An incendiary lawsuit filed by sports collector Eric Inselberg has come to light, accusing Eli Manning and the New York Giants of pushing fake "game-worn" memorabilia to make money off of fans, and have been doing it for years. Their scheme has been a long-term con, according to the suit, and one of the fake items allegedly sits in Canton's Pro Football Hall of Fame.
According to the New York Post, the helmet Super Bowl MVP Eli Mannning wore when the Giants upset the New England Patriots in the 2008 title game is not the one that is in Canton. The Post article alleges multiple jerseys worn by Manning, two 2012 helmets, and a helmet from Eli's 2004 rookie season have all been sold to collectors, and are all forged.
In fact, the lawsuit says the culture of phony mementos was ingrained in the Giants' culture. It was so prevalent that Giants' equipment manager Joe Skiba has openly discussed the scam on an official Giants e-mail account.
Inselberg's account includes tales of dry cleaner Barry Barone "beating up" jerseys to make them look used, as per the request of locker room manager Ed Wagner Jr. A specific quote recounts Wagner telling Barone "to intentionally damage multiple jerseys to make them appear to have been game-worn when they had not been."
Inselberg said he caught Barone "using a big pair of scissors to cut up a set of Giants' 2000 season's game-issued white jerseys."
The Post reports 2011 Inselberg himself was indicted for pushing off fake memorabilia, but had the lawsuit dropped after federal prosecutors said "prosecution was no longer appropriate in light of some new facts that were pointed out to us by defense counsel."
A particularly incriminating e-mail exchange from 2008 between Skiba and Inselberg goes as follows.
"Hey Joe, my buddy was offered an eli game used helmet and jersey. Are these the bs ones eli asked you to make up because he didnt want to give up the real stuff?" Inselberg writes in the exchange," Inselberg messaged Skiba.
In response Skiba wrote back, "BS ones, you are correct...".
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.