This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 12/10/2015.
Lou “The Toe” Groza got his nickname from his straight ahead approach to kicking. Instead of the more popular soccer-style of kicking, he preferred to kick the ball with his toes. In any regard, his deadly accuracy from great distances is what made him one of the best placekickers the NFL had ever seen. At a time when kicking specialists were a rarity, Groza showed the NFL and the Cleveland Browns why his position was so important. He set single-season NFL records for accuracy, distance and number of field goals in his first three years in the league. He was a 9-time Pro Bowler, 5-time NFL Field Goal Leader, 4-time First-Team All-Pro and the NFL Scoring leader in 1957. He was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1974. On December 10, 1961, Lou Groza broke the NFL record for total points scored with 826 as he kicked a field goal and two extra points. On the inner rear crotch-piece is the “King O’Shea” manufacturer’s tag. Adjacent to the left are the remnants of a white felt strip tag with “2” embroidered in black. Adjacent further to the left is the “BLEPP-COOMBS” distributor’s tag. Across the front, on back and on each sleeve is the player number “76” in brown tackle twill. The jersey is properly tagged, was presented to us as game-used and in our opinion shows excellent use. The finest Lou Groza extant.