The first person to see Tom Brady’s Super Bowl 49 jersey in a place other than the Patriots locker room was a 19-year-old collector from Seattle, WA.

As an avid collector of game-worn jerseys, Dylan Wagner was stunned when a man from Mexico bought a gamer from him on eBay late last year and then showed him a picture of his collection. Front and center was Brady’s jersey from the win over Seattle two seasons ago. He asked Mauricio Ortega where he got it but Ortega, who was pinpointed as a possible suspect by law enforcement in the theft of Brady’s Super Bowl 51 jersey, told him it was “a long story.”

Wagner says when he learned of the theft of the Super Bowl 51 jersey valued at hundreds of thousands of dollars, he recalled his dealings with Ortega and contacted a friend of his, an ATF agent who was a fellow collector. He didn’t hear back until Ortega became a person of interest. Wagner was able to provide two addresses for the man he dealt with on eBay and law enforcement officers went to Mexico and recovered both jerseys along with Von Miller’s Super Bowl 50 helmet.
Wagner told his story to Boston media outlets including NBC Sports.