Auction Gold - Brett Favre's 2001 Thanksgiving Throwback Jersey

Heritage Auctions comes through again.

This time they bring us this amazing throwback jersey from 2001, worn by Brett Favre in that season's "Thanksgiving Classic" game, and in the process give us a closer look at the details of on-field jerseys from that era.

2001 Brett Favre Thanksgiving Day Game Worn Green Bay Packers Jersey

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Throwback style worn as Favre claimed the coveted "Galloping Gobbler" Award

2001 Brett Favre Thanksgiving Day Game Worn Green Bay Packers Jersey. A late sixteen-point advantage for the Packers in this nationally televised contest threatened to heighten America's turkey stupor, but the winless Detroit Lions staged a noble fourth quarter rally, ultimately falling just a two-point conversion short of pulling even with Green Bay to finalize the scoring at 29-27. This first victory in five years for the Pack saw their future Hall of Fame quarterback doing most of the heavy lifting, completing eighteen of twenty-six for 252 yards and two touchdowns. "Hallelujah," Favre responded to reporters' questions about his team's narrow escape from disaster. "What else do you want me to say?"

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Within minutes of the final whistle, the Gunslinger was feasting on a turkey leg along with his teammate Ahman Green, who caught one touchdown pass and rushed for another to earn joint ownership of the Galloping Gobbler Award with his QB. Presented is the jersey worn by Favre throughout the nail-biting contest and turkey-biting aftermath, a "throwback" to the simple style worn by the 1939 NFL Championship team. The 2001 Thanksgiving contest would begin a four-year tradition of Turkey Day throwbacks, though the drama of this first edition establishes it as the most memorable of the series.

While several Favre 2001 throwbacks have surfaced in the collecting world, it's important to note that this is the one and only gamer, distinguished by several key Favre traits absent in the pretenders. Notably, this model boasts a deeper "double cut" of the spandex sides that the replicas do not, as well as a swatch embroidered with a number "1" at interior seam, an indicator of primary gamer status. Finally, two small areas of gold stitching, serving no purpose other than identification, appear at interior rear shoulder and tail, key attributes of a genuine Favre.

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Game wear is evident (including a nice hit mark on the green tackle twill of the rear numeral), though laundering has removed the most visible signs. our consignor confirms that marks evident on the jersey as Favre exited the field at the half remained as he reappeared for the third quarter, assuring that only one jersey was used that Thanksgiving day. Interior collar holds proper "01-52" year/size swatch.

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For those calculating investment potential, Favre is one of the best bets out there. His 2015 Hall of Fame induction is an ironclad lock, and the love lost during his uncomfortable departure from the Pack is steadily rebounding. He'll be getting standing ovations at Lambeau before you know it, assuring this is a commodity on the rise. Letter of provenance from Guy Hankel. LOA from Heritage Auctions. DVD of the game also included.

Guy Hankel is the most reliable authority on game-worn Packers jerseys of the last several decades. And this is a marvelous one.

The style is a throwback to 1939, when the Packers adopted a white alternate jersey.

The gold interior stitching is a new detail. The Packers sold "authentic" versions of this jersey, made by Berlin and with all the appropriate tagging, leading to the rush of jerseys on the collectible market mentioned in the description. This gold stitching separates the true authentic from the retail version.

What a game that was. I watched all sixty minutes on the edge of my couch.

And what an amazing piece of Packers history.

I'm insanely jealous of whomever gets to add this to their Packers collection.