AFL Spalding J5-V Football with Al Davis Commissioner Signature: Extremely Rare For Sale

Extremely rare and almost impossible to find!
When the American Football League teams first took the field in 1960, the ball they played with was produced by the Spalding company, a sportsgear manufacturer who for years made the ball used by most major college conferences, the J5-V football. Spalding got the AFL contract and made a version of that ball, bearing the American Football League logo, for the new league.
From 1960 through 1965, AFL footballs bore the signature of the AFL\'s first Commissioner: flying ace, sportsman and former South Dakota Governor Joe Foss. The \'Foss\' ball changed slightly over the years, in its texture, striping, and logo design.
The rarest of the AFL Game Balls are the Al Davis signature balls. Although 3 versions of the Davis ball were produced by Spalding (striped and plain game balls and white panel autograph balls), only a small total number were made as Al\'s status as the Commissioner lasted only 4 months (April to July of 1966).AFL supporter and historian Ange Coniglio reports that when Milt Woodard became the AFL President in July of 1966, Rozelle tried to have all the Davis signature balls destroyed, but that it never happened. Davis signature game balls were used during AFL games - notably in the first game ever won by the Miami Dolphins (Dolphins v Broncos - 10/16/1966).
The ball displayed above is an Oakland Raiders practice ball from 1966; the only seasonwith the Al DavisCommissioner signature. It is a 7.5/10 in quality; remarkable for a football that is 52 years old! The ball fully holds air and has its original bladder and laces. This is a rare piece of AFL, NFL and Oakland Raiders history.

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