Three New England Patriots Super Bowl rings were stolen by “thugs,” according to a tweet sent out by former Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel’s wife on Saturday.
The Boston Globe reports that Vabrel and his wife returned home from their son’s basketball game on November 8 to find the glass back door of their home smashed in and a trio of Super Bowl rings missing.
Thanks to the thugs who busted out our back glass door while we were at our sons bball game this am and took @CoachVrabel50 SB RINGS #class
— jen (@JenVrabel1) November 8, 2014
Vrabel, who is now a linebacker coach for the Houston Texans, was just as ticked off as his wife, tweeting about the theft with a warning to Houston-area pawn shops to keep an eye out for the rings he won in the 2002, 2004, and 2005 Super Bowls.
How much are Super Bowl rings worth? Bank Rate reports that the NFL gives teams an allowance of $5,000 per ring, but many teams go above and beyond, adding pricey diamonds and other jewels to the winning team’s rings. The rings are often worth much more than $5K if they are sold at auction, depending on which player owned the ring and how spectacular the Super Game was.
Last May, the Huffington Post reported that New York Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor’s Super Bowl XXV ring sold at auction for $230,401. Other rings that sold for big bucks include Green Bay Packers player Fred “Fuzzy” Thurston’s Super Bowl II ring that brought in $50,788 in 2011 and Green Bay Packers’ lineman Steve Wright’s ring (from the first-ever Super Bowl in 1967) that was sold in 2011 for $70,000.
Mike Vrabel, who played eight seasons with the Patriots from 2001-08, still has not recovered his Super Bowl rings. ESPN reports that the Bellaire Police Department has confirmed that the burglary took place around 11 a.m. Saturday, but there is no word on who broke into Vrabel’s home .
[Images: Twitter, Boston.com, Jostens]