Biography

Expertise: Entertainment, historical, and sports autographs Chicago native Steve Grad originally started his career in radio. He majored in Broadcast Journalism at Columbia College launched him into the radio world for seven years. Grad worked as an anchor/reporter, morning show co-host on Mancow's Morning Madhouse and show host with One on One Radio Network, now known as Sporting News Radio, the largest syndicated sports radio network.

With his roots deep in a city immersed in sports history, it was natural for Grad to begin collecting autographs, which ultimately led him to his future profession. Grad's collecting days started after he acquired his first in-person autograph from Rich Dotson of the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park. He was hooked. Thereafter, Grad expanded his collection of in-person autographs from purely baseball to football, basketball, and hockey. Meeting these modern athletes and witnessing their signatures time after time proved to be invaluable!

Grad's interest in autographs unsurprisingly spilled over into entertainment, music and politics. Through his travels in Europe, Canada, and the U.S. in the last twenty years, he has collected over 100,000 in-person autographs. Over the years, Grad has authenticated some of the hobby's most prestigious autographed items. Now a renowned expert in his field, Grad worked from 2002 till 2016 with PSA/DNA and in October 2016 he left to form Beckett Authentication, based in Dallas, Texas.

Starting in May of 2013, Grad made his first appearance on Pawn Stars on the History Channel and is now a series regular.
- IMDb mini biography by: Steve Grad