On August 7, 1993 the Minnesota Vikings defeated the Buffalo Bills 20-6 at Olympic Stadium in Berlin, Germany to win the American Bowl. The American Bowl was a series of National Football League preseason exhibition games that were held at sites outside the United States between 1986 and 2005. At the time, the NFL Europe was two years in and these international preseason games were part of the league's effort to expand the brand globally. Today, there are as many as three regular season NFL games per year played in London at Wembley Stadium. A beautiful glass and marble trophy like the one featured here is presented to the winning team after every American Bowl. This particular trophy is the back-up to the actual one given to the Minnesota Vikings. Due to its fragility, it's no wonder why more than one was made.
The trophy features a glass globe sitting on top of a marble base with an NFL shield logo in glass in the center. The large 8" circular, hollowed-out glass globe has Berline - the site of the game - identified with a star. The green marble base contains a metal tag that reads "WILLIAM A. GRANHOLM TROPHY - 1993 NFL-KODAK AMERICAN BOWL TROPHY - Buffalo Bills vs. Minnesota Vikings - BERLIN, GERMANY - August 7, 1993." Bill Granholm was the former executive director of the National Football Conference and director of special projects for the NFL. He worked as part of the 26 Super Bowl staffs and also coordinated the Pro Bowl for 22 straight years. Granholm was a popular NFL ambassador who organized overseas tours of NFL players for over 30 years. He died January 9, 1993 and the trophy immediately took his name. Altogether, the trophy weighs 12 pounds and, as described, is arranged in three separate pieces. The two glass pieces are extremely fragile. Presents in practically Mint condition. The attached photo exemplifies an official American Bowl Trophy (not this one) being presented to the San Francisco 49ers and head coach George Seifert following their victory over the Steelers Aug. 1, 1993 in Barcelona.
Includes a Letter of Provenance from collector Robert Zweigle.
The Robert Zweigle collection represents 40 years of assembling sports memorabilia items from college and professional football, professional golf and NCAA basketball. Bob Zweigle was a major supplier of promotional products to the NFL who personally attended 38 Super Bowls, working closely with NFL personnel and establishing unique connections that helped grow his collection. He designed/produced Super Bowl press pins from XXV through XXXIX (the final year the NFL produced its own pins). He also designed/produced the Player Participation Trophy and Player of the Game Trophy for the Pro Bowl, as well as the Arena Bowl Championship Trophy. He made it a personal quest to obtain in-person autographs on important memorabilia items at many sporting events wherein he had rare and unusual access.