Willie Mays and Pat Summitt announced as US Postal Service stamps for 2027 along with other designs

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is honoring two sports legends next year for its 2027 stamp release. Baseball great Willie Mays and Pat Summitt, who was at the helm of the University of Tennessee women’s basketball for 38 years.  In addition to the sports legends stamps, USPS will also be releasing several other stamps.

The backstory:

WIllie Mays will be celebrated with the 50th stamp in the USPS Black Heritage series.  Mays was one of the greatest ballplayers to ever grace a baseball diamond, beginning in 1951 as a 20-year-old making his debut playing for the New York Giants. Mays caught the eyes of MLB teams while playing in the Negro American League with the Birmingham Black Barons, and he was still in high school when scouts were clamoring for him. 

Mays would go on to be a 24-time All-Star, two-time MVP, 12-time Gold Glover, two-time All-Star Game MVP, Rookie of the Year and 1954 World Series champion in an illustrious career that led to an easy Hall of Fame induction. 

The stamp design is an homage to classic baseball cards. It features two photos: a portrait of Mays as a New York Giant and a photo of Mays making an over-the-shoulder catch. 

Mays died in 2024 at the age of 93.

Pat Summitt was the winningest coach in Division I college basketball history who uplifted the women's game from obscurity to national prominence during her 38-year career at the University of Tennessee. 

Summitt helped grow college women's basketball as her Lady Vols dominated the sport in the late 1980s and 1990s, winning six titles in 12 years. Tennessee — the only school she coached — won NCAA titles in 1987, 1989, 1991, 1996-98 and 2007-08. Summitt had a career record of 1,098-208 in 38 seasons, plus 18 NCAA Final Four appearances.

The stamp art features an oil-on-primed-linen portrait of Summitt created by Roberto Parada. Ethel Kessler, an art director for USPS, designed the stamp.

In 2011, Summit announced at age 59 that she'd been diagnosed with early onset dementia. She coached one more season before stepping down. 

Summit died in 2016 at the age of 64 

USPS issuing a wide range of new stamp designs in 2027 

Dig deeper:

In addition to the sports legends stamps, USPS will also be releasing several other stamps, including: 

• Lunar New Year — Year of the Goat, the eighth stamp in its third Lunar New Year series,
• Love stamp featuring a colorful rainbow or a warm, sunny day or a playful pinwheel spinning in the breeze.
• A series of four unicorns showing how the legendary creatures hold the promise of magic to those who have the rare good fortune to encounter them.
• Colorful blooms stamps featuring four stamps with beautiful, unique floral designs.
• A celebration stamp designed for invitations and cards suitable for a host of special occasions, from birthdays and anniversaries to engagements, weddings, new jobs and retirements
• Veggies forever stamps featuring 10 close-up photos of vegetables.
• A U.S flag stamp continues the long USPS tradition of honoring the flag of the United States
• Mythical creatures featuring five different stamps depicting some regional favorites.
• A stamp celebrating the nation's founding motto, E Pluribus Unum — "Out of many, one"— inscribed on the Great Seal of the United States even before the Revolutionary War officially ended
• The Cure Childhood Cancers stamp with net proceeds from the surcharge on the Cure Childhood Cancers semi-postal will be donated to the National Institutes of Health for childhood cancer research.
• Halloween featuring depictions of a vampire, a witch, a mummy and Frankenstein
• You’re Invited — Wedding Edition and With Love, as well as You’re Invited — For All Occasions

What you can do:

Once released, the stamps are available for purchase through The Postal Store, by calling 844-737-7826, by mail through USA Philatelic, or at Post Office locations nationwide.  

U.S.Sports