Former Green Bay Packers G Fuzzy Thurston's Super Bowl II ring being sold to settle $1.7M tax debt

Fuzzy Thurston’s Super Bowl II ring will be sold at auction in August as part of the government’s 28-year battle over taxes with the former Green Bay Packers lineman.

U.S. marshals seized Thurston’s ring, awarded at the end of the 1967 season, and plan to sell it to recover some of the $1.7 million the government claims Thurston owes in back taxes.

The sale comes just weeks after the Packers received Super Bowl XLV rings for their victory at the end of the 2010 season.

According to documents filed in U.S. District Court’s Western District, the government had hoped to sell more than just one of Thurston’s rings. A court order dated last week calls for the sale of rings from Super Bowl I and II, NFL championship rings from 1958, 1961, 1962 and 1965, other sports memorabilia and a gold watch.

It appears authorities have not managed to get hold of those items.

Heritage Auctions, a Texas auction house, has been appointed by the court to sell Thurston’s assets but has only one of Thurston’s Super Bowl rings along with his 1960 Packers helmet and two 1960 footballs signed by members of the Packers, including coach Vince Lombardi.

The ring will be auctioned at the National Sports Collectors Convention in Rosemont, Ill., on Aug. 4, along with a variety of unrelated sports memorabilia. Thurston’s helmet and the footballs will be offered in the Fall Heritage Sports auction that closes Nov. 11.

The Super Bowl ring is expected to fetch more than $20,000, although auction officials expect a spirited bidding that could take the final price much higher.

There have been other instances of Super Bowl I or Super Bowl II rings being sold in the past, but the Thurston ring likely will be considered one of the most popular player rings offered from either of the first two Super Bowls.

Paul Hornung’s Super Bowl I ring sold for approximately $40,000 in 2002, while former offensive lineman Steve Wright sold his Super Bowl I ring last month for $73,409.

Elijah Pitts’ Super Bowl II ring once sold for approximately $30,000, although the diamonds in that ring were replaced with faux diamonds.

Fuzzy Thurston Has Some Tax Problems 
....The Press-Gazette reports that these unpaid taxes date back to 1978 through 1980 from a failed restaurant business. Since he's seemed like an active business man with his tickets and tours business, I'm not surprised he got involved in a business investment that went south at some point.

The IRS is still after him on such an old debt because it involves other peoples' tax withholdings. He withheld taxes from his employees and his restaurant business didn't turn it over to the IRS. Not paying your own income taxes is one thing, but failing to turn over someone else's taxes is something the IRS aggressively pursues and it holds the business owners accountable. I'm a little confused by the article, it seems like the government is still involved in the suit, but a private party was mentioned as the plaintiff....

Sorry to see that old Fuzzy has some IRS issues.

A little more info (opinion) on why....

Originally Posted by: vikesrule 

how about the vikings selling some of their super bowl trophies and rings, maybe that will help them build their new stadium 😂 👅 😛

Originally Posted by: Packerchick 

Oh PC....SNAP! LOL!

Originally Posted by: Cheesey 

Former Green Bay Packers guard Fuzzy Thurston has some money problems.

They’re the stupid kind of money problems, too. Fuzzy thought he could beat the taxman.

Fuzzy, not surprisingly, was mistaken.

The Fuzz owes $1.7 million in back taxes and he’s apparently been battling the government for 28 years. So, the government seized Thurston’s Super Bowl II ring, along with some other memorabilia to help settle the debt. The items will be auctioned in August.

Of course, Packers fans were quick to spring to action when they heard Thurston was in trouble. And no, they didn’t do the logical thing — try to raise money.

Instead, you get the Save Fuzzy Thurston Facebook page, which is asking people to petition president Barack Obama to pardon Thurston.

Yup.

Brilliant!

First of all, that pud is a Chicago Bears fan. Second of all… well, you’re not that stupid, so I don’t need to get into the probability of a presidential pardon being granted to a tax cheat.

Fans should be happy Thurston somehow managed to hide his Super Bowl I ring, as well as his 1958, 1961, 1962 and 1965 NFL Championship rings from authorities.

A court order called for the sale of all the rings.

The items that will be auctioned will hardly put a dent in Thurston’s tax debt and it looks like he may be able to keep the rings authorities couldn’t find (providing, as we assume, he knows where they are).

Frankly, that doesn’t seem fair to me regardless of what I think about him as a football player.