ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. — Frank Gore Jr. swears up and down he didn’t sign that football card.

Buffalo Bills teammates have a hard time believing him.

“I don’t know what to think,” nickel back Taron Johnson said upon being shown a picture. “But it’s hilarious.”

“Is that AI?” receiver Keon Coleman asked. “Either way, that s—’s funny.”

Gore is getting dragged about an autograph Topps inserted into packs and certified as authentic, a scrawling of only his initials: FGJ.

A collector apparently pulled the card last week from a pack of 2024 Topps Chrome football cards and posted a photo on social media, asking “Worst autograph ever?” The tweet made it into a Bills players group chat. They’ve been skewering Gore ever since. Ty Johnson and the rest of Gore’s fellow running backs have been particularly merciless.

“They troll all day,” Gore said after practice Tuesday afternoon. “They think it’s funny, ‘FGJ.’ They say I have a poor, elementary-school autograph.

“But, in reality, I think it was fake. I’m 99.9 percent positive. I’m sure I didn’t do that.”

So there aren’t any more “FGJ” cards out there?

“Shouldn’t be,” Gore said with a sheepish smile. “I reached out to my team. It’s social media. I’m not going to respond to it. But it was funny for sure.”

The problem with Gore’s claim is that an eBay search shows for sale dozens of “FGJ” signatures that also carry a “Topps Certified Autograph Issue” label. The backs of the cards read, “The signing of all Topps autograph cards is witnessed by Topps representatives to guarantee authenticity.”

But some of the same versions of Gore’s 2024 Topps Chrome cards bear a gorgeous, flowing “F. Gore Jr.” signature. Those cards feature the same Topps authenticity avowals. A third distinct signature can be found on his 2024 Panini Contenders insert cards with the back of the card stating, “The autograph is guaranteed by Panini America, Inc.”

 

Frank Gore Jr.’s autographed cards for sale on eBay feature a cursive signature and one that’s drawn ridicule from his teammates.

“FGJ” is worthy of ridicule, but not nearly the worst autograph out there. Card manufacturers have been frustrated for years over poor quality and the minimum effort players, who are getting paid for the endeavor, put into the assembly-line autograph industry.

Google “worst autographs” for a seemingly endless gallery of chicken scratch, spaghetti scribbles and kindergarten scrawls, including superstars such as Tom Brady, first overall pick Cam Ward, NBA great Luka Doncic and three-time NHL MVP Connor McDavid. Some in the collectibles industry consider such autographs vandalism when applied to valuable memorabilia. They’re also easily forged.

Bills quarterback Josh Allen was shamed into improving his signature while playing for the University of Wyoming, where his offensive coordinator’s wife saw Allen’s slop and told him he needed to be more dutiful to his fans. For a feature on the trend of ugly sports autographs, 2013 National League batting champion Michael Cuddyer told The Athletic how Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew castigated him for a sloppy autograph while at a Minnesota Twins fan event. Cuddyer revised his signature and now is known for delivering one of the most beautiful around.

“Your signature is who you are,” Cuddyer said. “It’s your name. I respect my name, respect the people that gave it to me, respect the hard work they put into helping to make my name autograph-worthy.

“When people truly want your autograph because they’re proud to have met you, you don’t want them to remember you as a squiggly mark. I feel like I’m defacing my name if you can’t read it when I write it.”

Topps did not respond to questions from The Athletic about the “FGJ” authenticity or whether it would assist in a proposal Gore made to remedy the situation.

Gore offered to autograph the “FGJ” card in question, which would create a humorous collectible — and maybe get him off the hook in the locker room.

“If they reach out to me, I’ll sign the right one,” Gore said. “I promise. However I can make it better, I want to make it better.”

(Top photo: Mark Konezny / USA TODAY Sports)