Ken Anderson "81 MVP" Signed Bengals Throwback Riddell Helmet Schwartz Auth

Add the inscription of the most improbable MVP season in NFL history — on the throwback helmet of the franchise where every snap of it was played — to your collection with this Ken Anderson Autographed Cincinnati Bengals Throwback Riddell Full Size Speed Replica Helmet, Inscribed "81 MVP" — Schwartz Sports Authenticated. On September 13, 1981, Bengals head coach Forrest Gregg benched Ken Anderson at halftime of the season opener against the Seattle Seahawks — two interceptions, a 21-10 deficit, the franchise's 11-year starting quarterback watching third-string backup Turk Schonert rally the Bengals to a 27-21 victory from the sideline. By January 1982, Anderson had been named the NFL's Most Valuable Player by both the Associated Press and the Professional Football Writers of America, had led the NFL in passer rating (98.4), had led the Bengals to a 12-4 record and the AFC Championship, had played in the Bengals' first Super Bowl, and had set then-Super Bowl records for completions and completion percentage in a 26-21 loss to the San Francisco 49ers that the Bengals president has called, to this day, the game his team should have won. "81 MVP" is Anderson's inscription of that specific season — the year that began with him watching from the sideline in Week 1 and ended with him holding the league's most prestigious individual award. The throwback Bengals helmet signed and inscribed by Anderson is the era-specific colorway of the franchise he played for across 16 seasons — the helmet he actually wore in every one of those 1981 games — certified authentic by Schwartz Sports Memorabilia with a tamper-proof numbered hologram and a certificate of authenticity verifiable online.

This Cincinnati Bengals Throwback Riddell Full Size Speed Replica Helmet has been hand-signed and inscribed "81 MVP" by Ken Anderson. The autograph and inscription have been certified authentic by Schwartz Sports Memorabilia with a tamper-proof numbered hologram and a certificate of authenticity verifiable online.

Product Highlights

• Hand-signed and inscribed "81 MVP" by Ken Anderson — Cincinnati Bengals quarterback (1971-1986); 1981 AP and PFWA NFL Most Valuable Player; 1981 NFL Comeback Player of the Year; four Pro Bowls; Division III Augustana College to NFL MVP
• Cincinnati Bengals Throwback Riddell Full Size Speed Replica Helmet — the era-specific colorway Anderson wore during his career; Riddell Speed Replica display-grade full-size construction
• Schwartz Sports Authenticated — tamper-proof numbered Schwartz Sports hologram with certificate of authenticity verifiable online
• "81 MVP" inscription: the 1981 NFL Most Valuable Player season — the year Anderson was benched in Week 1 and finished with the league's highest passer rating (98.4), 29 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and both MVP awards
• The benching: benched at halftime of the season opener vs. Seattle after two INTs; reinstated Week 2 by Forrest Gregg; went on to win AP and PFWA NFL MVP from that starting point — the most specific available context for what the inscription documents
• The 1981 season's playoff run: Freezer Bowl AFC Championship vs. San Diego (minus-59°F wind chill — coldest game in NFL history); Bengals led wire-to-wire in 27-7 victory; franchise's first AFC Championship
• Super Bowl XVI: set then-Super Bowl records for completions (25) and completion percentage (73.5%); 300 passing yards vs. Montana's 157; 26-21 loss to San Francisco after 20-0 halftime deficit
• Backed by our Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee

"81 MVP" — The Inscription and Its Starting Point

The "81 MVP" inscription on this throwback helmet documents the endpoint of a specific arc — and the arc is the most improbable available for any NFL Most Valuable Player. Ken Anderson was benched at halftime of the Bengals' 1981 season opener. He had thrown two interceptions against the Seattle Seahawks, the team trailed 21-10, and Forrest Gregg — in his second year as Bengals head coach — pulled Anderson in favor of third-string quarterback Turk Schonert, who rallied Cincinnati to a 27-21 comeback win. Gregg reinstated Anderson the following week. From that point — from the week after the benching that gave every reasonable observer cause to question whether Anderson was still the Bengals' starter — Anderson went 300-of-479 for 3,754 yards, 29 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, led the NFL in passer rating at 98.4, led all NFL quarterbacks in rushing yards (320), took the Bengals from 6-10 in 1980 to 12-4 in 1981 and the AFC Championship, and won both the AP and PFWA NFL MVP awards. The Bengals' organization president Mike Brown has said that if Anthony Muñoz is the best player in franchise history, then Ken Anderson is the most important. "81 MVP" is the inscription that names the year that argument was built in. The throwback Bengals helmet signed by Anderson is the era-specific colorway of that specific season's most specific credential.

The Throwback Helmet — The Colorway He Actually Wore

The Cincinnati Bengals' throwback helmet documents the franchise's original visual identity — the orange shell with black stripes that Anderson wore for the duration of his career before the franchise's uniform evolution produced subsequent alternate designs. For Anderson specifically, the throwback helmet is the most personally specific available signed helmet format: it is not an alternate or a commemorative colorway but the actual design he wore in every snap of his 16 NFL seasons — from his 1971 debut through the 1981 MVP campaign through his final season in 1986. The throwback Riddell Speed Replica is the full-size display-grade recreation of that specific helmet in that specific design, signed by Anderson in the colorway that represents the only available option for his career — there is no other team's helmet, no alternate era design, no other franchise's colorway that documents a single snap of the 16 seasons he played. The 1981 MVP inscription on the throwback helmet is the inscription of the season's peak credential on the specific helmet format of the franchise where the credential was earned — a single-franchise, throwback-colorway signed piece from one of the five quarterbacks in NFL history to win four or more passing titles.

The Freezer Bowl and Super Bowl XVI — The Season's Championship Context

The "81 MVP" credential does not exist in isolation from the 1981 season's playoff run — the most successful postseason in Cincinnati Bengals history up to that point. In the AFC Championship Game on January 10, 1982, Anderson and the Bengals hosted the San Diego Chargers and Dan Fouts — the highest-scoring offense in the NFL — in conditions that have no available parallel in the history of professional football: a wind chill of minus-59 degrees Fahrenheit, the coldest game ever played in the NFL. Anderson went 14-of-22 for 161 yards and two touchdowns in those conditions, leading the Bengals from the first snap to a 27-7 victory and the franchise's first AFC Championship in its history. The Freezer Bowl crowd of 46,302 showed up despite the conditions — the franchise record for "attendance at a game in minus-59 wind chill" is, as Bengals lore has it, now claimed by several times that number of Cincinnati residents. In Super Bowl XVI at the Pontiac Silverdome, Anderson set then-Super Bowl records for completions (25) and completion percentage (73.5%), passed for 300 yards against a 49ers defense whose quarterback — Joe Montana — threw for 157. The Bengals fell 26-21 after a 20-0 halftime deficit produced by three first-half turnovers — a margin of defeat that Bengals president Mike Brown has never fully conceded. The throwback helmet inscribed "81 MVP" by Anderson is the credential piece of the player who produced all of it in that specific orange and black, in a season that began with him watching from the sideline.

Schwartz Sports Authentication

This helmet has been certified authentic by Schwartz Sports Memorabilia with a tamper-proof numbered hologram and a certificate of authenticity verifiable online.

Authenticity

This helmet is certified authentic by Schwartz Sports Memorabilia. The tamper-proof numbered hologram and certificate of authenticity are verifiable online.

Specifications

Authenticity Guarantee

Every signed piece at GameDay Sports Memorabilia is backed by our Lifetime Authenticity Guarantee. If your item is ever determined to be inauthentic, we will replace or refund it — no questions asked.