The person who stole Tom Brady's jersey following Super Bowl LI is currently holding one of the most valuable pieces of sports memorabilia known to man.
If the thief can sell the jersey without getting arrested, there could be a huge pay day involved. According to Rick Harrison, who regularly appears on the show "Pawn Stars," Brady's jersey would easily fetch six figures on the open market.
It's one of the greatest Super Bowls of all-time. It's probably worth $200,000, at least," Harrison told TMZ when asked about the jersey's value.
On the other hand, the crook shouldn't start counting his money just yet because trying to sell something that's gotten as much publicity as Brady's jersey won't be easy.
"Right now, [the jersey] is worthless to anybody because if you're caught with that thing, it's worth like five to 10 [years in jail]," Harrison said. "My best advice is throw it in a bag and mail it back to the team, and maybe they'll forget about it and you won't go to prison for the rest of your life."
Realistically, our brazen thief has three options: Keep the jersey for himself, sell it on the black market of memorabilia or return it to the Patriots.
The downside of keeping it is that you couldn't ever really show it to anyone because they might turn you in, especially now that a reward is being offered for the jersey.
It makes sense to offer a reward, and that's because the jersey is so valuable that no one can agree on just how valuable it is. Ken Goldin, who owns an auction house in New Jersey, says the jersey could fetch as much as $500,000 on the open market.
"He is the most popular and most collectible football player ever," Goldin told Bloomberg this week. "He likely comes right after Michael Jordan in terms of athletes who have played in the past 40 years."
According to Goldin, if the jersey went to auction, the bidding would likely start at $300,000. Based on Goldin's estimate, the thief better not try to sell it to Harrison or he might get lowballed.
The thing about the jersey, though, is that it's not even the most expensive Brady memorabilia out there. According to Harrison, that honor belongs to Brady's Super Bowl rings.
"His rings would be worth more [than the jersey]," Harrison told TMZ. "I've sold a benchwarmer Patriots' Super Bowl ring for $80,000. His ring would go for more. I'd imagine the first one would probably go for the most money."
Although you'll probably never see Brady's ring on eBay, you might see a ring that belongs to Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Vladimir Putin currently has one of Kraft's rings, and no one would be surprised if he sold it on eBay if Russia ever fell into heavy debt.
Anyway, If you haven't been keeping track of the Brady case, here's the latest: It's believed that Brady's jersey was taken sometime between 10:05 p.m. CT and 10:17 p.m. CT. We also know that the Houston police department isn't making the jersey a high priority, which means it will likely be up to NFL security to solve the crime.
