ESPN report says Prescott accused of having machine produce autograph
Former Mississippi State quarterback Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys is being accused of using a machine to sign his autograph for a memorabilia company instead of signing by hand.
ESPN Senior Writer Darren Rovell was the first to have this story.
In the ESPN report, Beckett Grading Services, which evaluates and values trading cards, has refused to verify Prescott's signature in a recent card set.
Steve Grad, principal authenticator at Beckett, told ESPN that his company looked at five autographed cards from collectors who received Prescott autograph redemptions from Panini's 2016 Prizm set.
“They had a very machine-like feel,” Grad said. “You could see the starts and stops.”
Signatures on some Prescott cards are not being authenticated by Beckett Grading Services. Grad has come to the conclusion through what he has been able to identify from the autographs is that they were done by autopen, a machine that politicians have used to sign documents in bulk since the late 1950s.
“I immediately knew they were autopen,” Grad also told ESPN. “I've never heard of a modern athlete doing this.”
It's possible that Prescott never saw the cards, as blank labels to be signed and even cards themselves are often sent to marketing agents first.
When Panini sends cards or memorabilia to be signed by an athlete, it requires the athlete to sign an affidavit stating that what it is returning is genuine.
ESPN attempted to contact Prescott, his agent Jeff Guerreiro and his marketing agent Peter Miller. None were available for comment.