Dak Prescott is being accused using a machine memorabilia instead of signing it by hand.
Beckett Grading Services has refused to verify a set of Prescott’s autographed Panini‘s 2016 Prizm trading cards after noticing that signatures were done by machine rather than a human hand.
“They had a very machine-like feel,” Grad said. “You could see the starts and stops. I immediately knew they were autopen. I’ve never heard of a modern athlete doing this.”
The sporadic nature of the placement of the signature on the card is also a hint that Prescott used an autopen.
The autopen gained popularity in the late 1950’s when politicians used it to sign large amounts of documents without physically doing such. It is still used by alike today.
Per ESPN, when Panini sends card or memorabilia to be signed by an athlete, it requires the athlete to sign an affidavit stating that what it is returning is genuine.
Some of the same Panini cards signed by the autopen being used by Prescott or his agent are being sold online for $339.99.
The incident marks the second time this offseason an NFC East QB was caught in a memorabilia controversy, with Eli Manning being caught passing non game-worn equipment off as game-worn.
(ESPN)
