Super Bowl Ring Error Goes Unnoticed for More Than Three Decades

As coveted as a Super Bowl ring is to nearly every athlete who puts on a football uniform, you'd think that once received a player would spend hours admiring the thing, pouring attention over every single detail. And that may be the case for about 70 members of the Pittsburgh Steelers, which includes players, coaches and front-office workers alike. But if it is, they aren't very observant.

It seems that the recent auctioning of two Super Bowl rings belonging to a front-office employee, whose estate is undergoing a bankruptcy sale, brought into light an error that has gone unnoticed by any of those 70 mentioned above. And it might be somewhat understandable if those rings were for the Steelers' most recent championship, which occurred just a couple years ago.

But this particular ring was from their first championship, Super Bowl IX. Which means no one caught the flaw for more than 33 years!

And it's not just a minor flaw either. On the side of each ring is the result of each of the team's playoff wins on their way to the Super Bowl, and the final score of their first post-season contest is incorrect. Instead of listing the actual score in which they beat the Buffalo Bills 32-14, listed is a 32-6 final tally.

To top things off, the mistake wasn't found by any of those in possession of the rings. It was noticed by an unnamed Steelers fan who saw a picture in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette promoting the sale of the rings.

The error doesn't seem to have adversely affected the value of the ring, however, which sold for more than $32,000 Monday.