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Frank Gore Jr.'s awful autograph is latest jab at collectors

Printed initials aren't acceptable for a signed card! Athletes must do better

Cover Image for Frank Gore Jr.'s awful autograph is latest jab at collectors
While he has used a flowing cursive signature at times, right, Frank Gore Jr.'s latest signatures are severely lacking.

Frank Gore Jr.’s autograph is so bad, it simply can’t be real — or at least that’s what the Buffalo Bills running back claimed at the sight of it earlier this week.

Unfortunately for collectors, the more likely reality is, like so many autograph signers before him, Gore Jr. simply didn’t care when putting ink to sticker.

Until he got confronted with his handiwork, of course.

The second-year pro has been the subject of ridicule following a video shared by the Bills on Tuesday night, focusing on his autograph on a recent Topps card.

Rather than a flowing cursive signature that so many collectors desire, Gore Jr.'s autograph simply read “FGJ.”

His initials. Printed.

“Why did you do that?” asked a Bills staff member while holding a photo of the card.

“I did not do that, that’s fake,” Gore Jr. jokingly replied.

“Your penmanship is awful,” teammate Ryan Van Demark added.

The team’s hazing eventually wore him down. “Whoever this is,” Gore Jr. said, “reach out to me, and I’ll get you a real autograph.”

The sentiment is appreciated, but the issue is the autograph is his real signature.

Well, it’s one of several Gore Jr. has used when signing for Panini America, Sage and Topps in recent months. Along with the basic “FGJ” signature, Gore Jr. has also delivered a cursive autograph — though far from beautiful, the effort is likely what resonates with collectors the most.

It’s a good sign Gore Jr. was embarrassed by his signature and wanted to make things right. But it’s disappointing from a collector’s perspective to see hazing required to fix something plaguing the current hobby at a rapidly increasing rate.

Gore Jr. has likely signed the basic “FGJ” hundreds, if not thousands, of times. He knows exactly what he’s doing when he does it. He just doesn’t care.

Though Gore Jr. is the star of this particular debacle, it’s important to remember he’s joined by hundreds of others in producing the hobby’s latest horror film.

At this point, far too many athletes simply don’t care.

Most ultra-modern collectors have come around to accepting the fact cursive handwriting’s departure from schools has had a major impact on signatures of all kinds — the hobby might never see another autograph with the elegance of a Mickey Mantle or Ken Griffey Jr. again.

Collectors can live with that.

But it’s harder to accept so many of the top signers have opted for the path of least resistance when creating something for their most dedicated fans. At best, collectors feel neglected. At worst, the poor effort can ruin prized possessions.

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The most casual fans likely aren’t buying cards from Target, aren’t scouring eBay for autographs and aren’t waiting by the tunnel after games hoping for some ink. The people these autographs land with are often the most passionate and invested fans of these particular players and teams, and athletes have gotten far too comfortable conveying time and time again those fans don’t matter.

And unfortunately, the problem has become systemic.

To average collectors, the regular inclusion of autographs that resemble initials or basic scribbles indicates the trading card manufacturers are mostly indifferent. Fighting over the quality of autographs is likely a good way to upset any league’s players association, but the current lack of transparency has been deafening.

This isn’t to say athletes should attend some type of signature school, but any sign of effort or interest would be a good one.

Players are also compensated well for their time when signing — it’s not as though they sit with sticker sheets and stacks of cards for no benefit. Contracts with the card companies ensure players are paid for every stroke of the pen, often at a rate most everyday workers would envy.

It’s fair for athletes to want fewer rabid fans hounding them for autographs, but it’s also fair for collectors to want athletes to deliver when the time is right.

It takes a mere moment to sign an autograph, but the impact it can have on a fan or collector can last forever.

It doesn’t take much effort to deliver a strong autograph, but far too often lately we have seen athletes take the crappy shortcut instead.

Ben Burrows is a reporter and editor for cllct, the premier company for collectible culture. He was previously the Collectibles Editor at Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on X and Instagram @benmburrows.