Tom Brady’s jersey from the New England Patriots’ thrilling comeback overtime win over the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI had been missing since shortly after the game ended. After a long, drawn-out international search involving the FBI, Patriots owner Robert Kraft orchestrated a joyful reunion between Brady and his jersey.
Kraft recalled the experience of Brady realizing the jersey was gone. “You said, ‘Hey, it’s missing,’ and I said, ‘We’d better check the internet,’” Kraft said.
No, we don’t know what that means, either.
They're back! Robert Kraft presents Tom Brady with the jerseys he wore in Super Bowl XLIX and Super Bowl LI. pic.twitter.com/0AsuqS1j3Z
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) April 3, 2017
Brady’s jersey from New England’s Super Bowl XLIX win over the Seattle Seahawks was also missing, and was found in the possession of the person who took the Super Bowl LI jersey. Kraft also presented that one to Brady.
Kraft seems thrilled about the return of the jerseys, which isn’t surprising. He compared Brady’s Super Bowl LI jersey to “a great Chagall or Picasso” shortly after they went missing.
Brady was also pleased, and just repeated, “This is awesome,” several times.
After an intense investigation involving the Houston police, Texas Rangers, and the FBI, the jerseys were found in the possession of C. Martin Mauricio Ortega, a former member of the Mexican media. Ortega also had items believed to belong to Super Bowl 50 MVP Von Miller, which have been returned to the Denver Broncos.
After the investigation was completed in March, the jerseys were returned to the Patriots.
“We appreciate the effort of everyone involved and look forward to returning these jerseys to Tom when he gets back to New England,” Kraft said at the time.
Now that Brady is back in New England and both jerseys have made their way back to their rightful owner, we can all finally close the book on this missing jersey situation.