Super Bowl II 1967: Green Bay Packers Bob Long, WR It’s a good thing Long has three rings — one for each of his children. The receiver has one for the 1965 NFL Championship, one for Super Bowl I and one for Super Bowl II. “I have three kids, so I’m glad I have three rings,” Long said. “When my first son, Andrew, was born, I gave him my ring and put it in a safety deposit box. I haven’t seen it in 40 years. My daughter, Jordan, gets one and my adopted son, Christian gets one.” Long showed up to the first day of Packers training camp this past summer wearing his ring from Super Bowl II, and he was proud to explain why it contained by three diamonds. “(Vince) Lombardi designed the rings himself and my Super Bowl I ring has one diamond,” Long said. “Super Bowl II, Lombardi wanted something to recognize the event of three-straight championships.”
Super Bowl IV 1969: Kansas City Chiefs Jan Stenerud, K The 1969 Chiefs didn’t have a public event to distribute the rings to honor their Super Bowl IV victory. “We got our rings in the mail in June, I think it was,” kicker Jan Stenerud said. “It was very quiet.” The rings came with a small wooden plaque that read, “Remember that you are World Champions. Handle yourself with class and style, grace and dignity.” It was signed “Hank Stram, head coach.”
Super Bowl V 1970: Baltimore Colts Bill Curry, C Arthritis has kept Colts center Curry from wearing his Super Bowl V ring. “It’s been years and years since I’ve put it on,” Curry said. “And when I have put it on, I’ve had to force on my finger pretty good. Things start to change on your body once you hit mid-70s. There was definitely a special time I wore it.” Curry said the last time he wore the rings was at the funeral of Johnny Unitas, the starting quarterback on the Colts’ Super Bowl team. “That was just one of many ways to pay respect to Johnny,” Curry said. “People are always intrigued that I snapped the ball to [Green Bay quarterback] Bart Starr and Johnny Unitas. Super Bowl V was the last ring I won after playing in Super Bowls I, III and V.”
Super Bowl VI 1971: Dallas Cowboys Lee Roy Jordan, LB “My wife OK’d it for me to wear that on my left hand instead of wearing my wedding band,” Jordan said of the ring he earned after the 1971 season. “I dislocated my right ring finger so many times I couldn’t get it on that finger. I convinced her that I needed to be wearing it. She must’ve felt like the marriage was going to work and she said OK.” Jordan and his wife, Mary, have been married for 55 years.
Super Bowl VII 1972: Miami Dolphins Dick Anderson, S A member of the Dolphins’ No-Name Defense, Anderson said the 1971 team actually got Super Bowl rings after losing. But they were silver, not gold. Then, at the beginning of the 1972 season, coach Don Shula tried to inspire his players by telling them no one remembers who lost the Super Bowl and “our goal is to be remembered.” Anderson said: “I look down at those 16 diamonds and the one in the middle and smile. I wear it proudly. It represents 17-0. It was the only perfect season. It’s a reminder that we did something that no one else has done. It was a special team.” The Dolphins’ organization brings back members of the 1972 team every five years to celebrate that milestone season, they sign memorabilia as a group and share memories of the perfect season.
Super Bowl VIII 1973: Miami Dolphins Larry Little, G The Super Bowl ring from 1973 has less significance than the one from the year prior, Little said, because that Dolphins team went 17-0. “I don’t even know where it is,” Little said of the second ring. “It’s somewhere in the house. My wife put it up.” Most of the Dolphins from the 1972 team played on the ’73 team as well. Little did say the Dolphins “were a better team in 1973 than 1972, even though we lost two games that year. We walked through the playoffs. It was easier for us to win the Super Bowl in 1973.”
Super Bowl XI 1976: Oakland Raiders Fred Biletnikoff, WR The Super Bowl XI MVP takes a special pride in donning his ring, only breaking it out on rare occasions. “It’s in a very safe place,” Biletnikoff said with a laugh. “It means everything. After all the years of being so close and all the conference championship games, to all of a sudden have everything go right and we break through and win the whole thing? That ring means a lot.” Indeed, before breaking through to win Super Bowl XI, Biletnikoff’s Raiders had played in Super Bowl II, lost consecutive AFL title games and fell in four of the next six AFC championship games. “With what we went through, with all the heartbreak and crazy plays,” he said, “there’s a lot of pride. Nobody can take it away.”
Super Bowl XII 1977: Dallas Cowboys Drew Pearson, WR “I lost mine at Studio 54. I didn’t want to be noticed or get in any negative situation so I took my ring off because I didn’t want to flash it around,” Pearson said. “I put it in my coat pocket and it was cool for a while, then I got to dancing and got hot so I took my coat off. When I put it back on, the ring wasn’t there. I panicked.” Pearson talked to the club manager who said he was welcome to come back when the cleaning crew arrived to look for it. By the time Pearson reached his hotel room, the ring had been found “I went back in the morning and got it. Here’s how big a deal losing my Super Bowl ring in New York City was — it ended up in the New York Times. They covered it.”
Super Bowl XIII 1978: Pittsburgh Steelers Rocky Bleier, RB At speaking engagements, Bleier gives the audience a chance to take pictures with the rings, touch them and try them on. And since the Super Bowl XIII ring is the gaudiest, he wears it the most — which has become a problem. “People will try it on and then walk away,” Bleier said. “A few steps later, they realize it’s still on their finger and they have to bring it back and apologize.” The rings have been to all 50 states, Canada, Germany, Italy, England and Vietnam. They’ve set off TSA alarms in airports. “It’s a wonderful, warm experience I have from a fan base, their appreciation of what that stands for when they see the rings,” Bleier said. “Even some Patriots fans have put them on. Tom Brady is not showing his six, so this is the closest they get.”
Super Bowl XIV 1979: Pittsburgh Steelers Jon Kolb, OL Not all of the originial diamonds from Jon Kolb’s rings, which reside at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame, are intact. A couple have been replaced with high-quality fakes as his family has used the bling for their own jewelry over the years. “My wife took the first one and made a necklace, she took the second one and made earrings,” Kolb said. “My son Tanner took the third one and made a wedding ring for his wife. And Caleb, my youngest son, I told him he could have the fourth one when he was ready. He’s got that at a jeweler. It’s really neat to me because my hands, they don’t fit rings. All four of them are getting used.”