The Houston Police Department says it’s taking the case of Tom Brady’s Super Bowl jersey seriously and promises to have some of its top investigators doing the detective work.
Brady’s jersey remains unaccounted for, two days after the epic Super Bowl comeback. NFL Security, HP
D and the Texas Rangers are all working together on the case. The jersey’s value–both historic and monetary–is part of the reason.
Crime Stoppers of Houston is also pledging a reward for information that leads to the jersey being recovered and to the arrest of the person who took it.
The department’s Major Offenders task force, which often deals with special cases, is heading up the department’s investigation.
“We deem this a pretty important case. We want our top investigators on this case,” Houston Police Department Executive Assistant Chief George Buenik told reporters at a news conference Tuesday. “Hopefully we’ll make an arrest but more importantly, recover that jersey for Tom Brady.”
However, Houston’s new police chief, Art Acevedo seemed to take a different approach during an interview with a radio station Wednesday morning.
“We’d like to find it, but I don’t think we’re burning the midnight oil worrying about a jersey.” Acevedo said. “It’s just not the biggest, greatest importance in the big scheme of things.”
Acevedo has spoken with those who may be involved in the investigation saying “I told those guys, ‘Hey guys, we’ll give it a run, but let’s keep things in perspective, it’s a jersey.”
It’s believed the theft occurred sometime between 10:05 p.m. and 10:20 p.m. CT. At the time, Brady had left the dressing room and gone to a news conference in a room nearby.
Buenik told reporters investigators are trying to round up a list of everyone who entered the locker room prior to the jersey being taken from Brady’s duffle bag which he had stored at his locker inside NRG Stadium.
VIDEO: #SB51 MVP #TomBrady is understandably upset when he discovers someone stole his #SuperBowl jersey. @Patriots #GOAT pic.twitter.com/aQfWnr8Hva
— Billy Krumb (@ClubhouseCancer) February 6, 2017
Buenik says so far there are no leads in the case but they hope to obtain some clues by obtaining video shot by news videographers who were in the dressing room to record interviews with players following New England’s 34-28 overtime win that gave Brady his fifth Super Bowl victory. He said detectives may be contacting news agencies to ask for permission to see the raw video.
Jerseys have been known to disappear and then resurface years later. Former Bengals and Jets quarterback Boomer Esiason was in a broadcast role this weekend in Houston when a collector approached him with his jersey from Super Bowl XXIII and asked him to sign it. He told the story during a radio interview Tuesday.
How the Esiason jersey wound up in Randall Cunningham’s collection wasn’t revealed.
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