The search for Joe Morris' missing Giants Super Bowl ring


Former Giants running back Joe Morris is missing his Super Bowl.

(PIm Van Hemmen / Star-Ledger)

Former Giants running back Joe Morris needs help. He needs your help, or somebody's help, anybody's help really, to locate a missing Super Bowl ring that holds more sentimental than monetary value.

One day, the ring he earned as the Giants starting running back in Super Bowl XXI and owned for 29 years just wasn't where it's usually stored. Poof, lost or missing, along with the sense of pride that comes with slipping it onto his ring finger.

"One day I looked and it wasn't there," Morris said in a telephone interview with NJ Advance Media.

Morris believes he lost the ring he earned with the Giants for the 1986 season somewhere in New Jersey. He hopes it's still somewhere in New Jersey, where a good samaritan is ready to help return it to its rightful owner. 

Morris, a Mahwah resident, has filed police reports in Woodcliff Lakes, Hackensack, Mahwah and Oakland. It has yet to produce any significant results.

"I'm just hoping somebody picked it up and I'm looking to retrieve it," said Morris, who was a second-round pick in 1982 and played seven seasons with the Giants. "It's something that means a lot to me. It's something I care about a lot.

"I'm just hoping there is somebody in the world that might think this is something that somebody might want back. I truly do want it back."

There shouldn't be any confusion that this is Morris' ring. It's diamond-encrusted, bulky, can knock you out if it hits you in the face and has "Morris" engraved on the side. And there was only one Morris on the '86 Giants.

Morris last remembers seeing the ring on January 15. he brought it with him that day.

Morris has since searched up and down everywhere he went. He's retraced all his steps and come up empty.

The problem is he's not sure exactly where and when it disappeared. It may be on the street, in a gutter or under some leaves. It may be in the hands of the wrong person.

The low-key but accommodating Morris noted he often puts the ring in his pocket to avoid drawing attention. It may have fallen out that day.

"I don't want people gawking at it, looking at it all the time," Morris said. "The reason I want it back is I want to pass it along to my daughter. It would have been hers.

"I wanted to keep it in my family as long as possible. I never had a thought of selling my ring. I'm proud of what I did. I want to hold onto it. If it unfortunately fell out of my pocket or I did something stupid, it's my fault. But I want to be forgiven for that if I've done something wrong. I'd still like to have my ring back if I could."

Morris insists his desire to have the ring returned has nothing to do with money. He's doing fine these days. He's even willing to provide a small monetary reward for its return, if necessary.

Bottom line: He just wants it back, for many reasons.

Among them, Morris, who was involved in

that resulted in a 44-yard pass and scored a touchdown in that Super Bowl win over the Broncos, views the ring as a symbol of his career, a reflection of his life. He was always told he was too small, he was too this or too that.

The ring, the Super Bowl championship, his career accomplishments, they are all a representation that he proved them all wrong.

"That is something you work for your whole life," Morris said. "I always think back to a teacher telling me you're never going to amount to anything. You're just angry and mad and all these things.

"I sent her a note after we won the Super Bowl: 'I'm a world champion now. Nobody can ever take that away from me. I'm a better human being than I ever thought I'd be and I thank you. Your criticism made me a better person.'"

And that ring was the result. Joe Morris did some things. He helped give Giants fans their first Super Bowl.

And now he needs your help.
