Don McCafferty's greatest claim to fame is that he was the first rookie coach ever to win a Super Bowl—and this is the very ring he received for that historic feat! It also appears to be the first 1970 Baltimore Colts coach or player ring to reach the auction block. Throughout his gridiron career, McCafferty had an extraordinary series of mentors. He was an offensive lineman at Ohio State University under Paul Brown, then a wide receiver with the New York Giants under Steve Owen, and later a Colts assistant coach/offensive coordinator under Weeb Ewbank and Don Shula. McCafferty rose to Colts head coach upon Shula's departure and immediately brought Baltimore a Super Bowl win. "He doesn't shout and scream," Johnny Unitas said of the man nicknamed "Easy Rider." "He's able to look at football objectively without getting carried away emotionally." Interestingly, in 1972, McCafferty was fired from the Colts for refusing to bench Johnny U. He moved on to a head coaching position with the Lions, but died of a heart attack the following year at age 53.

      McCafferty's Josten 14K-gold, size 12-1/2 ring reads, "HEAD COACH / McCAFFERTY," and it features a replacement full carat (100-point) diamond set within a raised horseshoe atop a blue stone. EX/MT condition. According to the accompanying 1998 purchase LOA, the removal of the original diamond resulted in slight surface wear at the center of each shank. It also adds, "I purchased the ring from a fellow Coin Dealer in November of 1990. He purchased a coin collection from the McCafferty family."

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