On Thursday, former football star O.J. Simpson passed away at 76 after a battle with cancer.
Simpson, a first-round pick in 1969, was a star in the NFL with the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers during the 1970s.
Before his professional career, he played college football with the City College of San Francisco and the University of Southern California Trojans.
During his final season at USC, he was awarded the Heisman Trophy for his athletic achievements.
Following Simpson’s death, some may wonder what happened to his Heisman Trophy, which is considered valuable memorabilia.
Based on recently uncovered details, Simpson’s original trophy has moved from one place to another over the past 25 years.
What happened to O.J. Simpson’s Heisman Trophy?
Rare sports memorabilia from star athletes can fetch big money. In 1999, Philadelphia sheet metal wholesaler Tom Kriessman purchased Simpson’s trophy at an auction for $255,000.
According to ESPN, Kriessman locked the item in a Philadelphia bank vault following his purchase.
Based on the publication’s report, Kriessman recanted details of the item’s whereabouts in 2019.
The trophy changed hands via a secret sale in 2018, with Rick Reviglio, a high-profile citizen and businessman in Reno, Nevada, officially taking possession.
Reviglio is the president and general manager of a construction wholesale supplier in Reno.
In their report, ESPN didn’t reveal Reviglio’s purchase price for Simpson’s Heisman Trophy. However, it is now part of Reviglio’s expansive and private sports memorabilia collection in Reno, Nevada.
According to a Sports Illustrated report, other items in Reviglio’s prized collection are a chair thrown by late college basketball coach Bobby Knight and a baseball signed by a pope.
Reviglio reportedly kept the purchase private as long as possible until murmurs started about it being in Reno. ESPN followed up on the previous story where Kriessman claimed to be the owner and contacted Reviglio about it.
“I have no interest in selling the Heisman and it is my express goal to continue adding to my collection so that someday my children’s children and their children have one of the finest American sports memorabilia collections ever known,” Reviglio reportedly wrote in an email to ESPN.
A second Heisman Trophy was stolen from USC
In 1968, two trophies were given out, with O.J. Simpson awarded the first after tallying 1,709 rushing yards and 22 touchdowns in his final college football season.
A second Heisman Trophy was handed to his school, the University of Southern California.
However, that second trophy was stolen from its display case in July 1994. During that year, Simpson became a significant news story due to being accused of killing his ex-wife, Nicole Simpson, and her boyfriend, Ronald Goldman.
Per reports, unidentified individuals returned the second Heisman Trophy to USC two years later.
Simpson sold his original trophy due to legal bills
Meanwhile, Simpson held onto his original Heisman Trophy until February 1999. However, at that time, he was facing massive legal bills after losing a 1997 wrongful death civil suit filed against him by the Brown and Goldman families.
Due to owing a reported $33.5 million in compensatory and punitive damages, Simpson needed to sell off valuable possessions, so his trophy was among the items sold at auction.
After Simpson’s trophy changed hands in 1999 at auction to a man in Philadelphia and again in 2018 to a man in Reno, Nevada, it reportedly remains in Reno as part of a prized sports memorabilia collection.