Tom Brady won his fifth Super Bowl in seven appearances on Sunday night and did so with his best individual performance ever in leading New England back from a 28-3 deficit to win in overtime.
Brady earned MVP honors after throwing for 466 yards and two touchdowns, setting numerous Super Bowl records in the process. However, the only thing Brady didn’t do well enough on Sunday night was keep an eye on his game jersey, which mysteriously disappeared from the Patriots locker room and into the Houston night.
So someone stole Brady's game jersey. Asked him about it as he was walking to the bus. "Yeah. It will be on eBay soon, I guess," he said.
— Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) February 6, 2017
Brady explained to owner Robert Kraft that someone slipped out with his jersey, to which Kraft quipped “better look online,” noting that the jersey will probably be up for sale to the highest bidder soon.
Hey can someone give Tom Brady his jersey back? #SB51 (via @danhanzus) https://t.co/cv99qUW4XY
— NFL (@NFL) February 6, 2017
Brady’s jersey was still missing on Monday morning when he attended his Super Bowl MVP press conference, and he explained that he had put it in his bag when he got back to the locker room, but by the time he’d returned to his locker, it was gone.
Tom Brady on his stolen #SB51 jersey: "The jersey, I put it in my bag and I came out and it wasn't there anymore."
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) February 6, 2017
The likely suspect is a ball boy or locker room attendant that saw opportunity and snagged it, but Super Bowl locker rooms are filled with people so it will be almost impossible to figure out who took it until it hits an online auction, if that’s what the perpetrator chooses to do. However, the one thing we can’t rule out is that this was the work of Vladimir Putin, who wanted Brady’s jersey to go along with Robert Kraft’s 2004 Super Bowl ring.