Wearing Game-Worn Jerseys

[Bouj]

Need some help from the gallery here.

I have been picking up some game-worn jerseys recently. Not any marquee names, just uniforms or players that have some personal significance to me. I have 2 baseball and 2 football.

The 2 baseball jerseys are in pretty good shape. One is a 1989 Blue Jays I got from the Blue Jays (thanks to BgMack27 for the hook up), and it is in good shape for a 16-year-old jersey. The other is a 2005 Nashville Sounds that is in good shape, with slight fraying on the name on the nameplate.

The 2 football jerseys aren't as well off. While both show the wear-and-tear you'd expect (paint stains, tape marks, slightly peeling numbers), one of them has a few small rips in the shoulders. It is to be expected, since it was a RB's jersey.

Should I get the rips in the shoulders of the football jersey repaired, go as is on all of them, or should I put them all away for safe-keeping, to preserve them?

[MarkAtnip]

I am of the impression that such things are for WEARING. I have a 1954 Red Wings jersey worn by Red Kelly. I have worn it on a few occations when the wings were in the stanley cup finals (for luck). I also have some Broncos gamers (for the NFL crowd). I wear one every Sunday. Collecters are nice but the FANS are the ones that wear them!

[DGivens87]

I say if you don't look like a total goofball (like when people wear huge-cut game-worn goalie jerseys), go for it. I have a game-worn Pawtucket Red Sox BP jersey that was given to me by my boy Andy Abad, and it fits perfect. Sleeves are nice and tight so it shows the guns.

I have a couple of other game-worns (all baseball), and I wear them all the time to the games.

[slapshot]

If the rips and tears are significant enough that casual wearing may make them rip even more, get them repaired. If not, leave them as/is.

I have a couple game worn hockey jerseys with small tears and puck marks, and I haven't had any problems with the holes getting bigger.

[ASTROS75]

Wear your jersies!!! Rips , tatters and fading are badges of honor.All clothes looks the same in a dark closet....

[CFSize24]

I have two Ohio State game worn Jerseys

35 - Jerry Rudzinski 1995

36 - Nick Goings 1996

I dont wear either mostly because of how they fit though after trying them on again I may wear the #36. But still, the fit of replicas and non game worn is much more comfortable to me.

[Michigan Dave]

It depends. I have an Yzerman game-worn that I don't wear, namely because I have a non-game worn Yzerman to wear, and I would kill myself would I spill something on it! I was given a jersey by Tom Brady after we played Ohio State in 99, and it was his Friday jersey, from that week. Since Tommy is a friend of mine, and the situation is a little different, I wear that one. On the other hand, I have a Woodson worn jersey, and I don't know Woodson very well(97 was 1 year before my freshman year), I don't wear that. I guess it's personal preference. To me, Woodson, Yzerman, etc. are "hero" type players, while Brady was a friend and drinking buddy, so I can't really justify that. I grew up idolizing Steve Yzerman, and Woodson became a legend as I was accepted into Michigan, so those guys are on a different level for me.

[sc49erfan15]

Definitely, definitely wear 'em. I have one game-worn 49ers jersey, and I break it out when they win ( ) and some random other occasions...because otherwise, I'd only get to wear it twice a year.

[SEMOSTLfan]

if i may make a suggestion i would say get some nice frames and hang them up in your house apt. bedroom etc.

[no97]

I wear mine (college hockey Bemidji State and Northern Michigan, but have owned UMich, Providence, Alaska-Fairbanks, Alaska-Anchorage, Sudbury Wolves, Halifax Mooseheads, and several others over the years).

However, with that said, MarkAtnip, what the hell are you doing wearing a '54 Wings sweater? The stuff I'm talking about is worth a couple hundrid at best, that's worth several thousand or more!

Moose

[DG_ThenNowForever]

I have some NBA warm-ups. If I were two feet taller (or in rap videos) I could wear them. As it is, a the jacket goes down to below my knees, and I'm 5'9!

[CC97]

I rarely wear my game-worn jerseys... it's not worth the risk of getting stained, in my opinion.

[ColeJ]

i don't own any game worn jerseys...

and i don't even wear autographed replicas. once they're signed, i put them behind glass, and hang them on the wall

so your question boggles my simple little mind. no way in hell i'd wear them.

[Bouj]

Thanks to everyone for the input.

As to how they fit, the baseball jerseys are size 46 & 50. I wear a Majestic 48, so it's acceptable. The football jerseys are Nike L's. They fit very nicely, and they're not those ridiculously long ones either (like the Nike Elite teams wear).

The Blue Jays one is going to get signed and put in a frame eventually. It was originally worn by a friend of my uncle's. All it would take to get that one signed is to drive over to the guy's house when I visit my uncle at Thanksgiving or Christmas.

The other 3 jerseys are related to my alma mater, the Texas A&M University-Kingsville Javelinas.

The Sounds jersey will probably get worn a couple of times. It belonged to Mike Adams, the first TAMUK Javelina to make it to the majors (Brewers).

The 2 football jerseys are TAMUK football jerseys. I love my school, and I will definitely wear them a couple of times before all is said and done. As for the repairs, I will be getting it fixed. I know the guy who does in-season customizations for the Rockets and Texans. He said he could fix it up, no problem.

[DGivens87]

if i may make a suggestion i would say get some nice frames and hang them up in your house apt. bedroom etc.

I intend to do precisely that when I buy a house and have my basement converted into a sports bar where all my friends will watch the game...can't wait!

[redsfan39]

if i may make a suggestion i would say get some nice frames and hang them up in your house apt. bedroom etc.

My thoughts exactly

[spyboy1]

I wear mine all the time, but then again, I don't have a game worn Yzerman either. At some point the jerseys value becomes too great to risk it, but most of us don't own jerseys in that price range I'm willing to guess.

I do make a point of taking the jerseys off if I'm at a game and get something to eat that is risky. I once had a piece of sausage fall of a slice of pizza onto a gamer. I thought about just shrugging it off and calling it a "blood stain" but decided against it.

Whatever you do, do NOT have the rips repaired or get them signed.

The most popular school of thought it to keep them just as they were when they came off the players back. There are threads on game-worn boards that go into great detail how to remove autographs from game worn jerseys.

[sscrunner06]

I have a game-worn Detroit Tigers spring training jersey, and I wear it all the time. My belief is, unless the jersey has ridiculous value, wear it and be proud you own it.

[Bouj]

I've run into a problem with one of the jerseys. When I got both of the football jerseys, they smelled bad. One just smelled like an old locker room. The other one had a pretty powerful BO smell on it. After multiple washes, treatments with baking soda, and shots of Fabreze, the one that just smelled like locker room is more or less OK, but the other one is still smelly.

From what I can deduce, the smell is trapped in the numbers. The mesh and shoulders don't really smell like anything, but the numbers (not tackle twill, they're printed on) are smelling, both on the inside and outside.

I've searched the internet for this, but I haven't found any resources on getting the smell out of the jersey. Anyone had this problem before?! Anyone know how to fight this?

[spyboy1]

I've heard Fabreeze is the cure-all.

You might try Dreft. It's a baby detergent which is designed to kill germs and odors. It's got an odor of it's own though, so you might find old ladies pinching your cheeks after using it becuase you might smell like a cuddly baby!

Perhaps vinegar might also be an option. A quarter cup in the wash.