Texas police in hot pursuit of Brady’s Super Bowl jersey
A nonprofit is upping the ante in the search for Tom Brady’s missing Super Bowl LI jersey, and Houston police say they’ve received tips about who the culprit might be.
Crime Stoppers of Houston is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest, said Jodi Silva, a Houston police spokeswoman. And the group’s hot line, 713222-TIPS, has already received some leads, said officer Jorge Pena, although he would not say how many or how useful they’ve been.
“It continues to be an active investigation,” Silva said.
Police are looking at creating a timeline, using video surveillance from NRG Stadium, to narrow the list of possible suspects, she said.
Yahoo Sports, citing NFL sources, reported that the theft is believed to have occurred between approximately 10:05 p.m. CST — when Brady returned to the locker room from his MVP news conference — and 10:20 p.m. CST, when he discovered that his No. 12 jersey was missing.
During most of that time, the locker room was closed to everyone but Patriots players, team officials and employees, family of New England executives, NFL employees and security, the news outlet reported.
Ken Goldin, founder of Goldin Auctions, which specializes in sports memorabilia and collectibles, estimated the jersey’s worth at approximately $500,000, based on Brady’s status as the most valuable player in the Patriots’ fifth Super Bowl win, a comeback victory for the ages, making him the quarterback with the most wins in Super Bowl history. Since the 1980s, the highest-selling jersey to date has been the New York Mets’ Mike Piazza’s, which sold in April 2016 for $365,000, Goldin said.
But if whoever stole Brady’s jersey set out to cash in on the theft, he said, that person may be having serious regrets.
“Whoever it was probably had no idea the ruckus it was going to cause,” he said. “Nobody can possibly sell it. Nobody in my business would touch it. Anybody accepting this jersey is knowingly accepting stolen property. And that’s a crime.”
No word on any reward for another piece of Super Bowl LI memorabilia that’s currently missing: the ball James White carried across the goal line in overtime to clinch the Patriots’ 34-28 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.