At some point in my lifetime I would really hope that each major sports league would offer game-used jerseys the “right” way, in order to offset the problems that are currently taking place with modern game-worn jerseys. In my opinion there is only one way to do this, and it’s actually quite simple.

After a player is through using a particular jersey, it should then be inventoried and properly marked and then auctioned off on that league’s website.
I know the leagues already do this to an extent, but in the very near future I would like to see every single jersey that is worn in a professional game up for auction.
Obviously, nothing can be done for jerseys that were distributed in the past, but looking forward, this would be the answer.

Each jersey should be accompanied with a team letter and a matching hologram, in addition to a proprietary marking (invisible ink perhaps?).
This system would work perfectly and it would take any guesswork, used to determine whether a jersey is real or not, out of the equation.

Say you want the jersey that Terrell Owens wore in his first game as a Cowboy… As long as you are willing to win it at auction, this can happen.

Do you want a milestone jersey like Peyton Manning’s Super Bowl XLI shirt or Kobe’s 81-point shirt he wore in 2006? No problemo.

The auction format is a no-brainer. There is so much demand for game-worn jerseys without rock-solid provenance and a lot more demand for shirts with that sure-fire proof.
Far too many game-issued, game-cut and even store-model jerseys are offered to collectors and identified as authentic gamers, and this crap is really getting old.

The truth is there are very few ways you can tell if a jersey was actually used in a game. Unless you have a perfect photomatch, which is nearly impossible to find most of the time, you can’t be sure that a jersey was actually used in a game.

Many sellers won’t even write the word “game-used” in an auction title any more. “Dan Marino game jersey,” “Babe Ruth game model bat.” These sellers won’t even tell you that it is “game-used,” but the pieces are still getting “game-used” money.
Now I am not saying that every jersey sold as a “game model,” and not “game-used” is fake. All I’m saying is you better be very careful.

If a LaDanian Tomlinson gamer goes up for auction and is described as having “light use,” I can tell you one thing right now; it ain’t real, and never was in the same building as L.T. unless it was sold at Qualcomm Stadium’s souvenir stand.

A jersey that was used by a running back in the NFL will more than likely be battered, filled with rips and hit marks, especially from a guy who touches the ball as many times as L.T.
I know that my request is probably a little far-fetched, mainly because the leagues are many moons from being even close to this strategy, but all I know is at some point something has to be done.