Four months after winning perhaps the greatest Super Bowl of all time, the New England Patriots officially received their “one for the thumb” Friday night.
Behold, Super Bowl ring No. 5:
Fittingly, the ring features five Lombardi Trophies, one for each championship the Patriots have won. The football-shaped design is reminiscent of the rings the team received after Super Bowls XXXIX and XLIX. This one, however, has a blue background, rather than a field of silver and diamonds.
Inside the ring, the words “We Are All Patriots” and “Greatest Comeback Ever” are engraved, referring to the 25-point deficit the Patriots erased to defeat the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl LI. No team in the first 50 Super Bowls had rallied from more than 10 points down to win.
And the kicker: The ring includes 283 diamonds, a nod to the 28-3 lead the Falcons held late in the third quarter of that game.
“We celebrated our first Super Bowl ring ceremony 15 years ago to the day,” Patriots owner Robert Kraft said in a statement. “It was our first Super Bowl championship in 42 years and, at the time, I couldn’t imagine a more exciting game or ring celebration. But, we have had the good fortune to now celebrate five Super Bowl championships, and much like the games themselves, the rings and the celebrations keep getting bigger and better.
“It was a historic comeback win and the players deserve to have a ring that represents that accomplishment, so we created the biggest Super Bowl ring ever made. Watching the expressions of the players and coaches when they saw them for the first time and the overwhelming pride when they put them on was priceless.”
