This past week, the Philadelphia Eagles unveiled their Super Bowl rings… with wings. That’s right, this ring has wings. It seems that every year, winning teams go out of their way to create truly unique jewelry for their players, staff, and owners. From elaborate boxes to rings that can be broken up into two wearable rings, to having up to hundreds of diamonds on them.
A championship wing is coveted by every athlete, especially in an age of ring culture where we proclaim that greatness is achieved by how many rings you have won (sort of). I mean, Michael Jordan is clearly better than LeBron but worse than Robert Horry, right? But I digress.
The ring culture is so pervasive that even non-sports people like to get their hands on them. Collectors will spend big money at auctions to own a piece of history. Fans will buy replicas to wear as if they were on the field winning it all.
And of course, some people will do the easy thing and just steal them… including the President of Russia.
While some thieves acquire sports memorabilia by way of breaking and entering an athlete’s home, others, like Vladimir Putin, simply ask to see it, put it in their pocket, and then walk away.
Also Read: Yes, President Trump took the Club World Cup Trophy. Here’s why.
Yes, there is a Super Bowl ring at the Kremlin, and it wasn’t a gift from a sports owner to a fellow oligarch. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft once made the mistake of bringing his $25,000 Super Bowl championship ring to meet Putin. I mean, if you are going to meet the Russian President, you have to wear your best jewelry, right?
Back in 2005, Kraft took a trip to Russia. He packed sensibly, bringing plenty of underwear, toothpaste, an adapter for electronics, and his Super Bowl XXXIX ring. Accompanying then-Citi Group President Sandy Weill to a function where Putin was present, Kraft had the ring in his pocket. Weill told Kraft to show Putin his ring, and Kraft handed it over to him.
Putin admired the oversized bedazzled piece of American culture and said what all tyrannical despots say when they see new things: “I can kill someone with this ring”.
He didn’t say, “This would impress the ladies,” or “This would be the perfect paperweight”. Nope, he went straight to its usage as a potential killing machine.
Putin then did what he has done with other things, such as other countries’ territory. He took it. That’s right, he put the ring in his pocket and walked away, leaving a flabbergasted Kraft to head home with his underwear, toothpaste, and adapter, but no $25k ring.
Kraft later called the Bush White House to lodge a complaint. (I mean, I would like to call the White House and complain, but I guess that complaint line isn’t available to every American). The Bush Administration told Kraft to just take the L. You read that correctly. Kraft was instructed to say the gift was actually a present as a means of maintaining Good relations between the United States and Russia. And so he did.
“I decided to give him the ring as a symbol of the respect and admiration that I have for the Russian people and the leadership of President Putin,” Kraft said.
Of course, as time passed, Kraft opened up about the theft, even demanding his ring back during a comedy roast of Tom Brady. It takes a lot of courage to demand things from a man whose opponents have a habit of falling out of windows. Maybe it’s best to let this theft go. The last thing you want is Putin wanting to see if the ring really can kill someone.
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