Rare Vintage Autograph from General Manager for Detroit Pistons - 1961 Rare

Description

JUST RELEASED AFTER 61 YEARS  AFTER BEING LOCKED IN A SECURE LOCATION.
THIS IS A RARE SIGN OFF FROM THE GENERAL MANAGER OF THE DETROIT PISTONS USING THE OLYMPIA STADIUM LETTER HEAD STATIONARY;
COMMENTING OVER A PLAYER AND IN HIS COMMENTS ARE SELF EXPLANATORY.
We will not add further on his comments made other than, it is interesting. He must have had an opportunity to observe ...
THE PRICE IS REFLECTIVE OF THE RARITY OF OBTAINING AN ACTUAL AUTOGRAPH USING THE STATIONARY LETTER HEAD FROM THE OLD OLYMPIA STADIUM - DETROIT PISTONS - MANAGEMENT.
Detroit Pistons were tenants at the Olympia Stadium from 1957 till 1961.
Such finds are hard to locate -
Belief background on the General Manager,
Nick Kerbawy
of the Detr
oit Pistons during 1958-1961.
Founder Nick Kerbawy was Devoted to Hall of Fame
Longtime Detroit sports figure Nick Kerbawy, who resigned as commissioner of the
Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in a storm of controversy in 1988
, died Thursday, June 7th 1990 of cancer at his West Bloomfield home. Friends and associates say Kerbawy, 77,
never got over being forced to resign from the organization he had founded in 1954.
During Kerbawy's tenure,
t
he Michigan Sports Hall of Fame
was criticized for its lack of minorities and his unwillingness to explain election procedures.
In February 1987, several hall board members resigned in protest after it was learned Kerbawy had inducted a golfer who had
received fewer votes
than two other athletes, apparently because he thought the golfer would attract a bigger following for the hall's annual dinner. At the time of his resignation, Kerbawy would only say, "Thirty-four years is a long time to work on a single project. We could stay on, but new projects beckon me."
Afterward, Kerbawy spent more than a year helping to make a video of the Lions 1950s championship seasons. The video was shown at a players' reunion.
Kerbawy, formerly general manager of the Lions and the Pistons, was inducted into the hall himself in 1985. The hall's plaques hang in Cobo Hall.
"They cut out a big piece of
Nick's heart when they pushed him out," sai
d Kerbawy's friend of 40 years, former WJR sports broadcaster Bob Reynolds. "It was an honest mistake done out of love. More than anything, Nick wanted the hall to survive and flourish. There would have never been one without his dedicated efforts. "He never meant to hurt anyone or cause any controversy," Reynolds said. "
He didn't have a racist bone in his body. ... Many, many people loved and respected him."
"Nick's concern was always for the hall of fame," said hall chairwoman Cyndy Winkler, who took over the organization after Kerbawy resigned. "He believed in what he was doing and dedicated his life to it. Using 1950 techniques may have caused problems, but Nick's resignation never took away from all he had accomplished. He was a great, great man."
Kerbawy's first love was not sports, but education. He taught Spanish and journalism for 11 years at Hillsdale College. He took a job as Michigan State University sports information director in 1945 primarily because he also was made an assistant professor.
Kerbawy’s career took another turn in 1948 when Bo McMillin, then coach and general manager of the Lions, persuaded him to become the team's public relations director.
In the next two years, Kerbawy became assistant general manager and then business manager. In 1950, McMillin was fired and Kerbawy was named general manager and Buddy Parker became head coach. The two were responsible for building one of the NFL's best teams of the 1950s.
"Nick loved the Lions," Reynolds said.  After his football success, in 1958 Kerbawy answered another challenge: basketball.
Pistons owner Fred Zollner wanted him to run his club. which a year earlier had moved from, Ft. Wayne, Ind.
Friction grew between the two men, however, and Zollner fired Kerbawy in 1961. Kerbawy sued Zollner for breaching his contract and was awarded nearly million in 1967.
Kerbawy's sports contacts were not limited to Michigan. "Nick could call almost anyone in America and get them to do anything he wanted," said University of Michigan assistant athletic director Bruce Madej, a former hall of fame board member.
"Whether people admit it or no Nick Kerbawy helped shape tr world of sports in Michigan. H contributions could never be measured," Reynolds said.
"There will never be another man who approaches his job with such love and enthusiasm. He did what he loved most and he did it better than anybody could
."
Kerbawy is survived by his wife, Antha; son, Kyle; two grandchildren, and two sisters.
1961 Detroit Piston Roster