesday with Kansas City, swapping tight end Randall Telfer for Chiefs defensive end Dadi Nicolas, has been voided. The team did not provide any further details. Cleveland waived Telfer, a 2015 sixth-round draft pick.

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