Chris Johnson is one of the best players in the league right now, and is definitely one of the most feared players in the open field. Last year, he became one of only a handful of players to hit 2000 yards on the ground, putting him in the company of Sanders, Brown, and others. When you consider how much he has already accomplished in his short career, you would expect him to be one of the best autographs to pull out of a box. Then, when you see the final prices on his cards, it may surprise you how little he actually sells for on a regular basis.

The reason is obvious and simple: his give up autograph. Johnson’s autograph is so lazy and simplistic that it almost looks like it may not be him signing the cards. Unlike players like Tiki Barber, Brian Westbrook, Matt Hasslebeck, and Brett Favre who spell out their entire name letter for letter on each card, CJ2K signs with 2 letters LESS than his four letter nickname. Just a “CJ” with very few exceptions. Even at the 2008 rookie premiere, Johnson signed only two letters, and it made for a very easy fake when scammers wanted to make a few bucks off his huge performance down the stretch last year.

In all reality, Johnson couldn’t probably care any less how much his autograph sells for, despite the fact that he often signs his full name in person. Yet, when you see that his relative equal Adrian Peterson rarely sells lower than 100 bucks on his signature, its pretty obvious that Johnson is losing a lot of fans who would normally buy his stuff. As an example, I wanted to buy a Johnson signature because, like many collectors, I love great running backs. I had to find one that I was okay paying for, and ended up settling on a Topps Chrome because he added his college number to the signature. I felt like I was getting more for my money. Still, even with the extra pen, the card only goes for about 60 bucks, where Peterson usually sells for close to 350. Even when you factor in how much more SPed Peterson was, the gap is still quite large.

Oddly enough, Johnson does have one specific card that he has signed his full name on, and much to my chagrin it is one that I despise. Because it features a full signature, his manupatch auto out of 2008 Rookies and Stars usually sells higher, and is highly coveted by those collectors that chase Johnson’s cards.

CJ is a breed of star player you rarely see, one that doesn’t care about his autographs, and it has greatly affected his hobby legacy. Harmon Killebrew was the autograph guru, and had always mentored guys like Kirby Puckett and Torii Hunter that they need to sign with pride. He understood that your autograph is always going to be a part of your sports persona, and to this day his autograph continues to stand above the rest. Many people cite the fact that autographs are shortened because of the amount needed in every signing, but I think Mickey Mantle and Pete Rose would beg to differ. At the end of the day, when you compare players, Johnson will never be on the same level as the guys who have taken the time to appease the fans, and that is really too bad.