[sports-rings]

I wrote a blog entry today on Super Bowl III, and the Baltimore Colts decision to not produce a Championship ring for that season.

Since the start of the Super Bowl era, only twice out of 48 championships, has a team decided not to award rings.

Super Bowl III was one of them.

Here are excerpts from the blog and a question that I raised: Do you think the Colts decision was short sided? Should they have made an "NFL Championship Ring"?

In a tradition that continues to this day, the team that loses the Super Bowl is still recognized as a champion of their respective conference. Before the official merger was completed, the losing ring would contain either “AFL” or “NFL” champions, while the winning Super Bowl team’s ring would have the words “World Champions”. Starting with Super Bowl V and continuing to modern times, the team that loses the Super Bowl earns an “AFC” or “NFC” champions ring.

The Baltimore Colts were heavily favored going into Super Bowl III, and were completely startled by their loss to the Jets.

The team felt that an “NFL Championship” ring would have been a grim reminder of their historic loss and perhaps that was just too much to bear. So the team decided to go with watches.

The watch is a high-end, solid 18K gold piece that contains the player initials (including the middle initial) and their jersey number engraved on the back of the watch.

The watches were made by luxury watch maker, Lucien Piccard. While the watch is extremely rare (only two have hit the auction block), there is not a huge demand for them and they typically sell around $3,000.

Please let me know your thoughts and opinions if the Colts should have produced a championship ring.