Hunter Wilson/Daily News Brad Coffman has his office lined with more than 200 sports-related photos seen here pictured on Thursday.

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Collecting sports memorabilia is a popular hobby for fans across the world. Cards, trophies, jerseys, game programs, autographs and photos - hardcore collectors can’t get enough.

Bowling Green attorney Brad Coffman is certainly no exception.

Patrons entering the downtown Coffman & Kirwin law office will find a bounty of vintage photos, pennants, autographs, collages, programs, cards and posters of his two childhood passions - the Cincinnati Reds and the Cleveland Browns.

“I’ve been a big sports fan since I was a little kid ... and what I couldn’t do (professionally), I enjoyed watching others do,” said Coffman, who grew up in the Lexington area. “And the only two teams that anybody followed back then were the Reds and the Cleveland Browns.

“I’d collect cards and things like that, but a few years ago I got some pictures of the stadiums and things like that, and then some more of the old players and then some Sports Illustrated covers - and it kind of just grew from there.”

The term “grew” might be an understatement. Coffman has more than 180 pieces of memorabilia hanging in both his personal office and throughout the halls and front lobby of the law office.

His main focus is the 1961 Reds - Coffman went to see the team on his 11th birthday that year, his first baseball game - and the 1964 Browns, which was Cleveland’s last world championship squad.

On one wall of his personal office, visitors can see team photos and an original yearbook, as well as a framed photo or baseball card for every player who played an inning for the Reds during the 1961 season.

The other wall holds team photos, pennants and individual framed pictures of the 1964 Browns - including several frames of Hall of Famers such as Jim Brown and Lou Groza. He also has a framed photo from a 2002 team reunion with the signatures of every player in the 1964 starting lineup - sans Groza, who died in 2000.

In addition to plenty of other photos of the Reds and Browns, Coffman also proudly displays several pieces honoring the University of Louisville, where he earned his law degree. And as a practicing lawyer in Bowling Green for nearly three decades, Coffman said he also couldn’t resist paying a small tribute to Western Kentucky - he has various WKU photos in the front section of the lobby.

Coffman had always collected cards and various items, but things really blew up several years ago when he became an online shopper.

“I kind of discovered eBay,” he said. “I’d never been on eBay in my life and I found that you could get these pictures if you looked around enough and you could find them at a reasonable price. You don’t have to pay an arm and a leg, and I framed them as cheaply as possible. I watched it real close, because I knew it could take me over if I didn’t watch it.”

Coffman says his allegiances still lie with three teams - the Reds, the Browns and the Cardinals. Essentially the only sports he follows come from his favorite teams in Cincinnati, Cleveland and Louisville.

“I don’t really watch much other sports as far as other football or other baseball games, I watch the Reds or I watch the Browns - and as far as college, I’m a big sap for the University of Louisville,” Coffman said. “I’ve been to several of the games, I watch or listen on the radio and do pretty much whatever’s necessary to follow all three.”

Coffman said that the public reaction varies, but whether the items catch a client’s eye early or late, most of them notice the walls eventually.

“Some mention it right off, some don’t mention it, and some eventually after a while can’t help but notice it,” he said. “It’s a little different from the normal plaques and things you might see in a lawyer’s office - I hung those for a while and sort of got tired of it.

“I thought I could go back to my childhood a little bit.”

Asked if he has his eye on any new gems for his prized collection, Coffman said that right now he couldn’t be happier with what he has.

“As far as I’m concerned, the collection is basically complete,” he said. “I’ve seen a lot of things still out there, but as far as I’m concerned, I’ve got the things that I want.

“I mean maybe I might see a game program from the ’64 Browns or something that catches me, or little things like that - but nothing else real big.”