Ken Stabler 1976 Hickok Belt Award for Professional Athlete of the Year (Stabler LOA)

Considered the "Jewel of the Sports World", The Hickok Belt is the Holy Grail of sports awards. The S. Rae Hickok Belt Award was issued from 1950-1976 to a single athlete based on their accomplishments for the year. This belt was awarded to Ken Stabler in 1976.

The belt was meticulously hand-crafted and features a solid 18K gold belt buckle, 3 carat diamond, 3 carat ruby, 3 carat sapphire and 26 diamond chips (totaling 5.5 carats). The buckle measures approximately 9.5" in width and 8" in height. The belt weighs 3.3 lbs with the solid 18K gold buckle weighing in at 2.45 lbs (39.2 ounces) with the gems attached.

This marks a rare opportunity to become the first known private collector to own a complete Hickok Belt.

This belt was on display at the University of Alabama for many years and comes complete with the original presentation case.

Ken Stabler, nicknamed "The Snake", spent his legendary career with the Oakland Raiders (1970–1979), Houston Oilers (1980–1981) and New Orleans Saints (1982–1984). He finished his college career at Alabama with a 28–3–2 record as a starter. In the NFL, Stabler was the 1974 NFL MVP, a 4x Pro Bowl Selection, and won Super Bowl XI.

In honoring Ken Stabler’s requests, his family, in partnership with Radtke Sports, has chosen to make items from his personal career collection available to the fans of Mr. Stabler's career through Pristine Auction. This lot comes directly from the personal career collection of Ken Stabler.

The piece includes an LOA from Ken Stabler and was part of his personal career collection.

Authentication: Ken Stabler Career Collection LOA

Due to the uniqueness of each item, please refer to the photos provided in this auction. We offer high resolution images of each item rather than a written description of condition.

This item is being shipped from the Pristine Auction warehouse.