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If you head over to eBay before June 11, you -- yes, YOU -- could be the owner of a Barry Sanders autographed urinal. All you have to do is click that link and bid. No joke. A real urinal, autographed by one of the greatest running backs of all time. BUT WAIT: it's not just ANY urinal! It is supposedly a urinal from the locker room of the Pontiac Silverdome, where Sanders played his entire career.
The full chronology of the urinal's important journey, as outlined by eBay seller mgk086:
Chronology:
Early 2014 - The Pontiac Silverdome & RJM Auctions announced an asset auction of the Pontiac Silverdome
3-21-14 - Barry Sanders tweets "FYI - I am not signing urinals..."
3-21-14 - Barry's comment goes viral and several articles were written stating no collector would be able to obtain a Silverdome urinal with Barry's autograph (see pictures)
6-19-14 - I won a bid, paying $23.00 for the contents of the home team locker room "2 urinals, 2 sinks, 3 showers, toilet (I didn't take the toilets), 2 stall partitions in bathroom & shower area (Home Team Locker Room)" See pictures for the lot and invoice from my bid.
6-24-14 - I picked up the items from the Silverdome. I was fortunate enough to be able to walk into the decaying Silverdome and into the locker rooms to see the items being removed. I have included pictures I took of the field, my truck in the tunnel, inside the locker rooms, and my truck with the contents in it.
9-20-14- Barry Sanders held a public signing event with Detroit City Sports at Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights MI. Already having Barry's autograph on a jersey, football, and hat, I did the logical thing and decided to attach the urinal to a dolly and see if he would sign it. I was quite nervous wheeling in the urinal (which I had bleached and power washed multiple times) to ask my childhood idol to sign it. After a long wait, I reached the table with Barry and I uncovered the urinal telling him it was from his old locker room. He responded "Are you for real?". I said "Yes, will you sign it?". Barry said "I refuse" and after a short pause he laughed and said "no problem, where should I sign". While signing and taking pictures, a man with Barry (I assume his agent) laughed and said "Hey Barry, last time you saw that thing you were taking a p*** in it". Barry was extremely nice about it and it was a great experience.
The seller is VERY confident that this is the only signed Barry Sanders urinal in existence. I ... very much hope so.
Again, you can find the full eBay listing, description and pictures here.
(h/t MLive)
UPDATE, June 11: The winning bid for the urinal was $3,000, according to ESPN. There were a total of 46 bids before the auction ended Thursday night. Congratulations to the anonymous owner of the one-of-a-kind item!