Cowboys QB Dak Prescott is being "accused of using a machine to sign his autograph for a memorabilia company instead of signing by hand," according to Darren Rovell of ESPN.com. Beckett Grading Services, which evaluates and values trading cards, has "refused to verify" Prescott's signature in a recent card set. Beckett Principal Authenticator Steve Grad said that his company "looked at five autographed cards from collectors who received Prescott autograph redemptions" from Panini's '16 Prizm set. Grad: "They had a very machine-like feel. You could see the starts and stops." Grad added, "I immediately knew they were autopen. I've never heard of a modern athlete doing this." Rovell noted it is "possible that Prescott never saw the cards, as blank labels to be signed and even cards themselves are often sent to marketing agents first" (ESPN.com, 7/5). Beckett VP/Grading & Authentication Jeromy Murray said, "For every one of the cards to look so uniform was strange. The cards didn't match up with what he had seen and, since we are based in Dallas, we have seen a lot of his Cowboys merchandise. That raised a red flag" (USATODAY.com, 7/5).
DAK ATTACK: In Dallas, Kate Hairopoulos noted this offseason it has been "evident that Prescott is more visible -- and marketable -- than ever." Prescott's platform and array of endorsement deals has been "building steadily since last season and his first major effort in December, when he appeared in a commercial sponsored by Adidas and Champs Sports." Banners of myriad sponsors also "hung at the youth camps he offered in June." Prescott's Twitter feed "tells part of the tale, with mentions of Nicholas Air, which offers private air travel." Welch's Fruit Snacks, which "supplied some kids with free spots to his camps," is also visible, as is Adidas' logo. Prescott also can be seen "grinning in his No. 4 jersey and holding a Pepsi in one hand and a bag of Tostitos in the other." Prescott's new deal with Campbell's Chunky Soup was "announced last week." Louisiana-based ProSource Sports Management represents Prescott, but it has "outsourced some of his marketing to Peter Miller of Jabez Marketing Group." ProSource Marketing Dir Walter Jones Jr. said that they were "able to sort through opportunities as Prescott emerged during his rookie season." Jones: "There were sponsors lining up for the opportunity to work with Dak. We got a great marketing guy, and he knew that he probably needed to wait, to see how things panned out before he decided to go with a particular sponsor" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 7/1).
