A Collector Waited 25 Years For His Grail!

My name is Jarrett Leahy, I am a 41-year-old middle school math teacher living in East Texas. I have been a Boston Celtics collector since I was a kid growing up in New Hampshire. During my late teenage years, I was lucky enough to have my collection highlighted in Beckett Basketball Card Monthly magazine, first as their Super Collector of the Month for May of 2001, and later as their 2001 Super Collector of the Year.

Autograph collecting has always been a passion of mine, and around the age of 16, I naively set a long- term hobby goal of trying to get signatures of every Boston Celtic player and head coach. Twenty-five years later, I currently have 516 out of the 529 players and head coaches.

As any new season begins, there are obviously new names that need to be added to my autograph collection checklist, but I’m usually able to pick up a certified signature within a few months of them hitting the hobby market. Over the years however, ten names emerged as being the most difficult to track down: Benny Clyde, Norm Cook, Nate Driggers, Bob Duffy, Mel Hirsch, Chuck Hoefer, Gerard “Jerry” Kelly, Mo Mahoney, Lucian “Skippy” Whitaker, and… Dick Murphy. My oldest Ebay saved searches have been for these ten players, and after multiple decades of receiving unsuccessful Ebay notifications, I must admit it takes a lot of fortitude to even click on the links I receive knowing there’s a high likelihood it won’t even contain the right player, let alone an autograph.

On July 4th of this last year, I received an early morning Ebay notification for an autographed 1948-49 Paterson Crescents Playoff Program.

Clicking on the link, I immediately saw a signature, front and center, that I didn’t think I’d ever come across. One of former Celtic player, Dick Murphy. After 25 years of searching, the excitement of finally getting the opportunity to add this elusive autograph to my collection was dampened slightly by a high asking price. Luckily, the seller had the Best Offer option, so I quickly sent a price I felt was fair for such a rare yet obscure autograph piece. The seller responded within the hour and I was overjoyed to see he accepted my offer.

Dick Murphy (1921-1973) played a total of 31 games in the inaugural 1946-47 season of the B.A.A., the first 24 for the New York Knicks and then 7 for the Celtics. Murphy’s biggest claim to fame is playing in the league’s first ever game, and scoring the winning points for the Knicks in a 68-66 victory over the Toronto Huskies on November 1st, 1946. After playing a season in the B.A.A., Murphy would move on to the American Basketball League, playing for the Elizabeth Braves and before joining the Paterson Crescents. Along with Murphy, this program has signatures of Crescents players Jim Weston, Lenny Cohen, Tom Kelly, Frank Mangiapane, Dick Kraus, Bob Smith, Dick Holub, as well as Marty Powers of the visiting Bridgeport Newfields. Tom Kelly actually played 27 games for the 1948-49 Celtics.

The inaugural 1946-47 Boston Celtics had a total of twenty players play for the team at some point during their first season. For my collection, Murphy is the 16th player signature I have been able to acquire along with their Hall of Fame head coach John “Honey” Russell. Of those now nine elusive signatures, four played for the 1946-47 team (Duffy, Hirsch, Hoefer, and G. Kelly).

Over the years, I’ve gotten signatures in some very interesting methods. During an internet search, I came across a vitamin website run by the son of original Celtic Al Brightman. I reached out and explained my collection, and received a response from the Brightman family saying they would love to help. After a few weeks, I received second email, they searched some old boxes and were able to find a signed dry-cleaning slip of their father (that autograph can be seen in the attached picture).

Another unique autograph find came from a TTM request to John Hazen. I received a response from his widow stating that Mr. Hazen had recently passed away but she kind enough enclose a couple of signed canceled checks.

In addition to these original Celtics, I am hoping to acquire autographs of Oliver Lafayette who played one game as a Celtic in 2010, Jonathan Gibson who played four games as a Celtic in 2018, and Brodric Thomas who played twelve games as a Celtic during the ‘21-22 season. Most recently, I have begun the hunt for Celtic rookie Baylor Scheierman.

For those out there who might have a lead for me, I can be found on Instagram, Mantel, and Twitter/X. I enjoy sharing photos of my collection online, and I also enjoy seeing the collections of others and occasionally helping fellow collectors find a treasure.

My autographs are stored in multiple binders, and that is now the new home of the signed program. This autograph collection coexists with my card collection which is about 21,000 strong.

Due to the nature of this Celtics autograph collection, it will never be complete because each new year brings new Celtics. So, curating this collection is truly a lifetime quest.

If you have or see a collector story that you would like to see featured here, please let me know.