Does a Heisman Trophy Ring Qualify As a "Real" Championship Ring?

[sports-rings]

Does a Heisman Trophy Ring Qualify As a "Real" Championship Ring?

This is a tough call but in my book, no this is not a legitimate "Championship Ring", here's why: (and it has nothing to do with the design of the ring)

First off, I am not implying that the ring shown above, or any of the Heisman Trophy rings (including the one selling on ebay this week) are fakes or replicas.

Like the Heisman trophy itself, the rings are made by the Herff Jones company. The ring is made of 14K solid yellow gold and contains an assortment of real diamonds.

What I am stating, in my opinion, is that the Heisman Trophy, championship style rings, are not really championship rings and the strongest reason I have is that the majority of these rings were made and given to award winners decades after they won their award. I forget the exact year the rings were designed and created, but I believe it’s been during the last two decades.

The Downtown Athletic Club of New York, has been awarding the Heisman trophy since 1935. When they started to award rings along with one of the most iconic trophies in all of sports, they retroactively made and distributed rings to all the previous winners. If the player had already passed, the ring was given to their family.

Another reason I don’t believe these rings should be considered championship rings, is that players don’t covert the ring. The trophy is amazing (the player gets one and their school gets one). Besides the trophy, there is tremendous prestige in being named the best college player in the country. Can you recall who was the NFL most valuable player 10 years ago? Probably not, but you probably can name the Heisman trophy award winner though. Unlike a Super Bowl ring or a World Series ring, the Heisman Trophy ring is an afterthought.

So, in my opinion no, a Heisman Trophy ring is not a true championship ring, but perhaps other collectors and championship ring enthusiasts see things differently.

What do the net54 members think?