The story of exactly why Williams pawned his Super Bowl ring and never came back to collect it is a bit of a mystery. However, thanks to some reporting by ESPN, we do know that Williams' ring was worth enough for the cornerback to secure a loan offer of over $10,000 from Harrison. It seems that Williams had a very specific reason for needing the money, though, since he only ended up taking a loan of $2,600. The smaller amount seems to imply that he had plans to come back for the irreplaceable bauble, but for one reason or another that never happened.
The ring remained abandoned at World Famous, and can be seen glimmering on a tray with some other jewelry in the show's opening credits. In a separate ESPN article about the incident, Williams was asked for comment about the ring. Instead of offering details, he simply said, "Ah, man, that was a bad time ... I'm just trying to put that all behind me."
The loss is more than just sentimental. A blog dedicated to the history of championship rings, aptly entitled Sports Rings, reported that in the 2010s the Patriots' Super Bowl XXXVI rings sold at auction for anywhere from $38,000 to $43,000. It's not the most expensive sale of a Super Bowl ring of all time, but it's nothing to sneeze at, and it's certainly more than $2,600.
At least Williams can still admire it every time he watches an episode of Pawn Stars.
