GILBERT, Ariz. — A retired NFL player is pleading for help finding his 1989 Super Bowl Championship ring.
Christopher Washington, a former San Francisco 49er, said he thinks the ring slipped off of his finger while he was out running errands in Gilbert earlier this month.
“It’s worn a lot," Washington said. “It can’t be gone. I didn’t want to believe that I left it somewhere or I dropped it somewhere."
Washington and his wife retraced their steps with no luck finding the ring, but they're hoping someone else might have picked it up.
"We hope that there is someone out there that will find it and return it," Washington said.
The former linebacker said he fears whoever found it, probably wants to keep it.
“I think about that and think about how people reacted when they saw it and someone did not want to give it back," Washington said.
Washington played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the San Francisco 49ers and the Arizona Cardinals during his NFL career.
He told 12News the ring means so much more to him than it ever could to someone else.
“The ring means a lot to me. It reminds me of what I went through. What it took to get there and how important it is to me," Washington said. “Growing up as a kid, playing football through high school and college and then to make it to the NFL and then to make it to the Super Bowl, it drives me crazy. I loved it. I loved every crazy minute of it.”
Washington's wife, Julia Bussell Washington, said they're willing to offer a reward to whoever returns the ring.
“We can’t put a monetary value on this ring because it is priceless to us. It represents hard work, perseverance, commitment," Julia Bussell Washington said. “We would very much appreciate someone hearing this, relating to it and in exchange for a reward, returning it to us.”
The couple believes the ring could have been lost at or in the parking lot of one of these stores:
- Walgreens on Higley Road in Gilbert
- Total Wine on Williams Field Road in Gilbert
- WinCo Foods on Pecos Road in Gilbert
- Costco on Market Street in Gilbert
If you find the ring, Christopher Washington asks that you contact them at: julia.bussell@gmail.com.
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