Tim Brown left inner-city Dallas in the early 1980s to venture north and play football for Notre Dame and coach Lou Holtz. Brown became the top collegiate player in 1987, winning the coveted Heisman Trophy. Now that trophy is up for sale.
Brown, an NFL Hall of Famer and only one of two wide receivers to ever win the Heisman, sold his trophy last year to an unnamed buyer who is putting the trophy up for auction online through New Jersey–based Goldin Auctions, ESPN reported on Friday.
When Brown won the Heisman in 1987, it marked the first time that two players hailing from the same high school won the award. Davey O'Brien, who also attended Woodrow Wilson High in Dallas, won the award for TCU in the 1938 season
Brown played for Notre Dame from 1984 to 1987, earning the nickname "Touchdown Timmy" along the way. During his senior season, Brown had 39 receptions for 846 yards and three touchdowns, he returned three punts for touchdowns and averaged 19.8 yards on kick returns.
The only other receiver to win the Heisman was Michigan's Desmond Howard in 1991.
Brown's Heisman Trophy auction is scheduled to open for bids on November 19, with a closing date of December 8—just in time for a Christmas present for that Fighting Irish fan.
Selling a Heisman Trophy certainly isn't anything new. The trophy of Rashaan Salaam (1994, Colorado) sold this year for a record $399,608, according to the ESPN report. Other trophies sold include Charles White (1979, USC) for $184,000 in 2000, O.J. SImpson (1968, USC) for $255,000 in 1999 and Clint Frank (1937, Yale) for $317,000 last month.
"We believe it is one of the the most significant award trophies to ever be auctioned in any sport," Goldin Auctions president Ken Goldin said. "We have the most prestigious and valuable award given to an NFL Hall of Famer who went to the most storied program in history."
Brown spent 17 years with the Oakland and Los Angeles Raiders. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
After Simpson's trophy sold in 1999, the Heisman Trust has has made the annual winners sign a waiver stating the recipient wouldn't sell the trophy, and that the Trust owns the right to publicly display any trophy.
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