Collecting Game-used: A dangerous addition made even better with exact photo-matching to Baker Mayfield & Nick Chubb

Compare the schedules of the Cleveland Indians and the Cleveland Browns and it should be obvious that NFL collectors just don't have as many ways to land game-used memorabilia.

There's a big difference between 16 and 162 games -- just not as much stuff gets used in the NFL -- but there's also got to be a difference in how game-used memorabilia gets out and into fans' hands despite some similarities. Both leagues have auction sites and some teams sell their stuff to the public or memorabilia companies, of course, but it's clear that it's just not as easy to find game-used memorabilia from football teams.

That's what makes the pieces that you can find a big deal -- there's plenty of potential demand but not much supply at all. Fanatics is one company that has deals with a few NFL teams and it receives a small volume of items regularly during the season. Pieces arrive and sell rather quickly if you watch the company's site -- there are literally no Browns game-used footballs available as I type this (unless you count the plaques where the company cut one up). Meanwhile, not that long ago, there were a few options.

That's where this tale of a new gem in my collection comes from.

The football you see in Baker Mayfield's hand in the photo above? It's the same ball you see here and I landed it for a relatively pricey but not ultra-expensive sum from Fanatics -- about the price of three mid-range NFL boxes or a one-third share of a single new Flawless briefcase. It's one of just two balls that the company received from the Cleveland Browns for their Dec. 9 game where they hosted the Carolina Panthers and won 26-20. Mayfield completed 18 of 22 passes for 238 yards and a touchdown in the game, while Nick Chubb ran for 66 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries.

Why do I mention Chubb?

I managed to find a sequence of photos from the game showing Chubb carrying this exact same ball while stiff-arming Panthers captain Luke Kuechly as he fought for yardage during a play in the first quarter. The Getty Images photos seen here show that company's codes so you can go verify them -- and so you can't just scream "Photoshop!" You might want to do that since these images are almost comical in how they showcase the ball numbering so well. Something else that helps these photos make the ball even better? Both of these rookies were record-setters -- Chubb the team's leading rookie rusher ever (996 yards) and Mayfield the NFL's leading rookie passer of all time (27 TDs), despite only playing in only 14 games. (The records happened later in the month, of course, not this game ... but I'll still take it.)

The numbers on these balls are thanks in part to Deflategate as the NFL does more inspecting of balls than ever. That makes it easier to match a ball to a specific play. The 66 here is the number of referee Walt Anderson who inspected them before the game. The 1 is the ball's number from a batch of 12. Thanks to some obsessive searching of Getty's free mobile app (a priceless aid for game-used collectors) I was able to note numbers for several balls used in this game. The other ball you see in the gallery below (No. 9) was used for a number of plays where Getty's photos were just as strong -- perhaps better -- than those you see here for my ball. That ball included the 66 as well as a 65 for ref Walt Coleman, making it easier to spot. A different ball, I believe No. 5, was caught for a TD and served as the heat for a "pylon fire" on a cold Cleveland Sunday -- it would have been an epic piece to own if perfectly match-able (watch the video). Based on the Getty photos, another ball marked B2 (likely one of 12 backup balls) finished the game and Mayfield gave it to a fan in the crowd (also in the gallery). It joined a TD ball from Jarvis Landry that was chucked into the stands after he scored earlier in the afternoon.

Unlike the Chubb photo, the original Mayfield image up top is from the third quarter, so they are proof that the balls get cycled into play throughout the game -- as long as they aren't fired into the stands. These photos can help show the evolution of balls, too, as the scrapes and damage of gridiron warfare add up over time. My ball can be matched in a few other images besides the two you see here, but that's not all. Numeric matching is the easy way to match. A closer look at my ball's laces in other photo on the Getty app show the irregularities unique to my piece that can also be matched. The example above shows how they're moved and dirtied -- even a spot where there's a chunk of brown leather hanging out in one spot. It's not necessary to seek out details this intensely unless you're trying to decipher whether they were used for touchdown plays. (I don't think that's the case with by ball ... but I can't prove it wasn't used for a TD, either.)

So, is it easy to land a ball like this one when buying from Fanatics? Not necessarily. The company sells game-used balls based on the teams and dates used but their listings only use a pair of studio shots of one ball from that game, no matter how many they get. (Why? The balls sell pretty fast so it's probably not as much of a concern.) Each of them has an authentication sticker and a team cert signed by two executives, which is probably enough for most collectors wanting a piece of the game.

The listing that started all of this madness showed the No. 9 and the strong photos I found showing that exact ball were so good I'll admit they were the difference and the reason I opted to make this high-end (for me) buy. After I completed my purchase, I noticed that the item was still showing on the site (it said one was remaining) and that freaked me out a bit. What if I didn't get the No. 9? What would I do? (An exact photo-match is that important in my mind ... I think it adds value beyond what Fanatics charges and there are TD balls to be found if you do some research and get lucky.)

I contacted the Fanatics Twitter account (they followed me after I wrote about a different game-used item in the past) and asked whether I would get the exact ball shown. I was sent the photo at left in a reply, saying it would be one of the two shown in the tray -- those were the only two they got from the Browns for Week 14. I told them I hoped to land No. 9 and they said they would see what they could do based on what might be available.

Ultimately, I didn't get that one and the last ball was off the site by the time I got mine in hand. But it all still worked out pretty well. In fact, maybe better. How? I didn't find any photos with Chubb carrying the No. 9.

So, as we count down the hours to the Super Bowl and the end of the NFL year, that's the story of a pretty solid -- I might even say "dangerous" -- piece I added to my collection this season.

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