This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 12/8/2018
The Thinker. The Discus Thrower. The Statue of David. The Heisman? Some may dismiss the idea of a 20th Century football trophy belonging in such elite company as the sculptures of Rodin, Myron and Michelangelo. But in the realm of American pop culture, there are few visual touchstones as famously familiar as the "Heisman pose": football cradled in the left arm, right hand outstretched to repel defenders, legs lunging mid-stride. Tim Brown, the Hall of Fame wide receiver for the Los Angeles/Oakland Raiders, earned the Heisman Trophy for his dominating performance for Notre Dame during his senior year in the 1987 season. Brown, who recorded eight touchdowns via pass reception, rushing and punt returns, finished off his college career with 137 receptions for 2,493 yards and 22 touchdowns. When he graduated, he held 19 school records for the most heralded college program of all-time.
Brown played his high school football at Woodrow Wilson High School in Dallas, which is the same high school as 1938 Heisman Trophy winner Davey O’Brien – the only such high school to have two Heisman winners. Ironically, Brown did not play football as a freshman due to his mother’s forbiddance, instead joining the high school band. Brown, against his mother’s wishes, joined the football program for his sophomore season and his explosive talent garnered the attention of several schools by the time he was a senior. Brown was also a star track athlete at Wilson High. After being heavily recruited, he eventually chose Notre Dame over Oklahoma, Nebraska, Iowa and local school SMU.
Brown made an immediate impact with Notre Dame as a freshman, setting the school freshman record in receptions with 28. From there “Touchdown Timmy” as he was nicknamed would set the record for all-purpose yards with 1,937 as a junior.
Brown was selected with the sixth overall pick in the 1988 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Raiders. It took him little time to make an impact as he immediately led the NFL in kickoff returns, return yards and yards per return. After establishing himself as the Raiders’ No. 1 receiver, he would have nine consecutive seasons of 1,000 yards or more, was selected to nine Pro Bowls and was a two-time All-Pro. Brown was enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015.
Goldin Auctions is proud to offer the very trophy awarded to Notre Dame wide receiver Timothy Donell Brown at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City – the first ever wide receiver to win this prestigious award. This award is a nice patina bronze figure—originally rendered in 1935 by noted sculptor Frank Eliscu, who used NYU star Ed Smith as his model—perches on a plinth measuring 6 ½ x 13 ½ inches, which is then mounted atop a trapezoidal black base spanning a perimeter of 10 ½ x 17 ½ inches. The gold-plated plaque reads, "THE HEISMAN MEMORIAL TROPHY IS PRESENTED BY DOWNTOWN ATHLETIC CLUB OF NEW YORK CITY TO TIMOTHY DONELL BROWN UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME AS THE OUTSTANDING COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYER IN THE UNITED STATES FOR 1987." The award is in excellent condition with only minor edge wear on the base.
The Heisman Memorial Trophy is truly, as billed, "The Most Prestigious Award in College Football," and one could make a strong argument for its prestige being paramount to any single-player award in sports, whether an MVP, Rookie of the Year, Cy Young or Gold Glove. None of those laurels carry quite the same venerable cachet as...The Heisman. Since 1998, the Downtown Athletic Club has required its recipients to sign an agreement that the award they are given is not to be sold, making any Heisman trophies available for sale that much more rare. For this country, it is our Thinker, our Discus Thrower, our Statue of David. It is timeless, immortal, and All-American. Recently, the Heisman Trophy of Rashaan Salaam was sold for $399,000 and making this award even more special is that this is the original award presented to Brown, who joined O.J. Simpson, Roger Staubach, Paul Hornung, Doak Walker, Earl Campbell, Tony Dorsett, Marcus Allen and Barry Sanders as Heisman Trophy winners becoming pro football Hall of Famers. This award comes with a LOA from Tim Brown, who states in his LOA that this award is his original award and no duplicates were produced or authorized.