The thrift stores in Asheville, N.C., are chock full of hidden hipster gems. But nothing is quite as valuable as the 58-cent sweater purchased by an elderly couple that they later learned was owned by legendary Packers coach Vince Lombardi.
Sean McEvoy and his wife, Rikki, bought a vintage West Point sweater at a Goodwill store in Asheville for $0.58, took it home and, while watching a Lombardi documentary, suddenly realized they'd just purchased a very similar sweater.
"I was watching a Vince Lombardi documentary and I said to my wife, we have a sweater just like that," McEvoy said. "Wouldn't it be great if it was actually Vince Lombardi's?"
At this point, Rikki tells him she saw a name tag, which is just about the craziest part of this whole story, because it means someone had the sweater, could've easily discerned Lombardi was a previous owner, and still gave it to Goodwill.
Naturally McEvoy called the Pro Football Hall of Fame ... who wanted the sweater for free.
"My wife put the kibosh on that," McEvoy said.
Heritage Auctions in Dallas confirmed the sweater was in fact owned by Lombardi and put a hefty price tag on it.
"They examined the types of fabric that are used on the sweater the different types of stitching," Heritage consignment director Chris Nerat said. "I think that it could easily hit the $20,000 range."
Not a bad little pay day for the McEvoys, all because they went bargain shopping.
