Jim Brown's 1964 NFL Championship ring, reportedly stolen, goes up for auction

Ready to put your detective hat on? 

Jim Brown's 1964 Cleveland Browns NFL Championship ring has been put up for auction on Lelands.com, an auction site "specializing in sports and Americana memorabilia."   

Lelands describes the item as "the very ring presented to the immortal Jim Brown for his only world championship in the National Football League" and "without a doubt the finest football piece ever to reach the market." 

But here's where things get weird. Brown, upon learning about the auction, told the St. Paul Pioneer Press in a story published Monday that the ring was stolen from him "many years ago, in the late 1960s."

That contradicts Lelands' claim that "The ring was obtained directly from a Brown immediate family member and sold by Lelands.com in 1998," and that "during that original auction preview, Jim Brown himself inspected the ring and acknowledged its authenticity."

"I’m surprised to hear that it’s publicly for sale," Brown said, "because whoever got it should know that I didn’t give it up."

According to Tom Reed of the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Brown plans to contact an attorney in hopes of obtaining the ring before it's sold. The auction, which ends July 25, had a high bid of $33,275 as of early Monday evening. 

How Brown's ring was stolen, why nothing was done about it at the time, and how it ended up being sold publicly nearly 50 years after it was purportedly filched, are all still mysteries. All Brown knows is he'd like to get it back.  

"I’d really appreciate that," he said. "That would be very cool."