{ The NFLPA's Stacy Robinson now cherishes his Giants Super Bowl ring more than ever. }
When retired New York Giants wide receiver Stacy Robinson headed to the train station on a damp June morning, he could not have imagined that he was about to lose his prized Super Bowl ring, only to find it a week later on a notoriously unlucky day.
As Robinson drove up Interstate 95 headed to Baltimore, his Mercury Sable was clipped by an oncoming car, causing Robinson’s vehicle to go tumbling down an embankment. Although he walked away from the accident with only minor injuries, his championship ring was lost amid the confusion.
“I grabbed the steering wheel and the car must have tossed and turned. The grooves on the steering wheel got under my hand while I held on and it flicked the ring off and I lost it,” Robinson described.
Immediately following the accident, highway patrol and EMT workers unsuccessfully searched for the priceless ring. After Robinson and his wife also fruitlessly searched for the 1987 championship ring, he gave up hope of ever finding it. He even contacted the Giants to request a replacement.
Robinson said, “Well, I was so frustrated after having gone out there and looked for it, I didn’t look for it anymore. I don’t know. I just kind of gave up. I called the Giants and I would have had to pay to get it replaced.”
Although Robinson, Director of Player Development for the NFLPA, had given up, his co-workers and friends were just getting started. Under the leadership of NFLPA Director of Human Resources Mary Moran, six of Robinson’s co-workers put together a search party. On Friday, June 13, armed with coolers, metal detectors, emergency kits and hope, they accompanied Robinson and the Waterloo Police Barracks and returned to the scene of the accident.
“We all met out there and had the state troopers take us out. Everybody was gearing and ready to go and everybody had their coolers and their drinks because it was a hot day and we had planned to be out there a while,” Robinson said.
Their search, however, turned out to be quite short. Soon after arriving at the accident site, Robinson walked along the highway to indicate to the search party where the ring had been lost. Just as he reached the embankment, Robinson noticed something glinting in the debris.
“I started walking back, trying to find the spot, and I started seeing some of the debris, little things that were in the car. So I knew that was the area. I looked down and looked around a little bit. All of a sudden I see this little shining piece embedded in the dirt and grass. So, I reached down and picked it up,” he said, smiling.
Robinson was elated when he found his Super Bowl ring in relatively good condition, with only small scratches on the surface. However, when reflecting on the entire ordeal, he says that the situation made him realize the symbolic and sentimental value of his Super Bowl ring, and as a result, he now doesn’t wear the ring as often.
He said, “It’s about what it means to me, what it stands for. Football is the ultimate team sport. There’s one thing about accomplishing something by yourself, but when you’ve got to dig deep with a whole group of people and depend on other people, you come out with the ultimate goal. I think about my sons, and leaving that with them. So to find [the ring], it was like hitting the lottery.”