Herb Brooks’ 1980 Olympic gold medal ring sells for $113K
By Cory Buck
The family of Herb Brooks sold his 1980 USA Olympic gold medal ring for over $113K, with the proceeds going to the Herb Brooks Foundation and his grandchildren’s college funds.
The legacy built by Herb Brooks and the 1980 USA men’s hockey team he led to a gold medal will live forever in the annals of American sports history. Now at least one token that commemorates such will sit on a mantle in a home not found in the Brooks family after the descendants of the late Brooks sold a number of memorabilia items associated with that famous run through the Olympics at Lake Placid.
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The literal crown jewel of that bunch is the 10-karat gold medal ring Brooks received for coaching the gold medal squad. It has the scores of every game engraved on its inside while also sporting the score from the famous upset of the USSR hockey team as well as that from the gold medal game against Finland. That ring ultimately fetched over $113,000, which will go to multiple funds, not the least of which will pay part of the college expenses for Brooks’ grandchildren.
“Between me and my sister and my mom, having to store this stuff and track it down and babysit it was kind of a pain, quite frankly,” said Dan Brooks, the son of Herb Brooks, per the Associated Press via the Star Tribune. “We decided this might be a good time to see if anyone has an interest in the stuff to just simplify our lives.”
Items also include, “Brooks’ 1974 and 1976 NCAA championship rings from his time as coach at the University of Minnesota, the jersey he wore as a player for Team USA on the 1968 Olympic team and even the gaudy shearling jacket he rustically donned with the rest of the Americans for the 1980 opening ceremony with their cowboy hats and blue jeans.”
Wait, they were selling Brooks’ gaudy shearling jacket and they didn’t even warn us? Awwww.
One notable item absent was the actual gold medal Brooks received. That, it appears, will remain with the Brooks family.
The 1980 USA men’s hockey team will live in American sports history as one of just two squads to bring gold to America, along with the 1960 team. That one was a huge upset as well, but this one came in the television age when the country was captivated by the upset of the rival Russians in the midst of the Cold War. Now someone will have this piece of memorabilia from that stirring moment in American history.
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