Addendum: Starting bid has increased from catalog due to latest findings about this helmet's significance.

This is a special opportunity to acquire by all accounts the last helmet ever worn by the greatest wide receiver in NFL history. Jerry Rice is the all-time leader in almost every statistical category for wide receivers including receptions touchdowns and yards. Rice was selected to 13 Pro Bowls and named All-Pro 12 times in his 20 NFL seasons spent almost entirely in the Bay Area. He won three Super Bowl rings with the 49ers and helped the Raiders get to the big game at the end of the 2001 campaign. After a 2004 season split in Oakland and Seattle Rice gave it one last shot at the age of 42 with the Denver Broncos. He got through 2005 training camp and four preseason games and was set to make the team as the fourth wide receiver but ultimately decided his time had come finally to step away.

This offered Jerry Rice Denver Broncos preseason game-used helmet has been professionally photomatched and comes from the collection of a former NFL executive who in 2005 was working for ESPN. The navy blue shell has the team logo decal on each side with Rice’s autograph and “#19” inscription on the right side. The rear has a “BRONCOS” neck pad with the following decals on the bottom of the shell: NFL shield Rice’s No. 19 American flag and warning/safety label. The Riddell pro model VSR-4 helmet has a manufacturing date sticker of “03-05” hidden inside the interior padding. “Rice” is written in black marker on the interior warning label. The helmet comes in size large as indicated by an “L 7-7½” interior sticker. The facemask Schutt mask clips chinstrap and ear pads are all intact and appear to be the originals. All elements of this helmet show adequate and consistent usage.

Photos online show Rice wearing this very helmet throughout the 2005 preseason. The unique alignment of the mask clip by the left ear hole with the plastic overlapping the mask bar is an exact match to several shots. In addition markings on the shell and facemask have been conclusively photomatched (Getty 80023816) to the Broncos' 37-24 win over the Colts on August 27 2005. Rice played very little in the team's final preseason game on Sept. 2 against Arizona before announcing his retirement a few days later.

Includes LOA from former NFL and ESPN executive who got the helmet from a Broncos player. LOA from Resolution Photomatching (425364). Autograph pre-certified by PSA/DNA.