SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP)  The football helmet that Jim Brown wore in his senior season at Syracuse in 1956 has been sold through an Internet auction for $5,000. Curtis Worrell of Warsaw, Ind., and Jim Parker of Asheville, N.C., bought the helmet Sunday on eBay, eight minutes after it became available. The collectors said they were planning to loan it to the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, Ind. "This is like the holy grail of football helmets," said Worrell, who runs a Web site devoted to helmets.

The seller, who did not identify herself, wrote online that she found the helmet in the attic of her parents' home. She said her father received it from a friend of former Syracuse coach Ben Schwartzwalder. Worrell and Parker said they are certain of the authenticity. Brown's name and his No. 44 are written in several places inside the helmet, which was widened to accommodate the running back's large head. In his career with the Cleveland Browns, Brown played in the Pro Bowl nine straight years and was awarded the Jim Thorpe trophy as the NFL's most valuable player in 1958 and 1965.