Lost and found

Jet, Dec 10, 2001

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Caption: LOST AND FOUND: Connie Payton, wife of the late Chicago Bears star Walter Payton, and Phil Hong hold the running back's long-missing Super Bowl ring afar it was recently returned to the Payton family in Illinois by Hong. A student at Purdue University, Hong found the ring under his couch when he tried to retrieve one of his dog's toys. He said as soon as he saw the diamond-encrusted gold ring engraved with Payton's name, he knew he had cracked the missing ring mystery. The Pro Football Hall of Famer, who died in Nov. of 1999, of complications of liver cancer, volunteered with the Hoffman Estates High School basketball team and let the team pass it around for good luck during its state championship title run. Nick Abruzzo was apparently the last player to have the ring, but after a search of his and other team member's home, the ring didn't turn up. Hong is a friend of Abruzzo's younger brother and was given the couch in 1998 by the family when Hong went off to college. Connie Payton said she's happy the ring was found and always felt that it would turn up some day.