Dak Prescott autograph cards being recalled by Panini America

Dak Prestcott autographed cards that were part of Panini America’s Prizm Football release came into question as to whether Prescott used an autopen to apply the signatures to the cards.

ESPN reported on July 5 that Beckett Grading Services had refused to verify Prescott’s signature on redemption cards from Panini’s 2016 Prizm set.

The ESPN article stated that Steve Grad, principal authenticator at Beckett, said the decision to not verify Prescott’s signature came after Beckett looked at five autographed cards received from collectors who had received the redemption cards.

“They had a very machine-like feel. You could see the starts and stops,” Grad was quoted in the ESPN article about the Prescott autographs.

Since the ESPN article was released, the topic hit the mainstream media, and became a topic of discussion in and out of the hobby.

The Prescott autograph situation become a topic of discussion on the Blowout Cards Forum. In a thread about the topic, collectors alleged Panini recalled the Prescott redemption cards in question.

Late in the evening on July 7, Panini released an official statement regarding the Prescott autograph situation. The statement read:

“Panini America executives and quarterback Dak Prescott met on Thursday (July 7) to investigate in detail a limited quantity of Prescott-autographed trading cards that were issued as redemptions for Panini America’s 2016 NFL Prizm trading card product.

Last week, after being contacted by an autograph authenticator and following an internal quality control process, Panini America officials determined that a small quantity of Prescott autographs received for 2016 Prizm Football may not be authentic.

As an immediate precaution, Panini America began recalling all Prizm Football Dak Prescott autograph cards, stopping deliveries to 110 customers. Not all shipments were able to be recalled, however, and 167 cards were ultimately delivered to customers.

It was also discovered that some of Prescott’s Prizm cards are still unaccounted for. Panini has committed to remanufacturing all the Dak Prescott Prizm Football cards, which Dak will sign to replace all the autograph cards within the Prizm collection. All the remanufactured cards for the Prizm collection autographed by Prescott will feature a special Dak Prescott hologram to differentiate the new cards.

Panini is in the process of contacting the remaining customers affected and recalling the 2016 Prizm Football Prescott redemption cards to replace them. The company urges anyone offered a 2016 Prizm Dak Prescott autographed card not featuring the special hologram to contact Panini America immediately.”

Panini America also announced that it had agreed to a long-term extension with Prescott on his exclusive autographed trading cards.

“Prescott has autographed thousands of Panini America trading cards during his rookie season, has participated in multiple authenticated signing sessions and received additional card shipments throughout the year and returned them to Panini America to be incorporated into products,” it was stated in the statement. “Prescott and his representatives have worked closely with Panini during this process since becoming aware of the discrepancies and have no knowledge of how those cards were returned to Panini.”