Husker history on auction block

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. — It took only 34 minutes for four years of sports memorabilia earned by former Nebraska football player Aaron Taylor to change hands during a bankruptcy auction here Saturday.

Taylor’s national and conference championship rings and Outland Trophy were put on the auction block to satisfy a Chapter 7 bankruptcy ruling that said the former Cornhusker lineman needed to repay at least $109,543 in debts stemming from a failed business venture.

In the end, the auctioned items went for a total of $28,500 from four unidentified bidders who participated through a proxy bidding agency in Omaha.

Taylor’s 1997 Outland Trophy drew spirited bidding and was sold for $6,800.

His 1997 national championship ring was sold for $5,900 to a bidder who also bought Taylor’s 1997 Big 12 championship ring, paying $2,300.

A bidder known only as No. 2075 acquired Taylor’s 1993 Big 8 championship ring for $2,000, his 1994 national championship ring for $3,100 and the 1995 national championship ring for $3,600.

The 1995 Big 8 championship ring was purchased for $2,500 by another bidder.

Eighty online bidders from 16 states and Canada were tuned in as auctioneers Mike Nuss and Don Helberg of Helberg-Nuss Auctions and Realty in Gering, Neb., started the auction at the Hampton Inn.

Only one on-site bidder, from Alliance, Neb., expressed interest in some of the items and, though unsuccessful, was able to inject a little competition in the bidding process.

The auction was conducted in front of about 45 people, most of whom were there to see the rings and Outland Trophy.

Helberg said the auctioneers were in uncharted territory with the sports memorabilia auction and did not know what to expect in the way of bids.

“There was no way to have any basis because this was the first time we have done something like this,” he said.

Helberg said they knew the championship rings had a replacement value of between $750 and $1,000.

Nuss, who was connected with the proxy bidding company in Omaha, would speak directly with an operator who was connected by computer to bidders from New York to California. The operator would pass on the bids to Nuss, who concentrated on the phone connection to make sure he was getting all of the correct bids.

“I think it went well, considering the whole world was on, listening to the auction,” Nuss said.

Scottsbluff attorney Philip Kelly, who is the Chapter 7 trustee for the region that covers bankruptcy cases from Lexington to Scottsbluff, said he has been doing bankruptcy auctions since 1989, but Saturday’s memorabilia sale was his first and the first one that was nationwide.

“We did make sure we did it on an away-game weekend,” Kelly said, referring to the Husker football game Saturday in Texas.