What Gets Recognized Gets Done!: Championship Rings

RECOGNITION WORKS!

We give an award to the top sales guy, to the person with 25 years of service, to the truck driver with 1 million miles without a chargeable accident. We believe in the power of recognition. The why we do it may seem obvious, but it is a lot more than that.

We use recognition to:

Create a culture within the company that affects every attitude.

Say thanks and applaud success.

Teach others what we as an organization want to achieve.

Increase retention of employees.

Support Mission and Values.

Engage employees.

Encourage loyalty.

Increase customer satisfaction.

In summation, we believe in using recognition everyday to improve the bottom line. If that's important to you, then we're speaking the same language. Come with us on this journey.

Take a look at the topics we have and see if we can help you with your recognition programs.

Need ideas for wording on an awards? See the Thesaurus.

Want to implement a sales award program but need to present the concept to management? Check out Sales Awards: An Overview.

Want to know the inside scoop on the Lombardi Trophy or the Oscars? Take a look at our ongoing series on Famous Awards.

Talk to us. We are here to help you.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Its All About The Ring

Posted by Curt Denevan:

The world of professional sports has the one ultimate goal defining success for an athlete. The Ring. The Championship Ring.

In spite of the NFL lockout, the presentation of the Championship Rings to the Green Bay Packers players, staff and executives was an event that was not going to be missed. The team got special permission from the NFL to hold the event, and all but three players were in attendance (one was in the delivery room with his wife). Charles Woodson played for a lot of dreadful teams over the years, and it was always his dream to win the Ring. Executive Mark Murphy talked about how the Ring symbolizes the Packers championship tradition in excellent fashion.

Clearly the pride of winning the biggest prize of them all is evident in the smiles, and even the peace pipe that owners and players smoked during this truce in the NFL war. Contrast this with the far out attitude of Mark Cuban, NBA owner, whose Dallas Mavericks just won the NBA Championship. While his players, coaches and front office staff were clearly looking forward to getting a ring, he burst everyone's bubble with the announcement that there would be no ring for the NBA World Champions. Perhaps a Championship Bracelet, he suggested? The team, not a single one of which had ever won a championship ring, were all opposed to this. To a player, they all scoffed at Cuban's notion that a ring was old school and thus no longer relevant. He said he wants to take it to the next level, with something different. I don't think so!

Athletes want the Ring. Owners want the Ring (well, most), and staff want the ring. The NFL pays $5,000 per ring, up to 150 rings, and the teams pick up any additional cost. The 4 marquis diamonds on the Packers ring represent 4 World Championships. 13 diamonds in the G represent each of the 13 NFL Championships. The 92 smaller diamonds represent the 92 year history of the club. Lambeau Field is on one shank, the Lombardi Trophy is on the other. The players jersey number is circled, just like on the first jersey the team wore. The inside of the ring is engraved Mind, Goal, Purpose, Heart, which was the inspirational motto of the team. The rings are made of platinum, with 14K gold, and weigh 116 grams. Wow! Fans can order their own version of the ring, also made by Jostens, at the Packers Pro Shop.

It's all about the ring. Don't doubt this. After 14 seasons for Charles Woodson, it just doesn't get any sweeter than this.

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Super Bowl Rings

The Super Bowl ring is an award in the National Football League given to the members of the winning team of the league's annual championship game, the Super Bowl.

These rings are typically made of yellow or white gold with diamonds. They usually include the team name, team logo, and Super Bowl number (usually indicated in Roman numerals). The NFL pays for the cost of 150 rings to the winning team, at roughly $5,000 apiece, depending upon the fluctuating cost of gold and diamonds. The winning team can typically present rings to whomever they choose, including usually, but not limited to: players (active roster or injured), coaches, trainers, executives, personnel, and general staff. Some teams have also been known to give rings to former players, despite not having been on the winning roster.^[1] Teams can distribute any number of rings, but must pay for any over the 150-ring limit.

Many rings feature diamonds in the shape of the Vince Lombardi Trophy or a football. Some feature diamonds or gold in the shape of a team logo. Others illustrate the number of Super Bowls that franchise has won. Also, the rings are customized with the player's name and uniform number.

Replicas of the rings for various years are popular collectibles, along with genuine rings. Dave Meggett is known to have placed his ring for sale on eBay. Two Super Bowl rings from the 1970 Steelers sold on eBay for over $32,000 apiece in mid-2008.^[2] Patriots safety Je'Rod Cherry raffled his ring from Super Bowl XXXVIin November 2008 to benefit several charities working to help children in Africa and Asia.^[3]

[edit]Most Super Bowl rings

Seven: One individual
- Neal Dahlen^[4]: five with San Francisco (Staff and Player Personnel) and two with Denver (General Manager)

Six:
Dan Rooney and Art Rooney, Jr.: each as an executive with Pittsburgh
- Chuck Noll: four as head coach and two as a team consultant with Pittsburgh
- Bill Nunn: each as a scout with Pittsburgh^[5]
- "Mean Joe" Greene: four as a defensive tackle, two as a special assistant for player personnel, all with the Pittsburgh Steelers^[6]
- Conditioning coach Mike Woicik: three with Dallas and three with New England
Five: at least seven individuals
Dick Hoak: each as a running backs coach with Pittsburgh
- Charles Haley: two with San Francisco and three with Dallas (all 5 as a player—the most rings won as a player)
- Bill Belichick: two as defensive coordinator of the Giants and three as head coach of New England
- Romeo Crennel: two as a defensive coach with Giants and three as a defensive coach with New England
- George Seifert: three as an assistant coach and two as a head coach all with San Francisco 49ers
- Pepper Johnson: two as a linebacker for the Giants and three as an assistant coach with New England
- Monsignor Peter Armstrong: five as chaplain for San Francisco
Four: at least 32 players, many coaches and staff
The first player to win four Super Bowl rings was tight-end Marv Fleming, who got a pair with the Green Bay Packers in 1966 and 1967, and another pair with the Miami Dolphins in the early 1970s.
- Twenty-two players earned four rings with the Steelers in the 1970s: Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Mel Blount, Jack Lambert, Jack Ham, Mike Webster, Donnie Shell, L. C. Greenwood, Rocky Bleier, Gerry Mullins, Larry Brown, Mike Wagner, J.T. Thomas, Loren Toews, Jon Kolb, Sam Davis, Steve Furness, Dwight White, Randy Grossman and the previously mentioned Joe Greene (who later added two more rings). At least five coaches were with the team all four years: George Perles, Louis Riecke,Woody Widenhofer and (as noted above) Chuck Noll and Dick Hoak. The list of Steelers front office staff receiving four rings during that era includes Director of Player Personnel Dick Haley.
- Joe Montana, Keena Turner, Jesse Sapolu, Eric Wright, Mike Wilson, and Ronnie Lott each won four Super Bowl rings with the 49ers.
- Kicker Adam Vinatieri won three with the Patriots and one with the Colts
- Ted Hendricks won three with the Raiders and one with the Colts
- Bill Romanowski won two with the 49ers and two with the Denver Broncos
- Coach Charlie Weis won one with the Giants and three with the Patriots
- Matt Millen has the most rings from different teams, two with Oakland, one with San Francisco, and one with Washington
Three: many players, coaches and staff
Among the many figures with three are Bill Walsh, Eric Mangini, Mike Shanahan, Art Shell, Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Steve Young,Michael Irvin, Tom Brady, Troy Brown, Mike Vrabel, Tedy Bruschi, Kevin Faulk, Joe Gibbs, Dave Dalby, Dan Klecko, Jerry Rice andShannon Sharpe
- Ken Norton Jr. is the only player to have been on three Super Bowl-winning teams in a row (1993–1995).