Lombardi-worn sweater purchased at Asheville Goodwill

Sean and Rikki McEvoy, who own a vintage clothing business in Knoxville, were in Asheville last summer in search of items.

They stopped at the Goodwill Outlet on Patton Avenue where you can purchase things for 58 cents per pound.

It was late in the day and the clothes had been picked over. Sean McEvoy grabbed a lightweight sweater with the letters West Point on the front. Knowing their stuff, the McEvoys could tell by the material and stitching that the sweater was very old.

There were some moth holes in it, but for 58 cents he thought it was a cool find. Maybe he would keep it for himself.

Fast forward several months. Sean was watching a documentary on Vince Lombardi, the legendary football coach of the Green Bay Packers. Suddenly an image of Lombardi wearing a West Point sweater flashed on the screen.

Just the night before, Rikki was holding the sweater.

"I was doing repairs, and I had that sweater out," she said. "It was sitting in my lap, and I just had this feeling that I'm going to regret this if I touch it or change anything about it.

"I had never done anything like that before, and I decided to put it back. Before I did, I looked over it, and (on the inside) I saw this name Lombardi. I don't know anything about sports, so I didn't think anything of it."

The next day while her husband watched the show, he asked how ironic it would be if Lombardi had worn the sweater they bought in Asheville. Rikki told him there was a name on the inside.

"It wasn't Lombardi, was it?" he asked.

"Yes, it's Lombardi," she said.

Sean almost fainted.

McEvoy, 33, first contacted the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which asked him to donate the sweater. He then called Heritage Auctions in Dallas. Representatives there were eager to see the item and asked McEvoy to send it to them. Lombardi served as an assistant at the service academy under Red Blaik from 1949-53.

"I drove it there myself," McEvoy said. "I didn't think it would be a good idea to put it in the mail around Christmas time. Driving seemed like a better idea to me."

The sweater was authenticated by Heritage. It will be put up for auction at Heritage on Feb. 22. Among other items that will be bid on that night are the boxing gloves used by Sonny Liston and Muhammad Ali when they fought for the second time in 1965.

McEvoy appeared on "A Piece of the Game," a sports memorabilia show aired on Fox Sports South. During the segment, Rob Steinmetz, an evaluator of collectibles, examined the sweater and said he thinks it could fetch $20,000, maybe more.

"I think this might be the greatest find in the history of thrift store shopping," Steinmetz said on the show.

Chris Nerat, consignment director at Heritage, was thrilled when he saw the Lombardi sweater.

"The story is what made this one more interesting," Nerat said Monday. "What are the odds that the Lombardi sweatshirt would still be around and not destroyed. It's in pretty good condition.

"It's pretty exciting. Just the fact that there's any West Point sweater from that era that exists and then for it to be a Lombardi. Just one from anyone would be impressive but to have one worn by Lombardi makes it iconic."

And McEvoy a very lucky man.

"It's like winning the lottery," he said.

Bob Berghaus is a Citizen-Times sportswriter. Follow him on Twitter @Bob_Berghaus