Super Bowl Ring in Auction for Back Taxes

The ring worn by former Green Pay Packers lineman Fuzzy Thurston after his team won the second Super Bowl in 1967 will be auctioned in August to help settle his $1.7 million tax debt.

The Super Bowl II ring was seized by federal marshals, together with other sports memorabilia, from the now 77-year-old athlete, according to ESPN.com. Other items up for auction include footballs autographed by fellow Packers players and by coach Vince Lombardi. The ring is expected to sell for upwards of $20,000.

Federal marshals seized the ring and other memorabilia to settle a long-running tax dispute dating back to when Thurston co-owned a chain of restaurants known as the Left Guard after he retired from the NFL, according to the Greenbay Press-Gazette. He played for the Packers from 1959-1967, and opened the chain of restaurants in the mid-1970s. At one of the locations, some of the taxes withheld from employee paychecks was not sent to the Internal Revenue Service. Thurston’s three partners paid off judgments against them, but the court disputed whether Thurston had satisfied his judgment. In 1984, a court ruled against Thurston and ordered him to pay $190,806. With interest, that amount has now climbed to over $1.7 million.

A lien was placed on Thurston’s Florida home in 2004. The government is also seeking Thurston’s Super Bowl I ring, along with four other NFL championship rings that he won in 1958, 1961, 1962 and 1965. A Super Bowl I ring from another player sold last month for over $73,000.