2023 Certified Football is coming!! NEW SSP!

Working on the Night Moves like Bob Seger, a predominant product in card collecting is back for its 24th season. The Certified name carries some weight in the hobby, I mean, it’s pretty much been around my whole life! And without missing a beat, Panini looks to deliver this classic with the Radical Rookies of the 2023 NFL Draft Class.

You know what other word starts with a C? Consistency, and I like to think that’s what you’re  getting into with a product like Certified. Pretty much hot off the press is the solicitation for Certified. So, let me try and compute this information to make it easily digestible for collectors getting their hands on some boxes and cases when it drops.

First, let’s start with that new, new. In my last video, I spoke of short prints and super short prints that have rivaled the popularity of autos in modern collecting. The random Bob Seger reference and calling them Radical Rookies wasn’t just for kicks, one change to this year’s Certified is the emergence of Panini’s super short print Night Moves. Moving from Donruss Football to Certified, this SSP will blend the rookies and vets around the league. I mean, look, they give you Anthony Richardson as the example chase card, that should tell you everything you need to know!

Now, there’s a returning super short print to Certified Football this year in Radical Rookies after making its debut in the 2022 product. Panini says this insert set includes 20 of the best rookies in the 2023 class. Based on the pictures, we can at least confirm one is Zay Flowers, but we can’t rule out the idea of Anthony Richardson, Jordan Addison, and Bijan Robinson being on the checklist, too.

Something that stuck out to me is what Panini is doing with the 2023 insert. Whether you’re a breaker or a collector, if you’ve opened a box of Certified, you’ll know that the 2023 insert is usually very common, pretty much found in every box. Panini is converting it to another rookie SSP with the checklist likely comprised of the names I mentioned before and then some.

Out with the new and in with the old? Well, it’s like your favorite bands when you see them in concert, you want to hear the hits, right? Certified is bringing back — uh — certified classics? Too much? Your standard Fabric of the Game and Freshman Fabric Mirror Signatures will be at the forefront of Certified. Collectors will find one Freshman Fabric Signatures per box. And you bet your sweet butt there are parallels, including out of 25, 10, 5, and 1. 

2023 Certified Football

Another auto set to look out for is the Mirror Signatures. That will take 100 vets and legends from the base checklist and give them autograph parallels. Just as the Freshman Fabric Signatures do, Mirror Signatures will have colored numbered parallels like the Purple and Green shown on the solicitation.

Last but not least, for the autograph inserts in 2023 Certified, is the Canton Certified, which will feature the 2023 NFL Hall of Fame class with the likes of Revis Island, who Panini uses as the example card in the sale sheet.

Here’s the part where we turn the clocks back, as Panini will be bringing back the old Stitches In Time insert in the form of dual, triple, and quad relics of top studs and rookies in the NFL. If you haven’t already caught onto this, Stitches In Time will also have a plethora of parallels. With CJ Stroud, Will Levis, and Bryce Young being Fanatics exclusive athletes, this is where Panini will be able to incorporate them into the product. As seen on the solicitation pages, there is a one-of-one shield version of Stitches In Time that pictures those three with another standout rookie QB Anthony Richardson. Purely speculating here without a checklist for the time being, there could be other combinations of these QBs in Stitches In Time with a CJ Stroud and Bryce Young dual possible or an Anthony Richardson and CJ Stroud.

A box of 2023 Certified Football will include ten packs per box with five cards per pack, and within those ten packs, collectors should find two autographs, two memorabilia, ten inserts, two rookies, and three numbered parallels.

What would you say you’re most excited about in this product? For me, it’s probably an Anthony Richardson Radical Rookies SSP since it’s very a la Saved By The Bell!