10 Year Old Spends College Fund to Buy and Return the Fridge's Superbowl Ring

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cigaretteman

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Nov 8, 2006
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William "The Refrigerator" Perry, from the Chicago Bears in 1980s, has been reunited with his Super Bowl XX ring, thanks to a thoughtful 10-year-old, reports CBS station KDKA in Pittsburgh.

Young Cliff Forrest bought the ring at Mickey Mantle's restaurant.

"I saw that in New York and I really wanted the ring, and I took the money out of my savings account," he said.

He took $8,500 out of his college fund, which his father says he would not have approved.

"I would not have permitted the purchase myself, but his mother is a little more soft-hearted," said Cliff Forrest Sr.

The boy had heard about the '85 Bears team and admires Perry, and he clearly has a soft-heart, too, because he had an idea as soon as he heard about how Perry had lost the ring.
Read more: Pa. boy returns Super Bowl ring to "The Fridge" - CBS News
 

bos

Legend
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Apr 10, 2006
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Sweet, so the Fridge got his ring back and the kid got a couple jerseys. $8,500 worth of jersey material.
 

bos

Legend
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Apr 10, 2006
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I give it 2 days before he sells the ring.

Thats the thing. As a parent I would have been ****** my son did this. His college education is worth more than a ring Fridge sold to make ends meet. I dont know the financial breakdown of the Fridge but it seems like he should have some cash and not have to sell his ring off. The kid is thoughtful but to me it was irresponsible.
 

cigaretteman

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Nov 8, 2006
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Iowa
William "Refrigerator" Perry steered his bright red scooter down the aisles of McCormick Place, maneuvering around people walking toward him, finding the open lanes.

Hardware salesmen buzzed in his wake.

"It's the Fridge!"

"You see that?"
"The Fridge!"

It was the same grin, though without the gap in front that once made Perry look like a giant-size little boy. He has new teeth now, but the same easygoing cheer, wide smile and massive hands.

Some of the fans who met him Saturday at the Ace Hardware Spring Convention remembered it all from the heady days of the 1985 Chicago Bears, winners of Super Bowl XX.

"He was so unique. So big," said Thomas Moran, an Ace Hardware credit manager waiting his turn for an autograph at the Grill Daddy booth, where Perry was appearing as spokesman for the company's grill scrubbing brush.

"And the Super Bowl Shuffle," Moran continued, rapping a line by memory. He looked at the table where Perry, sitting on the scooter and wearing a wide-brimmed hat, was signing his name and tirelessly grinning.

"Yeah, the Fridge," Moran murmured. "It's classic."

Some things are not the same. In 2008 Perry was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome, in which the body's immune system attacks the nerves. He was nearly paralyzed, almost went deaf and lost so much weight he was nearly unrecognizable.

A recent ESPN.com article painted a sad portrait of him battling alcohol and continued health problems. But the picture Perry would sketch of himself is sunny.

"I was real bad for a while, but everything is subsiding," he said cheerfully as he signed posters.

"He's come a long way," said Adam Plotkin, his agent for 10 years. "You see how quick he is writing his signature? He had to relearn that, how to sign his name.

His hearing is getting better, Perry said, though conversation is difficult and he answered a question about which ear is better by laughing and saying, "Neither one."

But he doesn't like the way hearing aids feel, so he doesn't wear them. "He's too stubborn," said Plotkin. "That's S-T-U-B-B-O-R-N."

Perry, who lives with his second wife in South Carolina, grinned and listed more health improvements. "I'm moving around; doing stuff. I can walk. I can even run," he said.

"I am just relaxing and enjoying myself, doing what I always did."

And he said he is now following doctors' orders to abstain lest he suffer a relapse. "I don't drink beer at all," he said. "You abide by the rules."

William The Fridge Perry meets Bears fans in Chicago - chicagotribune.com
 

edr247

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Aug 4, 2010
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Heart-warming, I suppose, but wouldn't it have been smarter to perhaps just start with a letter writing campaign to the Bears organization? Surely they can shell out enough to get a former player his ring back? Or how about ask Bears fans to put up some cash?
 

bos

Legend
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Apr 10, 2006
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Heart-warming, I suppose, but wouldn't it have been smarter to perhaps just start with a letter writing campaign to the Bears organization? Surely they can shell out enough to get a former player his ring back? Or how about ask Bears fans to put up some cash?

That sounds like a better route.
 

BryceC

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Mar 23, 2006
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Remarkably stupid IMO, but hey, it's his money.
 

PGreen ISU '92

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Mar 6, 2008
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I feel really bad for the Fridge. Put Guillan-Barre Syndrome on my Top 5 List of "Deseases I do Not Want to Have." I am also shocked the ring was not worth more than $8500. Great gesture on the part of the kid and his parents!
 

MrGreg

Active Member
Oct 18, 2006
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The family appears to be well off (rosebud mining company), so I don't think the money is much of a concern to them. Still seems like a silly thing to do.