Mad ways NFL players lost Super Bowl rings after Kelce's nightmare (2024)

Jason Kelce is the latest former NFL'er to misplace his Super Bowl ring in the craziest way possible, as the retired Philadelphia Eagles center revealed that he lost his most prized football asset during last week's live show of his podcast, New Heights.

Jason, who became a Super Bowl LII champion after his beloved Eagles beat the Tom Brady-led and Bill Belichick-coached New England Patriots in 2018, disclosed that his ring mysteriously disappeared after he put it in a pool of Skyline Chili - one of several games played during his appearance on the University of Cincinnati's campus with his brother and Kansas Chiefs tight end, Travis.

The 36-year-old, Ohio native now suspects that his ring might have ended up in a landfill after he loaned it out for the event. The game involved fans diving into pools of chili to retrieve a pair of Super Bowl rings, one of which was a replica.

'This game existed because I continually lose my Super Bowl ring,' Jason said on the latest episode of New Heights on Wednesday. 'And I don't even know if Travis still knows this, but I legitimately lost my Super Bowl ring in this event.

'You're such a f****ng imbecile,' Travis replied at one point, adding: 'God dammit Jason.'

So, in light of the Kelce Bros.' joining the long list of athletes losing their career-defining accessory, DailyMail.com takes a look at other NFL players who have lost track of their Super Bowl rings throughout time.

1. Former 49ers center John Macaulay

Macaulay, who was selected by the Green Bay Packers in the 11th round of the 1982 NFL Draft, was a member of the Niners team that won Super Bowl XIX in 1984.

Now a physician in California, Macaulay, 64, once left his Super Bowl ring in a restroom of San Jose Airport in June 2013, according to several reports.But, thanks to the kindness of an airport worker, he got it back shortly thereafter.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, Arra Daquina - a maintenance worker at the aiport - came across the ring while cleaning.

'I didn't know what it was,' she said back in 2013, when the ring was lost. 'But it was big and heavy.'

Daquina reported her finding to her supervisors, and soon afterward, Macaulay came looking for it. The former football pro didn't need much to identify his ring, as it had his last name engraved on it.

Macaulay, who also dabbled in tech before practicing medicine, only played a total of three games with the 49ers, but they all came during a championship season. Talk about perfect timing...

2. Anonymous Packers executive

Somebody get Keith Morrison on the line as this story resembles a 'Dateline' episode.

According to The Chicago Tribune, DEA officials once found a Green Bay Packers Super Bowl XLV ring from 2011 while busting up a Mexican drug-trafficking cartel, as they were recovering heroin, cash and weapons, at the time.

Authorities later revealed that the sports memorabilia item was stolen from the Packers exec', who's name has yet to be revealed, 13 years later. Odd.

It remains unclear how the drug traffickers managed to end up with the ring.

One thing for sure is that despite all of the conspiracies he's laid out there, Aaron Rodgers had nothing to do with the Mexican gang's operations...

3. Former Bucs, 49ers & Cardinals linebacker Chris Washington

Last month, in March, several reports emerged that Chris Washington, who was a member of the 49ers' Super Bowl Championship Team in 1989, lost his ring while running errands with his wife.

Yep, you read that right... the worst part about it all is that Washington apparently didn't notice that he lost the ring until several days after he went shopping around Gilbert, a town located southeast of Phoenix.

'We tore up the house. We tore up the cars,' Julia - Washington's wife - told USA Today. 'We said, ''It's got to be around here somewhere.'

The couple even went as far to file a 311 report and starting a social media campaign to raise awareness. The Washington also meticulously retraced their steps, recalling every spot they went to during their shopping outing.

What's more is that they alerted local pawn shops in case someone tried selling the ring for cash.

Washington, who wore his ring daily, was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2016, which has led him to experience 'significant short-term and long-term memory loss, his wife said.

'Being able to look at that ring helps him connect the dots,' Julia previously told USA Today. 'It's a connection to his past, but it's also a connection to his journey.'

4. Former Jets center John Schmitt

As one of the first NFL players ever, John Schmitt was part of the New York Jets' only Super Bowl-winning team in 1969, when Gang Green overcame the then-Baltimore Colts to lift the third edition of the World Championship Game Trophy, which was later renamed after Vince Lombardi.

The now-81-year-old Schmitt then lost his Super Bowl ring, two years later, in 1971, while he was taking surf lessons about a quarter mile off Waikiki, Hawaii, near the Royal Hawaiian hotel, according to Fox Sports. He didn't notice the ring was no longer on his finger until he returned to shore.

'That that ring was found is as bloody miracle. It really is a miracle, you know,' Schmitt later told KGMB-TV in Honolulu.

'I got a snorkel and some flippers and I went out and I dove until I was blue,' the Suffolk Sports Hall of Famer continued. 'I'm not kidding you. It must have been three hours. I was out there looking. I couldn't find it anywhere. I was just exhausted. I virtually could not swim or flip my legs anymore. And I just went in broken-hearted.'

Fortunately for Schmitt, his ring was found by John Ernstberg - a local lifeguard who gave the ring to his wife, Mary. She kept it safe in a box until her death along with her husband's in the 1990s. The ring was retrieved once the couple's great niece, Cindy Saffery and her husband, Samuel, inherited the estate.

In 2011, the Saffery's took the prestigious accessory to jeweler Brenda Reichel to determine whether it was real, which eventually was confirmed to be. Reichel and the Safferys then contacted the Jets to inform them of the missing item before it was forwarded to Schmitt, who lives on Long Island.

'I couldn't believe it. I mean I honestly couldn't believe it. I mean 40 years,' Schmitt said. He even offered to fly the Safferys to New York so he can thank them in person. It's unclear if both parties did eventually meet up once Schmitt had his ring returned.

'It's a legacy. He put a lot of hard work into this to earn this,' Samuel Saffery, who said he and his wife weren't interested in selling the item, told KGMB.

'This is not something you can buy off the street. This is something that you earn, so for Mr. Schmitt he earned this ring so by right it'll make me feel good to put it personally back into his hand.'

5. Unkown Packers fan

In 2012, ring collector, Dennis Brucks - a lifelong Packers fan - stumbled across a Packers Super Bowl ring from the 2010 season belonging to a female front office employee at a local pawn shop in Grand Chute, Wisconsin.

He eventually purchased the piece of jewelry for an undisclosed amount, as it was in high demand, at the time, according to Fox Sports. But, on his way out of the store, a man who had driven from Illinois offered to purchase the ring from Brucks for $2k.

Considering that Pawn America put up an asking price of $9,999 plus task for the ring, Brucks - an insurance company owner from Neenah, Wisconsin - refused to give it up.

His discovery had drawn interests from the media shortly afterward.

Brucks disclosed that he'd received at least three more offers for the ring, but hadn't considered them despite all being above the price he had paid for the item.

'I'm not going to go out and prance around and flash my hand,' he said. 'It's going to be tucked away nicely. On special occasions, I'll wear it. When I'm ready to make a change and dispose of it, it won't take much to sell it.'