As the New England Patriots celebrated their legendary 28-3 comeback win in Super Bowl LI, Tom Brady had something else on his mind—his game-worn jersey. It was missing. For the GOAT, this wasn’t just another piece of memorabilia; it symbolized the greatest victory of his career.
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In a bid to recover it, Brady immediately reported the theft, sparking a high-profile investigation involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation. And, what followed was an intense search that eventually led to the culprit. Here’s how it all unfolded.
Right after pulling off the impossible comeback against the Falcons and lifting the Lombardi Trophy for the fifth time, Brady returned to the locker room, where he carefully placed the game jersey inside a black bag in his locker.
The GOAT then went to the bathroom to freshen up. And, on his way back to the locker, he even bumped into his backup QBs, Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett, with whom he shared a moment posing for a photograph. However, when Brady returned to the dressing room, the black bag was still there, but the jersey inside was missing, and thus began the search.
From the Texas Rangers to the FBI, several police departments began working tirelessly to find the culprit, but initially, they made little headway. The case only blew open when a 19-year-old Patriots fan and sports memorabilia collector forwarded a photo of a Mexican collector’s haul to Boston Special Agent, Christopher Arone.
While this photo didn’t feature Brady’s Super Bowl LI jersey, it did show another jersey of the quarterback from Super Bowl 2015—which had also gone missing back then.
This was a crucial lead for law enforcement, as they quickly traced the Mexican collector. His name was Martin Ortega, who had entered the Patriots’ locker room with a media access card. He even took a picture with Brady minutes before stealing the jersey that would ultimately get him caught.
When the FBI helped Tom Brady find his stolen jerseys which had been taken by a journalist who abused his media credentials pic.twitter.com/79BZb6AyKb
— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) February 16, 2025
Once Martin secured the jersey—which the Houston Police assigned a value of $500,000—he hid it in a plastic bag under his arm and left the arena. Luckily for Tom, both his jerseys were recovered during the police search, along with Von Miller’s Super Bowl 50 helmet, which Ortega had stolen as well.
Years later, in his first on-camera interview after the theft, Ortega admitted that he was addicted to collecting iconic sports memorabilia—an addiction so severe that he was willing to steal and feed it.
“Now that I’ve analyzed what happened, I think this is very similar, or the same as an addiction,” Ortega said. “I invested a lot in these items and that ultimately made me want to have more and more and to have what nobody else could have.”
For Brady, this whole experience was simply surreal:
“The amazing part to me is everything that transpired from the time that it was taken… I got a call from the FBI. I was like, ‘Man, this is serious. The FBI’s involved.’”
While Martin Ortega’s obsession with sports memorabilia led him to cross the line, the incident highlighted just how far some fans will go for a piece of history. Thankfully for Tom, he didn’t have to pay a huge price for hard work.
