Steelers Now
Former New York Giants wide receiver Plaxico Burress is selling his game-winning touchdown ball that beat the undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, according to Darren Rovell of Cllct Media.
Burress caught the game-winning touchdown pass from Eli Manning with just 35 seconds left to take down the 18-0 Patriots. It’s one of the most iconic moments in Super Bowl history.
Rovell notes that Sotheby’s is being very careful in describing this ball. For years, Burress and David Tyree have represented that the TD ball Burress kept here is the same ball as the Tyree catch. Sotheby’s is not making that claim.
Burress sold his Super Bowl XLII ring for $280,600 at Heritage Auction in February of 2025. It is the highest ever paid for a Super Bowl player ring, beating out Lawrence Taylor’s Giants ring from Super Bowl XXV ($230K).
Burress was selected by the Pittsburgh Steelers at eighth overall in the 2000 NFL Draft. He played five seasons with the Steelers before signing with the Giants in 2005.
Burress’ career took off with the G-Men, but it came to a crashing halt in 2009 when he plead guilty to attempted weapon possession and spent 20 months in jail. After getting out, he played one season with the New York Jets in 2011, and reunited with the Steelers in 2012 for only four games.
The New York Post reported that Burress has had legal and financial troubles since retiring.
In 2015, Burress was charged with cutting a bad check or electronic funds transfer to stiff the state of New Jersey out of $46,000 in taxes on his $1 million income in 2013. He scored a plea deal for a mere tax evasion charge, and was sentenced to five years’ probation and $56,000 restitution, according to The Post.
In 2017, the Burresses allegedly stopped paying their mortgage on their 5,500-square-foot pad in Totowa, N.J., which they purchased for $1.5 million back in 2005, leading the banks to issue a foreclosure on the property in 2018, according to court records and a TMZ report. The dispute was settled as of February 2021.
Burress earned $29,366,150 in his career, according to Spotrac.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Former Steelers WR Selling Super Bowl Touchdown Ball
