For more than a decade, Dennis Brucks searched for what he considered to be the holy grail of Super Bowl rings. But each time he came close to fulfilling that quest, his dream ended in disappointment: the ring never contained the second of his two specific requirements.
In addition to Brucks' desire to find a Green Bay Packers ring, he also needed one sized for an average person. The massive diamond encrusted pieces created for players were far too big for his hand.
"The larger ones were always randomly available from time to time. I could have bought one of many of those," said the 71-year-old Brucks, a lifelong Packers fan. "But you put one of those things on your hand, and I don't have football-player hands.
"You couldn't even see your hand in proportion to that size ring. And for an individual person to try to wear that comfortably, it's rather difficult. So I just kept looking."
Given the short supply of Packers Super Bowl rings for sale, Brucks' pickiness did not lend itself toward a quick resolution of his hunt. But this month, he stumbled upon a rare piece at a Wisconsin pawn shop that fit his exact specifications: a Packers Super Bowl ring from the 2010 season that used to belong to a female front office employee.
After a couple weeks of deliberation, Brucks purchased the ring for an undisclosed amount last Wednesday at the Pawn America shop in Grand Chute, Wis. And he beat the rush to buy the ring by mere minutes, as word of its availability had spread throughout the country.
Brucks hadn't even reached the exit when a man who had driven in from Illinois entered the store to purchase the ring. He offered Brucks $2,000 more than he paid, but Brucks turned him down.
The asking price for the ring at Pawn America was $9,999 plus tax, a substantial sum that caused Brucks, who has owned an insurance company in Neenah, Wis., for 40 years, to mull over a purchase for weeks. But Brucks also recognized the scarcity of such a ring and didn't want to let it go.
He said he could have purchased a Super Bowl II ring from 1968 that belonged to former Packers player Fred "Fuzzy" Thurston last year. That ring sold for $50,000 at an auction, though Brucks cited its bulk as a reason he didn't pull the trigger.
The fervor over this latest Packers ring began on May 15, when the Pawn America Twitter account posted a picture of the ring with the message: "This is probably our coolest piece @ #Pawn America Appleton! An authenticated 2010 Green Bay #Packers Super Bowl Ring!"
A story on the ring quickly appeared in the local newspaper and subsequently made its way around the Internet, and calls began flying into the pawn shop. Though the ring had been on sale for a few weeks, most people didn't know of its existence until the article surfaced.
"You knew what would happen at that point," said Michael Deering, a spokesman for Pawn America based in Minnesota. "They're rabid. Everybody knows that. I'm a Vikings fan, so I understand. I go to Lambeau Field every year for games, and I know what those people are like. It was interesting just watching it."
Brucks soon discovered the sudden media attention surrounding the ring, and he realized he needed to make a move or else risk losing a piece of history.
"When I saw the write-up in the paper, it turned on my back brain light bulb and said, ‘Hey dude, you better realize these things aren't just laying around.' Look what the bigger ones sell for. The cheapest ones sell for 50 grand and up."
The ring comes with a lifetime service guarantee through Jostens Jewelers, the company commissioned to make the Packers' Super Bowl rings. Brucks said he'd already sent it back to the company to be sized, cleaned and documented.
According to Brucks, the ring had been insured for $21,700. It features a gold base, a platinum insert and a green gemstone where the "G" of the Green Bay Packers insignia is attached. The word "World" is etched at the top with "Champions" on the bottom.
The ring also contains the name "Pace" on the side. The registered seller was Sarah Pace, an atrium operations official at Lambeau Field. The Packers gave Super Bowl rings to all of their full-time employees and board members.
"Part of us thought there would be kind of an uproar by the rabid Packer fans saying, ‘How dare she sell it? This is sacred in our country.'" Deering said. "But at the same time it was great. … It couldn't have gone to a more perfect candidate to own it."
Brucks said he'd received at least three more offers on the ring over the weekend for much more than he paid. But he plans on holding onto it, at least for the time being.
"I'm not going to go out and prance around and flash my hand," Brucks 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."
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