Jim Brown championship ring up for auction may have been stolen

A controversy has broken out over a championship ring once owned by Jim Brown that is currently being offered by the respected Lelands auction house. It’s possible that the ring, valued at at least $25,000, is a piece of stolen property.

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Lelands claims in their listing that the ring, the only championship ring ever won by Jim Brown, was obtained from an immediate family member of the Hall of Famer and was inspected by Brown himself before an earlier sale in 1998. But Brown tells a different version of what happened with the ring.

Brown told the St. Paul Pioneer-Press:

"It was stolen from me many years ago, in the late 1960s. I’m surprised to hear that it’s publicly for sale because whoever got it should know that I didn’t give it up."

Brown says a police report was filed after the theft. He told the Pioneer-Press that it would be “very cool” to get the ring back after nearly fifty years.

Brown also says he knew nothing about the ring being up for auction before hearing about it from the newspaper. I don’t mean to bring up an indelicate subject but, Jim Brown is getting up there in years, and is it possible that he’s confused about which ring is which?

It’s hard to believe that an outfit like Lelands, a reputable auction house, would claim Brown himself inspected the ring in 1998 if that didn’t happen. If you believe Lelands, then you have to believe Brown is just mixed about which ring this is.

Stolen or not, the ring at last check was up to $33,275 after four bids. Maybe some NFL star will purchase the ring and give it back to Brown. Johnny Manziel should do that. Buy himself some goodwill with the Cleveland people.

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