New York Giants icon Plaxico Burress has offloaded his one-and-only Super Bowl ring 17 years after proving the hero in their famous win over the New England Patriots.
Burress, whose winning catch sealed one of the greatest upsets in Super Bowl history, appears to have given up his precious memento following more than a decade of financial and legal troubles.
The former wide receiver’s white and gold diamond-encrusted ring, which features images of the Vince Lombardi trophy, the Giants logo and Burress’ surname, has been put on the auction block with Heritage Auctions by an anonymous new owner.
The latest bid stands at $35,000 at the time of writing, though the Dallas-based auction house believes it could end up selling for an incredible $100,000 before the bidding ends on February 22.
Burress, 47, has authenticated the ring himself in a signed letter which is dated November 16, suggesting he cashed in on it months ago.
‘I received this actual ring as a member of the New York Giants who won Super Bowl XLII held February 3, 2008 against the New England Patriots in Phoenix, AZ,’ he said in the letter.
Giants icon Plaxico Burress has offloaded his ring from their Super Bowl win over the Patriots
The former wide receiver has encountered financial and legal troubles for more than a decade
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‘I further certify this ring is the one and only ring and that no duplicate copies were produced.’
Heritage Auctions Sports Director Chris Ivy also told The New York Post: ‘I would assume [Burress sold it] in 2024 — that’s the assumption we have to take.’
Back in 2014, Burress told the Giants he had only worn the ring himself ‘five or six times’.
He famously caught the game-winning pass with just 35 seconds left at Super Bowl XLII, when New York secured a historic upset victory over the previously-undefeated New England led by Tom Brady.
However, just nine months after that seismic achievement, the Giants hero landed himself in hot water when he accidentally shot himself in the leg with an unlicensed firearm while trying to get into a nightclub in New York City.
The resulting court case made national headlines, with Burress eventually pleading guilty to attempted weapon possession in August 2009 and spending 20 months in jail. He had been released by the Giants at the end of the 2009 season.
After getting out, he played a single campaign with another New York team, the Jets, before playing four times for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2012.
Burress has continued to encounter legal and financial difficulties in the 13 years which have followed.
The diamond-encrusted ring features images of the Vince Lombardi trophy and the Giants logo
Burress, whose surname also features on the ring, authenticated it in a signed Nov. 14 letter
The 47-year-old famously took the winning catch in the Giants’ Super Bowl win vs the Patriots
But over the next 17 years he suffered financial and legal difficulties away from the sport
In 2010 he received a foreclosure notice on a mansion he purchased in Florida for almost $4million with wife Tiffany in 2005, with the home reportedly sold for half that price in a short sale in 2014.
A year before that sale, the ex-NFL champion sold his Virginia Beach pad for $480,000 before it was scheduled to go to auction under court order, which settled liens placed on it stemming from a $159,000 debt he owed a woman.
The woman in question had claimed she suffered neck and back injuries after he rear-ended her car in 2008.
Burress was also charged with cutting a bad check or electronic funds transfer in 2015 to stiff New Jersey authorities out of $46,000 worth of taxes on his $1m income, before he sealed a plea deal for a tax evasion charge – earning him a sentence of five years’ probation and $56,000 restitution.
Over the past eight years, he has also been accused of not paying the mortgage on the New Jersey home he bought for $1.5m back in 2005, with the banks subsequently issuing a foreclosure on the property in 2018, while a country club in the area secured a judgement in 2019 for his failure to settle a $3,100 tab.
