Green Bay Packers players, coaches and others in the organization each received professional football's most coveted bling, a quarter-pound Super Bowl ring packed with diamonds and conceived just a five-minute drive from the headquarters of their rival Minnesota Vikings.
The rings, which the Packers earned with a 31-25 victory in Super Bowl XLV over Pittsburgh, were awarded Thursday night at Lambeau Field in a private ceremony that needed league approval because of the NFL labor lockout.
The piece of jewelry weighs in a 4.06 ounces and was designed by Bloomington-based Jostens, located 4 miles east of where the Vikings brain trust often meets to plot the half-century-old franchise's first NFL title.
"The one thing we knew was [the players] wanted big, and they wanted 'bling,' so I think we were successful in that," said team President and CEO Mark Murphy. "Jostens has done a fantastic job of capturing the excitement of the win for everyone at the Packers."
This is the Packers' fourth Super Bowl triumph, and Jostens has designed the ring each time.
The ring's crest features the Green Bay "G" logo cast in 18-karat yellow gold placed on a green stone tablet. Thirteen diamonds are embedded in the logo, one for each of the team's NFL-record 13 championships.
The logo is accented with four marquis-cut diamonds representing the Packers' four Super Bowl victories. Surrounding the crest are 92 diamonds, a nod to the franchise's 92-year history.
In total, the diamonds weigh 3.35 carats. Neither the Packers nor Jostens would reveal the ring's price.
