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Payton/Sanders card to finance in vitro

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HOUSTON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- A Texas couple say they are hoping to turn a football card signed by two all-time NFL greats into a baby by auctioning the item on eBay.

Todd and Ula Nelkin of Houston are putting their rare card -- featuring former Detroit Lions star Barry Sanders and the late Chicago Bears great Walter Payton, and signed by both players -- up for sale on eBay the last week of October, ABC News reported Wednesday. Experts think the card could go for $20,000.

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The money the Nelkins raise will go for one last try at in vitro fertilization.

The Nelkins, who are in their early 40s and own a sports memorabilia shop, have been trying to have a baby for several years, but their attempts to conceive naturally and two tries at in vitro fertilization have failed.

"We have a house payment, car payment, loan payment like everyone else and you reach a point where you say, 'OK, what are our other alternatives?' and having a card like this is a pretty amazing backdrop," Todd Nelkin said. "It's something to fall back on. We're hoping the right person sees the auction."

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Yahoo!Sports.com reports the 1999 Donruss Elite Passing the Torch Autograph card is graded a Gem Mint 10 by Beckett Grading Services.

"This card is the only one of the 100 made to be graded a perfect 10 and I would like to think that maybe this could be the only card in the history of the world that could be responsible for a human life existing and that's a nice addition to the card," Todd Nelkin said.

Sanders told KTRK-TV, Houston, he supports the couple's cause "and since this one-of-a-kind item cannot be replaced, I wanted to send them another signed card to have in its place."

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